New pasture guide launched to support farmers in a changing climate
A new publication has been launched that offers a comprehensive and up-to-date resource on commercially available grazing pasture species in New Zealand.
Is it worth applying nitrogen fertiliser to speed pasture recovery post drought?
A Beef + Lamb New Zealand field day in North Otago, earlier this month, heard it’s a hard question to answer.
“The issue is how long has it been dry and whether there’s enough nitrogen [in the ground] to get that initial response,” AgResearch’s David Stephens said.
If there is enough N in the ground, grass will grow 450kgDM/ha from 15mm of rain, a 30:1 response. If there isn’t, the growth from that moisture may be halved.
Fellow speaker Graham Kerr said remember nitrogen is simply a growth multiplier. “If you’re growing zero, you’ll still get zero. If you’re growing a bit, you’ll get a bit more. If it’s growing well, then you’ll get a lot more.”
Whether the response to fertiliser would be economic would “depend on how desperate [for feed] you are,” he added.
“It’s a tricky one because you don’t know how much is going to be released from the soil. It really is quite variable. In general if you’re desperate for feed you put it on because by the time you see it’s needed it’s too late.”
If nitrogen fertiliser is applied it’s imperative to wait at least three weeks, preferably four, for pasture to use it. Grazing sooner risks nitrate poisoning and curtailing the plant’s growth response.
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
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