Displaying items by tag: Pioneer

The predicted dry patch, which in November seemed impossible to envisage, has arrived.

About this time of the year, we always seem to get calls from merchants and farmers asking several versions of the same question: “Is it too late to plant maize silage in November?” 

Many regions are experiencing an early spring. The collective sigh of relief is almost audible as we exit a winter and spring very different from last season.  

Last month saw the annual release of the DairyNZ Economic Farm Survey and the NZ Dairy Statistics.

Over the last three years, pressure has increased on dairy farmers to produce food with a low environmental footprint.

The impacts of a wet winter are clearly evident as I drive around the countryside. In fact, I have never seen the level of damage on farm after winter as I am seeing now.

As I write this article the rain is pelting down outside. A wet winter followed by a normal spring is presenting a real challenge in many regions, resulting in the disruption of the normal cultivating/planting cycle.

With a very wet winter resulting in cows being stood off paddocks and fed more supplements the demand for maize this season is pretty high.

In little over a decade palm kernel extract (PKE) grew from being a little known by-product, to one of the most commonly used supplements on NZ dairy farms.

This season was among the most difficult for cropping I have ever experienced.