PASTURE & FERTILISER
2024 wasthe second-driest yearon record forWairarapa,according to research from NIWA. Intermittent rain hassincearrived, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that autumnpastures will supportgood animal productivity, much to thefrustration of farmers
Acomplicated interaction of multiple factors can potentiallylead to autumn ill-thrift-acommon and frustrating seasonal syndrome thatreduces stockgrowthrates
Technical specialists with PGG Wrightson provide adviceonwhatfactors to look out forand howto manage autumn ill-thrift. They saythatbecause ofthe impacts of ill-thriftongrowth rates, these factors cannot be ignored
Ineffectivedrenching,for example,can result in lowergrowth ratesand increased pasture contamination by parasites.Parasitelarvaeare oftenmost apparentinthe autumn. Afaecal
egg countone to twoweeks afterdrenching, however, could help determineifyour drench programme is working well
Lambs or calves with pneumonia also tend to have lowergrowth ratesevenifthey arenot obviously ill.Ahigher incidenceofpneumonia is oftenseen in autumnbecause these lambs have been growing slowerthan others so are the last to make drafting weights.Checking the percentage of infectedlambs over the entire season, not just from one late draft, is important. Young stock arefussy eaters so they won’teat pastures containing high amounts of dead plant material or fungal spores or grasses thatare high in fibre.Anunbalanced diet also impacts animal performance, so analysis of herbage samples can be useful,particularly when grazing new growth afteranautumn flush. Beef +Lamb New Zealand has agood resource to help determineiffeed qualityand quantitymay be reducing stock performance.
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2025 AUTUMN PASTURE & FERTILISER
CARRE TINE SEEDER
Traceelements such as selenium, cobalt and copper areessential forhigh livestock performance, although they are only required in small amounts Because traceelements can interferewith each other, it is importanttocheck for deficiencies in animal samples (blood or liver,depending on the traceelement). Herbage analysis can also be used to check fordeficiencies
Early intervention is critical if thereare signs of foot scald Lame animals do not want to move around to grazesohave poor performance. Zinc oxide or formalin foot bathing can be effective.
Facial eczemaiscaused by a fungus thatgrows in the dead matter of pastures,particularly ryegrass dominantswards, and particularly during autumn. Thetoxin released causes liver damage resulting in poor stock
Autumn pasture management for dairy
Autumnpasturemanagementindairyfarming focuses on average pasturecover and cowcondition, to preparefor the futurespring. DairyNZprovides adviceon:
Post-grazing residuals
Building average pasture coverbyincreasing rotation length.
Completing an autumn feed budget to identify feed shortages
Ensuring anypasture renewal is aqualityjob, with autumn pests targeted where possible
Fertiliser returns
Visit dairynz.co.nz/feed/fundamentals/autumn-management to findout more.
performanceincluding lower growth ratesand weightloss
DairyNZsuggests keeping an eyeonwhether thereisa drop in milkproduction, the cows arerestless and licking their udders,ortheir skin is reddening and peeling
Preventativemeasures for facial eczema arecritical, such as monitoring pasture sporecountand either dosing animals with zincorspraying pastures with afungicide
NIWA’s autumn outlook
According to the latest NIWAforecast,Wairarapa has about equal chances fornear normal or above normal rainfall through to the end of March, although “occasional heavy rainfall events cannot be ruled out as the seasonprogresses”which feels like having a bob each way.
Soil moisturelevels and riverflowsoverthis period aremostlikely to be near or belownormal, while temperatures in Wairarapa areexpected to be above average
Sowing new pasture early in autumn beforerain arrivescan provide manybenefits, including improved establishment, yield, and persistence. Adviceto farmers in the lowerNorth Island is to sowbyabout 20 March each year.
In atrial near Cambridge,ryegrass seed sown early in dryautumn conditions germinatedwell after weeks with no rain, and treatments sown beforethe rain grew 2T DM/ha morethan seedsown post-rain.Other studies have shown thatdelaying sowing forthe cooler autumn days both slows down establishmentand decreases yield
IntheManawatu, yield dropped by an average of 26 kg DM/ha foreach day sowing wasdelayedpast 23 February.
InCanterbury, ryegrass yields decreased by an average of 64 kg DM/hafor each daysowing was delayedthrough autumn.
Earlysownpastures can compete better with weedsbeforethe temperaturedrops and denser, stronger ryegrass beforewinter grazing also provides greater protection against pugging
Sowing early also improves persistence, as plants have moretime to developand reach over 20 tillers in size before the following summer.A strong healthy root system is critical for plantstoaccess water and nutrients
and recoverfromdroughts,and can help us future-proof our pastures in the contextofclimatechange
Foraqualityjob,buy qualityseed and selectthe rightpasturespeciesand/or cultivar foryour farm. Sowing asmall area well is less riskythan sowing alarge area poorly.Cloveris generally sown at a shallowerdepth than ryegrass
New pastures should first be grazed when the plants break off rather than pulled out when plucked by hand
Usethe pluck test to work out when to graze. Thefirst grazing shouldbea quick nipoffwith young stock or two to three hours of grazing with cows
New grass often becomes nitrogen deficienttwo to three months after sowing, particularly afterawet spell
Look out foryellowleaf tips,which is asymptom of this occurring.Small applications of nitrogen (20-30 kg N/ha) from sixtoeightweeks after sowing will increase seedlingsize beforesummer
Before first grazing it maypay to test asample fornitratetoxicity, however, because nitratepoisoning is not uncommon when grazing resown pastures
Attention should be giventoweed control, contouring,and levelling if avoiding cultivation afterforage crops Weeds can be sprayed beforeorafter first grazing,but spraying should be delayedifmorethan 50% of the ground is bare.
PASTURE & FERTILISER
WANT WATER SECURITY...? WANTWATER SECURITY...?
Conversations with seasoned Wairarapa sheep &beeffarmers
Thinking ahead at MaruStation
“Make decisions early”is the motto of Ronnie King. He’s theowner,with his wifeBuzz, of the Pahiatua sheep and beef farm, Maru Station.
Anticipating the potential for adry period up to March2025, he put fertiliser on his pasture beforeChristmas,helpingto bring up the PH and Olsen P levels to encourage pasture growth and,therefore, stock fertilityand profitability.
“I also built up abank of feed to ensurewecould weather adry season.”
Other decisions thatcan be madeearly relate to the offloading of stock.Ronnie says he generally hasatrigger date of 10 January. “Ifwedon’t have
enough rain by then, the first stock to go arethe trade lambs.”
Alternatively,hemightgraze out young capital stock in another area. “When we farmed at Tiraumea and the droughtwas very localised,we sentour cows out grazing to Alfredton. Not very far away, but the climate wascompletely different.”
Maru Station has 1,700 ewes and replacements,1,500 winter trade lambs,and 630 cattle
“Weaim to finish all our stock,” Ronnie says,“but if it’s stilldry by the end of Januaryeach year,the tradingsteers and bullsare the next to go.”
“Waiting to see if rain is going to come is never agood idea,” Ronnie says.“No one’s ever regretted going early.Ifyou wait toolong,the animals lose condition, the prices drop,and youcan get into adownward spiral.But if you’ve destocked
and have supplementaryfeed and baleage on hand,the odds of managing adroughtare in your favour.Then if it rains,you can put morecondition on your capital stock.”
Everything gets sortedearly at Maru Station, making bouncing back possible
Ronnie King out on the farm at Maru Station.
CREDIT:Roger Barton
Farming to the weather at Taha Aruhe Station
John Hodder began running sheep and beef on Taha Aruhe Station in Tauherenikau in 1970. Over time,the farmexpanded through purchases and mergers to total 790 acres of “fatlamb farmland”runningabout 3,000 sheep
He says thatthe summer dry is an important ripening time of year forcrops (think about plums and grapes,for example) and thatfarmers always“farm to the weather.”
He says that, with fatlambs,the idea is to get them off before Christmas,sothe ewes mainly only need water and shade to survivedry periods
Thewise dairyfarmer,however, cutsbaleage beforeChristmas “They’relike chipmunks,storing baleage forthe possibilityofa hard winterahead, but also for the possibility of alonger,drier summer.With supplementary feed,bull beef and dairycan keep their weightupthrough the summer.”
And, John says,autumn is atime to fertilise forwhen growth occurs going forward, but also forwhen growth is stagnating
Backinhis day, 500-600 ewes or 50-60 dairycowswere economical units.These days, John reflects, youneed 4,0005,000 ewes or 1,200-2,000 cows forfarming to be economical. It’s an entirely different proposition and requires alot of thinking ahead to remain on top.
Dealing with dung
Dairyand beef cattlein
New Zealand aresaid to produce85million tonnes of dungper year, while sheep,horses and alpaca produceover 14 million tonnes of dung per year
Dung beetles offer a remarkably natural sustainable solution to revitalise our soils and pastures,and rehabilitate
New Zealand’s waterways They quickly and efficiently returnanimal dung into the soil,improvesoil permeability, and reduce levelsofnutrients and E. coli in waterways
Overseas researchsuggests dung beetles increase the rate of dung decomposition and removal, improve nutrientrecycling and soil aeration, bioturbation and plantgrowth.
Dung beetles,aswell as worms, can also be an asset on the farmduring autumn when farmers arekeen to suppress parasites around grazing animals.Beef+Lamb New Zealand,for example, reports thatkeepinga population of wormson the farmcan slowdowna build-up of parasites thatare resistanttodrenches
LABOUR AND MATERIAL COSTS REDUCED PARASITES AND PESTS SUSTAINABLE GRAZING
Illustration from: dungbeetles.co.nz
