This paper is not a formal review of hill farming literature. Rather, it is my view on the critical challenges and changes that we need to deal with if mixed livestock farming on hill lands is to be successful over the next 20 years. It is my hope that industry leaders, policy makers and agribusiness managers will give consideration to these views. Some people say that it is not smart to look into the rear-vision mirror, but I do not agree. Having a better understanding of the consequences of past events can help guide future decisions and changes.
Download
(448 KB)
Last year I took this opportunity to express my views on the advantages of on-farm research, which generated some interesting discussion. This year I would like to widen the frame and discuss the state of New Zealand pastoral research, and in particular the type of research that comes through our Association, from my perspective as a farmer and user of research. I have taken a particular interest in New Zealand research, because I emigrated to New Zealand. Since I did not grow up here, with the benefits of experience or New Zealand education, I have found reading research papers and attending conferences such as this one, a very useful way of firstly getting up to speed and now advancing our operations at Castlepoint Station. I have been concerned about the focus of New Zealand pastoral research in recent years moving away from production research. An example of this would be the volume of papers that come through our proceedings, which although useful in some contexts, in my view will not be useful in generating economic returns. This year over a third of the papers appeared to cover subjects that would not generate a return on farm, but rather focussed on social science and modelling issues. Some of that work is interesting, but how much of it will really make a difference to the economy or environment?
Download
(426 KB)
Focused group projects engaging owners and managers of Maori farm businesses were initiated on the East Coast of New Zealand. The objective was to improve productivity and profitability on-farm through enhanced capability building and collaboration. Five group projects were evaluated. Critical success factors of learning groups were identified. Leadership, communication, organisation and commitment were required from project participants and facilitators. Collaborative and interactive processes built the knowledge and confidence of farm managers. Building trust was critical. Participation of mentor farmers reinforced learning in the group. Social network building was also important. We conclude that interactive group projects are a powerful way of building confidence of farm managers to communicate issues and make clearer, more strategically aligned decisions and actions. Collaborative farm initiatives foster ownership of issues, develop farmer support networks and ultimately the confidence to change. Keywords: experiential learning, farmer group, trust.
Download
(456 KB)Plots were established on three farms in Northland in April 2009 and were monitored from May to December for differences in total pasture dry matter (DM) yield after direct-drilling Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) into kikuyu (Pennisitum clandestinum) following mulching. Pesticide-treated or untreated Italian ryegrass was drilled at 10, 15, 20 and 30 kg seed per hectare. Plot DM yields were estimated pre- and post-grazing using a rising plate meter. Daily pasture growth rates and total DM yields varied between sites but tended to increase with increased sowing rate. There was no significant pasture yield response to pesticide treatment of seed. This work suggests that sowing Italian ryegrass into kikuyu increases total pasture DM yield during winter and spring. Keywords: kikuyu, Italian ryegrass, sowing rate, pesticide
Download
(583 KB)Information was gathered from dairy farms in four regions of New Zealand for the season ending May 2010. The regions were Waikato, Taranaki, Canterbury and Southland. Two farms were selected from each region, one that had undertaken regrassing on a regular basis for at least five years (Modern Varieties, MV) and the other had not undertaken any regrassing in the previous decade (Traditional Varieties, TV). A computer simulation tool (UDDER) was used to model the effect of regrassing on these farms. In three regions, MV generated more milksolids/ha and a greater net farm margin compared with TV. The use of computer modelling allows farmers to make a decision based on the data from their own property rather than rely on data that is sourced from different growing conditions. Keywords: regrassing, modern varieties, traditional varieties
Download
(718 KB)A 18-year trial at Lake Tekapo compared changes in proportions of species in a common mixed species pasture under two mean grazing intensities, three seasons of grazing and spelled in alternate years or unspelled. The main species changes related to season of grazing, with the effect of biennial spelling being small and ambiguous, and that of mean grazing intensities slight. Keywords: New Zealand, high country, spelling, pasture development, perennial lupin, cocksfoot
Download
(478 KB)The New Zealand pastoral industry has many simultaneous drivers, including market and policy compliance, that operate from the local to the global scale. The ability to adapt to these multiple drivers against a background of constrained natural resources and climate change is vital to the continued success of New Zealand’s pastoral industry. Here we describe a case study based in the Horizons Region where we worked with pastoral sector stakeholders to apply a process in which an integrated systems perspective was used to identify and explore the impact of drivers on dairy and sheep/beef systems. Drawing from this process we have designed a generic framework, including tools and processes, to enable policy, farmers, and agribusiness to collectively explore the influence of multiple drivers on the future behaviour of farm systems and associated value chains. Keywords: Rural futures, collective learning, socioecological systems, strategic planning
Download
(531 KB)Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) offers a number of advantages as a forage legume, but is constrained by poor persistence under grazing. The objective of this research was to test the growth and persistence of 18 populations among a wider set of 142 New Zealand and overseas accessions of red clover, in a mixed-sward replicated plot trial under rotational grazing by cattle in the Manawatu. We also measured plant morphological trait expression in a row trial using samples of the same red clover populations evaluated in the plot trial. Most red clover populations showed a marked decline in growth score after two years under grazing. The new variety ‘Grasslands Relish’ showed significantly (P<0.05) higher growth and persistence than all other entries over the three and a half years of the trial. After three and a half years under grazing, 60% of the ‘Grasslands Relish’ plants were alive, more than any other entry, and significantly (P<0.05) more than any commercial cultivars in the trial. Traits observed in the row trial were weakly to moderately correlated with performance in the mixed sward trial. Variation among growth habit in the row trial was the best predictor of performance in the three and a half year mixed sward trial (R2 = 0.50). This research identifies a new red clover cultivar with potential for high growth and improved persistence under cattle grazing, and demonstrates the value of global genetic resources for improving the genetic merit of forages available in New Zealand.
Download
(550 KB)Many hill country farmers have struggled to maintain fertiliser inputs in recent years. The long-term fertiliser and sheep grazing farmlet study at the AgResearch Ballantrae Hill Country Research Station provides invaluable insights into the benefits of continued annual inputs of phosphorus (P) fertiliser on production levels and the farm business, and also the implications to the production system when fertiliser is withheld. Since detailed monitoring stopped in 1990, the fertiliser treatments have been maintained, along with nominal sheep stocking rates and grazing practices. Occasional measurements of soil fertility have also been made on the farmlets that have received either no fertiliser inputs for 30 years, a low annual fertiliser input (125 kg superphosphate (SSP)/ha/yr), or a high input (375 kg SSP/ha/yr) for 35 years. In this paper changes in sheep stocking rate and soil fertility are reported and compared with earlier published data from this longterm site. This field study provides a valuable resource for ongoing research into nutrient requirements and cycling in hill land environments, and a visual demonstration of the continued importance of fertiliser application as a driver of hill country production. Keywords: Livestock production, P fertiliser, Olsen P, long-term sites
Download
(665 KB)McRae Trust Farm was used to examine how hill country farming policies and management affected the quantity of livestock greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, profitability, and risk. Land use decisions were subject to the opportunities and constraints inherent in the natural soil capital of the farm. Analysis was undertaken using FARMAX® and OVERSEER®. Features of the pastoral farming system in 2009 were compared with 1990, and data around livestock GHG emissions was compared with the methodology proposed in the Climate Change (Agriculture Sector) Regulations 2010 which is intended to be the basis for calculating farmers’ liability in 2015. Changing livestock policies can potentially change livestock GHG emissions by around 10%. Reduced emission intensity (kg CO2-e/kg meat & fibre) is achievable, but total GHG emissions may be increased over the baseline. Profitability, as measured by Economic Farm Surplus, may be increased or decreased with no relationship with the level of GHG emissions. Between 1990 and 2009, intensity of GHG emissions has been reduced by about 5% on this farm. An area of 12 ha of forestry will assist in reducing GHG liability in the initial period of agriculture’s inclusion in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Download
(584 KB)Increasing production from drier hill country to maintain economic viability must be balanced with environmental impacts and the preservation of the tussock landscape. This trial investigated the use of a one-off autumn application of nitrogen (100 kg N/ha) to increase pasture production from drier hill country over subsequent seasons while maintaining the tussock biota. Comparative controls and previously oversown blocks were included. The response to nitrogen in the first winter-spring period was approximately 13 kg DM/ kg N applied with no measurable response occurring thereafter. The oversown block produced around 3200 kg/DM/annum more than the other blocks, as expected in the first two years. The botanical analysis showed that browntop reinvasion of recently oversown pasture was rapid, increasing to a presence of over 50% in three years. Tussocks decreased in size in the nitrogen treated block, but this was possibly due to management practices rather than a response to fertiliser nitrogen. This trial highlights some of the issues that surround the optimal use of nitrogen fertiliser in drier hill country and also documents the invasion of less desirable grasses into the preferred developed pastures. Keywords: Nitrogen, tussocks, oversowing
Download
(465 KB)The financial and environmental performance of a typical dairy and sheep/beef farm under contrasting inputs and systems were modelled to test associations between productivity, profitability, nitrogen (N) leaching and green house gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions and N leaching were found to be closely correlated (R2 > 0.90) but the correlation between these two emissions items and production and/or profit was less so, suggesting that systems that are both profitable and have a modest emissions output should be possible. The reasons why farmers have not already adopted these systems are complex but could include any of: requirement of higher level of managerial skill, incompatibility with farm soil type or contour, increased risk and capital cost to convert to the new system. Any system that involves improvements in animal efficiency is associated with a reduction in emissions per kg of saleable product. Keywords: productivity, profit, N leaching, GHG emissions, modelling
Download
(620 KB)Recent interest in building soil carbon in pastoral systems is driven by the imperative to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. It has been proposed that increasing root growth via deep rooting plants is a means of increasing soil carbon storage. Data on root depth distribution and production from a number of New Zealand studies are summarised to examine whether variation in root profiles can be manipulated and exploited. Most of the variation in root mass under grazed grass-clover pastures occurs in the upper 100 mm of soil. Changes in pasture management, such as soil fertility, grazing intensity and pasture species composition have a limited effect on root mass below this depth layer, of the order ±10-30%. Greater mass and length of roots in deeper soil layers under grazed grass-clover pastures is associated with lower soil fertility, drought stress and less commonly sown pasture species. The relationship between root mass (particularly deeper-root mass) and soil carbon storage has yet to be clearly established. Keywords: pasture species, root mass, soil carbon, soil fertility
Download
(608 KB)A group of 24 Hawke’s Bay hill country farmers are working with service providers to improve the resilience of their farming systems. An important step in the process was to undertake an inventory of their risk management strategies. Farmers were interviewed about their farming systems and risk management strategies and the data was analysed using descriptive statistics. There was considerable variation in the strategies adopted by the farmers to cope with a dryland environment. Importantly, these strategies had to cope with three types of drought and also upside risk (better than expected conditions), and so flexibility was critical. Infra-structure was important in managing a dryland environment. Farmers chose between increased scale (increasing farm size) and geographic dispersion (owning a second property in another location) through to intensification (investing in subdivision, drainage, capital fertiliser, new pasture species). The study identified that there may be scope for further investment in infra-structural elements such as drainage, deeper rooting alternative pasture species and water harvesting, along with improved management of subterranean clover to improve flexibility. Many of the farmers used forage crops and idling capacity (reduced stocking rate) to improve flexibility; others argued that maintaining pasture quality and managing upside risk was a better strategy in a dryland environment. Supplementary feed was an important strategy for some farmers, but its use was limited by contour and machinery constraints. A surprisingly large proportion of farmers run breeding cows, a policy that is much less flexible than trading stock. However, several farmers had improved their flexibility by running a high proportion of trading cattle and buffer mobs of ewe hoggets and trade lambs. To manage market risk, the majority of farmers are selling a large proportion of their lambs prime. Similarly, cattle are either sold prime or store onto the grass market when prices are at a premium. However, market risk associated with the purchase of supplements and grazing was poorly managed.
Download
(490 KB)A trial was conducted in Canterbury to determine the relative preference of lambs for seven different specialist forages, each of which was established in a separate plot, replicated three times. Lambs with a history of grazing ryegrass had access to all plots simultaneously and continuously for 12 days. Herbage mass, utilisation and composition were assessed every two days. By day 12 the proportion of the forages utilised ranged from 67 and 65% for red clover and rape respectively to less than 1% for chicory and a new grass sward. In the context of creep grazing the present trial suggests that both red clover and rape might have the potential to motivate lambs to make greater use of creep gates and increase feed intake and consequentially further enhance lamb liveweight performances associated with creep grazing. Keywords: chicory, creep grazing, diet preference, forage species, palatability, pasja, red clover, ryegrass, white clover
Download
(547 KB)A wide variation in profitability exists between farmers across New Zealand. Not all of this variation can be simply attributed to land class, absolute production levels or debt levels. Understanding what makes one farmer profitable when another struggles to break even is necessary to enable the development of programmes and support to improve the overall sector’s profitability. This paper reports on the results of exploratory analysis on North Island hard hill country to identify what factors are linked to the large variation in profitability observed between farms. The exploratory analysis used simple correlation analysis to study the relationship between selected farm attributes to identify those that appear most important to determining overall farm profitability. The initial results indicated that on Class 3 farms stocking rate, sheep to cattle ratio and lambing percentage are important variables related to profit. As with any business, realising the profit potential of a farm is the combination of a well thought through strategy and sound execution. The variables identified in this exploratory analysis are core parts of the strategy, but to realise the profit potential, implementing these has to be tailored to the farm. Keywords: profit, hill country, stocking rate, sheep to cattle ratio, lambing percentage, EBITR (Earnings before Interest, Tax and Rent)
Download
(828 KB)Silage is an important supplement in New Zealand dairy systems, however quality can be variable. Challenges with pasture silage lie mainly in the fermentation process, while maize silages tend to have a better fermentation profile, but are prone to heating and spoilage at feed-out. A series of laboratory scale silo trials were used to investigate the effect of different silage inoculants on aerobic stability in maize silage (n=8) and fermentation quality in pasture silage (n=6). Inoculants affected aerobic stability in maize silage, and pH, fermentation losses, ammonia-N and fermentation acid profile in pasture silage, however products differed in their efficacy. Farmers can make better inoculant purchase decisions by choosing products that have supporting trial data as well as guaranteed bacteria numbers.
Download
(492 KB)Validation of satellite-based prediction of pasture cover for dairy farms in Canterbury (New Zealand) during the 2008 and 2009 milking seasons is reported. Satellitebased predictions made using the new Canterbury model were validated against estimates from a rising plate meter for the Lincoln University Dairy Farm (LUDF) weekly farm walks and from nine commercial farms, across 15 images. Validation against LUDF data showed high coefficients of determination (mean R2 = 0.85, range 0.69 to 0.97 kg DM/ha) and low residual standard errors (mean RSE =138 kg, range 53 to 244 kg DM/ha). Validation against commercial data showed a higher level of variability between farms and images than the LUDF data. The Canterbury model accounted for a large proportion of the observed variability in pasture cover of dairy pastures when matched to high quality data, and showed seasonal trends in the model coefficients. Higher variability associated with commercial data may be attributed to geographic distribution, timing and method of data collection as well as varying levels of competency in monitoring skills. Keywords: Pasture, monitoring, satellite data, paddock ranking, pastures from space
Download
(713 KB)Forage brassica calculators can be used to assist fertiliser consultants and farmers plan nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) applications for site-specific brassica production. The cost of each nutrient and the predicted productivity are used to recommend both economic and environmentally sound application rates. In this study, simulated yield was that modelled by PARJIB (a model that analyses and forecasts yield responses to nutrients) from the soil available nutrient levels, the potential yield and the fertiliser rates. The actual (observed) yields are those measured from the field. Simulations for ePasjaf (R2=0.96; root mean square of the deviation (RMSD) .3% (0.25 t/ha)) followed observed data closely with individual harvests at 60 and 90 days after sowing, consistent with observed data (R2>0.93; RMSD.4% (0.20 t/ha)). The ePasjaf model is sufficiently robust to predict site specific N and P fertiliser requirements. However, the model may need to be extended to more than two grazing events. Simulations for bulb turnips (R2=0.10; RMSD.28.1% (2.70 t/ha)) was poor. Simulations predicted the same yield for different treatments within sites, while observed yields differed widely (4.12 t/ha). This was because experiments included establishment and seeding method treatments which are not currently accounted for by the calculators. Thus, practical use of the brassica calculators for assisting with fertiliser rates currently depends on other agronomic factors being managed optimally. Key words: agro-ecological, leachate, supplementary feed, water-holding capacity
Download
(575 KB)This paper reviews the requirement for inoculation of white clover (Trifolium repens) seed with rhizobia bacteria in New Zealand. The pastoral industry relies on the nitrogen fixed by clover's rhizobia bacteria. These rhizobia were not present in soils prior to European settlement, but were introduced as contaminants, and naturally spread with pastoral development. The advent of large scale land development in the 1950s identified areas where clovers failed to nodulate and establish due to the absence of rhizobia, which led to the development of inoculated lime coated seed. Rhizobia have spread widely throughout New Zealand, and in the great majority of situations where pasture is being sown, soils now contain high levels of resident rhizobia capable of nodulating white, red and alsike clover, and inoculation of clover seed is not required. However, it is suggested the use of inoculated clover seed should be considered in the following three situations as an insurance against nodulation failure: undeveloped grasslands with no evidence of resident clover; virgin pastoral land cleared directly from scrub; and paddocks cropped with maize continually for over 10 years. It has been hypothesised that inoculating clover seed may improve clover growth through introducing more effective rhizobia with better nitrogen fixation ability, but the research in this area suggests there is little likelihood of any significant response from doing this. Keywords: rhizobia, inoculation, coated seed, white clover, red clover, alsike clover
Download
(528 KB)Current winter feeding practice using a daily grazing duration to ration feed is based on the sheep industry of the 1960s to the 1980s when per head performance was much lower than today. This study investigated the impact of changing from a 1-day grazing duration to a 4-day grazing duration during winter on subsequent productivity. Ewe condition score and liveweight, tailing percentages, and tailing and weaning weights of lambs, as well as the incidence of vaginal prolapse in ewes at lambing were recorded over several years on a total of seven farms. Spring pasture growth and botanical composition was measured on one farm. Results suggest 4-day shifting had little impact on vaginal prolapse but did result in more settled sheep, easier winter shifting regime, and less pasture damage, leading to improved pasture production in early spring (P<0.01). Changing to a 4-day shifting regimen also decreased labour requirements. Keywords: body condition score, ewe, grazing duration, lamb growth, liveweight, spring pasture production, stolons, tillers, winter.
Download
(517 KB)
NZ Grassland Association Inc.
11 Montrose Street, Mosgiel, Dunedin 9024 New Zealand | P: +64 3 477 0712 | F: +64 3 473 6495 | E: nzgrassland@gmail.com
© Copyright NZ Grassland Association Inc. 2011. All rights reserved
Refund Policy | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions
