This paper describes the development of a dry Downland farm into lucerne, and the increased stocking rates and sheep performance, which gave the opportunity to purchase an additional property. Management experiences with lucerne are discussed, along with future priorities in further development
In 1971-3 and 1972-4 two successive generations of Friesian male weaners were carried to slaughter on two self-contained farmlets, one all pasture, the other with half its area in pasture and half in lucerne. The pasture farmlet produced slightly less herbage dry matter than the pasture/lucerne farmlet. Average net hot carcass production was 922 and 829 kg/ha/yr respectively. The stocking rate was 4.85 animals/ha with an overlap of two generations from November to February. Herbage yields and animal intakes were estimated by before and after grazing cuts. The lucerne was grazed at a 40-day rotation in its growing season. To obtain high cattle growth rates, much stalk was left ungrazed, being 15 to 20% of the total dry matter standing before grazing above a height of 3 to 4 cm. Overall conversion efficiency of ingested forage was lower on the lucerne/pasture farmlet than on the pasture farmlet and it was also more variable on the former. With the grazing rotation and pressure adopted in this trial, bloat was no serious problem.
One honeybee or bumblebee working on each square metre of white clover or red clover gave adequate pollination. This could be obtained with one hive of honeybees to each three hectares of flowering clover. Lucerne seeding averaged only 10% of the potential maximum in open fields with honey- or bumblebees. In cages where honeybees were forced to gather pollen, this was raised to 30% but it was not possible to increase seed set significantly in the fields.
DURING 1919 and 1920, Cockayne (1919a, b, c; 1920a, b, c) published a series of papers on the montane tussock-grasslands of New Zealand. Then, as now, there were worries about overgrazing because carrying capacity had declined frotm one sheep per 1.2 ha, to one sheep per 2 ha (Cockayne, 1919a). As part of his work Cockayne observed plant species eaten by sheep at Hanmer during January (Cockayne, 1919b) and September 1919 at the same site (Cockayne, 1920b). On both occasions stocking rate was very heavy for the duration of the observation period. In January, 281 rams grazed the area for nine days and in September it was grazed by 645 hoggets for five days. As the total area was slightly more than 10 ha it is not surprising that Cockayne (1920b) commented after the second grazing that in places “the grass was cropped as closely as if it had been mown with a scythe. . . .”
College Glutinosa was selected from Glutinosa lucerne for earlier spring growth, greater vigour, improved rhizomatous creep and better seed production. It was released as a certified cultivar in 1969. Trials show that it is an alternative to Wairau for grazing, particularly on shallow droughty soils, and should be sown without companion grasses and grazed rotationally. This cultivar also has potential for oversowing on steep, dry, hill country in the South Island because of its persistence and creeping habit
Over the past 13 years the property described has proved a worthwhile investment. Carrying capacity has been increased by 260%, and high performance stock have been maintained; ewes have averaged 135% lambing. The property was first developed into a dryland lucerne unit, and in later years to an irrigation farm. This has been achieved with 2 labour units, and extended working hours.
S170 tall fescue was compared wilth Ruanui ryegrass an/d Apanui cocksfoot in two mowing trials at Invermay from 1968 to 1971. One site was located on a fertile Wingatui recent alluvial silt loan soil, and the other on a Warepa series yellow-grey hill soil of medium-low fertility.
MY PRESENT concept of an ideal pasture is an old pasture with a wide-ranging composition. I feel that S 170 tall fescue has a place in a pasture of this nature, if present problems of supply and price of seed are overcome.
North Otago is a well-established, efficiently farmed district. Primary production, which grossed an estimated $20 million in the 1973-4 season, will continue to be the major source of regional revenue. The geographic character and the soil resources of the district are described with a comprehensive coverage of historical development, current farming practices and future opportunities for pastoral development. The principal factor limiting agriculture in North Otago is a climate characterized by low, variable rainfall. Pastoral potential is closely tied to investment in oversowing, lucerne and irrigation. Successful farming under difficult environmental conditions demands above-average ability. The managerial skill of North Otago’s farmers is an outstanding regional resource that augurs well for the future.
On the Coromandel range near Paeroa this development of mature grassland from virgin bush has been accomplished on an area of about 1 200 ha of hill country rising from 30 to 500m above sea level. Only about 5% of this country is ploughable but most of it is “riding” country. The rainfall ranges from 1 500 to 2 500 mm depending on elevation and is fairly evenly spread over the year. In fact, it is often very difficult to get a burn even in the driest months.
GRASSLANDS 47 10 (G4710) is an experimental cultivar of tall fescue, Festuca arundinacea (Schreb.), developed by Grasslands Division for use in New Zealand pastures.
LUCERNE has long been recognized as a highly nutritious forage crop, traditionally utilized for hay and now widely used for grazing stock on the shallower soils subject to summer drought. A recent commercial development in New Zealand is the use of lucerne to produce a dehydrated product. Export production from the Winslow factory has increased from 3000 tonnes in the first season to 14 000 tonnes in the 1973-4 year, and, with an increasing lucerne contract area and plant expansion, production is planned to increase to 30 000 tonnes.
Irrigation on light land has stimulated both an expansion and an intensification of cash cropping programmes on this country which, together, have increased winter carrying capacities and reduced spring/summer grazing areas. This has created a need for a spring/ summer grazing system capable of supporting a high concentration of stock. It is suggested that irrigated lucerne can form the foundation for such a system and results are given of preliminary testing of the concept with ewes and lambs.
Yield of lucerne seed in New Zealand is very low-less than onetenth that from areas of North America where pollinators are abundant, New Zealand lacks pollinators for lucerne and up to 90% of the florets are not tripped. Two species of bee are cultured in North America exclusively for lucerne pollination, the alkali bee, Nomia melanderi Cockerell, and the lucerne leafcutter bee, Megachile pacifica Panzer. Both species are now established in New Zealand and bee numbers are increasing. For the first time lucerne seed growers in New Zealand can begin to look forward to adequate pollination of their crops.
Production with irrigation is high and some of the economic advantages of irrigation farming are given. To achieve this high and steady rate of production, engineering and hydraulic principles must be followed in the design and construction of the border strips. If pasture is irrigated more than five times an economic advantage exists for a border strip length of 220 m as compared with 110 m or 440 m. As lengths of border strips are shortened, watering rates are increased and a greater area can be covered with the same amount of water or the area may be watered more frequently.
ALTHOUGH western U.S.A. has much more land under irrigation than New Zealand, the percentage of this laad irrigated by surface irrigatio,n is similar in both courrtries, being 60% in western U.S.A. and 66% in New Zealand.
Lucerne was sown at several sowing rates with both a roller drill and a precision seeder. Plant population counts and dry matter yields were recorded at regular intervals. The high seeding rate treatments showed higher plant mortalities than those sown at lower rates, resulting in a tendency for the population to reach an optimum, regardless of sowing method or rate. There were no significant differences obtained in the dry matter yeilds obtained from any treatment. Thus it would appear that precision seeding techniques enable lower seeding rates of lucerne to be sown successfully, owing to the better distribution of the seeds by the drill.
The increased use and acceptance of lucerne by farmers on the dry North Otago Downlands is described. The typical farmer attitudes, and management barriers, which need to be overcome before further expansion of lucerne areas for grazing purposes, are discussed.
Spring is a critical period for unirrigated, light land grazing systems based on lucerne. Three management principles are described, which, on the basis of experimental evidence, can improve lucerne production in spring. These three principles are (1) the transfer of cool season growth through to the early spring, (2) delaying the grazing commencement time on the lucerne in spring as long as possible, and (3) rotationally grazing ewes and lambs over the pre-weaning period. Practical management techniques to aid the implementation of these principles on a farm scale are discussed.
High stocking rates on irrigated pastures are not unrealistic because seasonal pasture production is predictable. For best utilization this feed should be eaten in situ. Therefore stock policies with demand patterlis that best follow the pasture production curve have an advantage. On the Lower Waitaki Plains, to which this paper pertains, the typical irrigation farm- will be 70% border-dyked. The remaining 30% of land can be a useful complement.
Over the period 1953-1963 with full utilization of pasture by cattle but not in self-contained farmlets, the production of irrigated pasture from December to March inclusive was about 8000 kg DM/ha. Under full utilization but on self-contained units, which necessitated high grazing pressures, production during the four summer months fell to 6000 kg DM/ha. White clover became dominant and perennial ryegrass was drastically thinned out. Likely steps to overcome this problem are discussed.
POPULATIONS of cocksfoot were collected from inland and high altitude areas througholut the South Island and compared with commercial samples. Two trials were designed to evaluate the effect of mountain climate and soil infertility on their performante.
Three systems of winter stocking of pasture were compared with winter spelling for subsequent herbage production and botanical composition on a fertile alluvial silt loam soil from 1970 to 1973. Although initial production deficits occurred in spring, increasing intensity and duration of winter stocking in 2 out of 3 experimental years did not depress subsequent total pasture production. In 2 years out of 3, high winter stocking rates resulted in significant increases in subsequent pasture production but in the third year the heaviest rate of winter stocking gave lower yields than an intermediate rate after an exceptionally wet winter. No major longterm changes in botanical composition were recorded.
THE AIM of this study was to examine ways of reducing the cost of establishing lucerne, and of increasing production in the first year.
Two varieties of tall fescue were compared with ‘Grasslands Ariki’ ryegrass as feeds for lactating, and growing catmtle. In three shortterm experimeats the dairy cows grazing the different types of pasture produced similar quantities of milk and in most cases the fat and protein contents did not differ significantly. On the other hand, the exclusion of clover from the grass swards led to a lower milk production. Liveweight gains were consistently higher for yearling cattle grazing Ariki ryegrass compared with the two fescue swards. The invitro digestibility of S170 was lower than the value for G4710 but because of the high clover content of the S170 pastures animal performance was similar.
Results of comparisons between New Zealand and overseas bred ryegrass cultivars over the last thirty-five years are reported. The single plant data have involved a total of 2359 seasonal comparisons, and virtually all of them favour the New Zealand cultivars.
The seasonal and total production of a number of different grass species and lucerne varieties was compared under grazing over 3 years. Significant differences were obtained in total and component yields in all seasons. Lucerne outyielded all other species in the summer while prairie grass and tall fescue were superior in the autumn, winter and spring. The performance of the different species is discussed in relation to production, botanical composition, climate and insect attack.
AN Aberystwyth selection of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), known as S170, was sown with certified New Zealand white clover (Trifolium repens) and re’ clover (T. pratense) and compared under sheep grazing with other grass/clover pastures at the Grasslands Division Regional Station at Lincoln (Watkin, 1975) .
A summary of results is given from trials investigating the effect of sowing date, lime, altitude, aspect and seed treatment on the establishment and production of oversown lucerne at various sites in the semi-arid to sub-humid zones of North and Central Otago. , Spring sowings were generally more successful in establishing lucerne than autumn sowings. Early to mid-August sowings appeared more satisfactory on low altitude sunny country, while colder, shady aspect country responded to slightly later sowings. Higher numbers of plants established at the higher altitudes. Lime pelleting and heavy inoculation rates increased lucerne establishment when favourable environmental conditions followed sowing, but did not ensure establishment under adverse conditions. At pH 6.2 to 6.6, there was no consistent response in lucerne establishment to 1200 kg/ha lime, although up to 60% increases in establishment were obtained on some sites. Herbage yields of over 5 t/ha dry matter were recorded on the best plots, at lucerne plant densities in excess of 10 to 20/ms. With present techniques, oversowing of lucerne in this environment is not recommended, except on damper sites, as satisfactory lucerne establishment has not been achieved consistently in trial work.
LAST YEAR the Grassland Memorial Trust was kind enough to make me one of their annual awards, and as one who works mainly in the field of agricultural journalism I feel that it may be interesting, though I doubt of very much real value, if I set down a few rambling thoughts about communication in agriculture.
Four species of bumblebees, Bombus horforum, B. ruderafus, B. subterraneus and B. terrestris, are now established and widespread in New Zealand. The long-tongued species, B. hortorum, B. ruderatus, and B. subterraneus, are very effective pollinators of red clover but not of lucerne. Bombus terrestris is short-tongued, “robs” red clover, and is thus less effective as a pollinator of this crop but is a most efhcient pollinator of lucerne. Research on bumblebees in New Zealand was first concerned with identification of the species and their distribution. Since the 1950s biological aspects have received increasing attention and success has been achieved with local enhancement of bumblebee populationsintroduction of B. horforum to Manawatu district and increase of local populations in Mackenzie Country. It is considered that manipulation of populations of the species now present offers most promise for increase in pollination, and hence seed yield, of red clover and luccrne in New Zealand.
THE AREA of New Zealand is 26 million hectares of which 8.3 million hectares is classed as good farming land, 500 000 ha as first-class cropping land, and 607 000 ha as productive exotic forest, about half State owned and half owned by private companies or local authorities. Recently the rate of exotic forest planting has accelerated and the area being planted has expanded to a degree that could be termed an arboreal population explosion. The forester and the farmer are now meeting face to face and in some areas the meeting has become a confrontation. This paper outlines some of the economic and sociological Problems that have arisen and the opinions expressed herein, as distinct from the facts and figures, are my own and not necessarily those of any other person or organlization.
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