App helps get best out of pasture
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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.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
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