Displaying items by tag: pasture

The hot dry summer and a strategic move to use less nitrogen is taking its toll on the Lincoln University Dairy Farm.

New research confirms it’s better to sow treated pasture seed early in dry autumns instead of waiting for rain before planting, says seed supplier Agriseeds. 

Restricted pasture growth and milk production occurs in many parts of New Zealand as a result of dry summers and irrigation restrictions, according to DairyNZ.

Pasture-based dairy farming is a balance between managing the pasture and the cows to maximise sustainable profit, says DairyNZ.

Dairy farmers searching for efficiencies in their operation know that home-grown, fully-utilised pasture has always been the most cost-effective feed.

The best pastures in Waikato and Bay of Plenty have been identified.

BRIX AND Pasture Energy Scale is a Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF) and farmer project exploring the relationship between grass Brix and pasture metabolisable energy (ME). 

With cashflows tight on dairy farms, pasture comes out on top as the cheapest feed source, says fertiliser co-op Ballance Agri-Nutrients.

DARE I say it? If you are aged 29 or over you can stop reading this message (about effluent) right now, because you’ll either know it all, or have made up your mind about it and be inflexible in your thinking. Younger minds when reading this will get an inkling of the underlying message and start to see the light. 

Dairy farmers searching for efficiencies in their operation know that homegrown, fully utilised pasture has always been the most cost-effective feed. Even before the current downturn, many farmers were not only looking at output ratios such as milk solids per cow, but also at feed efficiency ratios such as the cost of producing a megajoule of metabolisable energy per kg of dry matter.