Southland Monitor Farm Project

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1 Southland Monitor Farm Project Weekly Update 26 January 2011 The growth rates across the region have dropped, except in Wallacetown which has risen from 43 to 55 kg DM/ha/day. The largest decline in growth occured in Northern Southland, dropping from 31 to 15 kg DM/ha/day. The average growth rates of the two Otago farms are around 16 kg DM/ha/day lower than the average recorded in the same period last season. Soil temperatures have risen this week, with the average now being 1.2 C higher than last year. The highest temperature of 18.5 C was recorded in Central Southland, and the lowest of 16 C was recorded in Wallacetown. The average pasture cover ranges from 2023 to 2357 kg DM/ha. This is remaining relatively stable in comparison with last week. The rainfall across the region is down from last week. Most of the monitor farms are still currently feeding supplement to maintain cow production and condition. Topping of the paddocks is occurring on several of the monitor farms to maintain quality pasture, as is the application of nitrogen. The rotation lengths range from 22 days to 32 days. Weekly Tip Average covers have improved, so the focus is now on identifying surpluses early, making it important to regularly do your farm walk and feed-wedge. A fair amount of supplement has been used to get through the dry so there needs to be a serious effort to capture any surpluses now to ensure you have enough for Autumn and next Spring. Seed head production has slowed making it easier to maintain pasture quality while extending the round. With the recent rains, it is a good time to apply nitrogen to pastures which will further assist pasture quality, develop surpluses for supplement and to start moving the round out slowly from February onwards. Compile a feed budget now to establish what your supplement requirements are for autumn and spring and then use this to put a plan in place to fill the gaps. Farm Summary Demo Eastern Central Northern West Telford Farm Otago Average cover (kg DM/ha) Previous APC (kg DM/ha) Supplement (kg/cow/day) Rotation length (days) Stocking rate on pasture Milksolids kg/cow Milksolids kg/ha N (kg/ha) Soil temperature ( C) Growth Rate (kg DM/day) Rainfall Comments

2 Pasture Growth Rates 120 Southland Pasture Growth (kg DM/ha) Jun 04 Jul 04 Aug 04 Sep 04 Oct 04 Nov 04 Dec 04 Jan 04 Feb Growth Rate (kg DM/ha/day) 04 Mar 04 Apr 04 May Otago 0 04 Jun 04 Jul 04 Sep 04 Oct 04 Jan 04 Feb 04 Apr Soil Temperature 10 cm soil temperature at 10 am ( C) Jun 04 Jul 04 Aug 04 Sep 04 Oct 04 Nov 04 Dec 04 Jan 04 Feb 04 Mar 04 Apr Av SDF Coastal Eastern Sthld Central Sthld Northern Sthld West Otago Balclutha

3 Frei Goble Van der Poel Hall

4 Southland Monitor Farm Project Weekly Update 12 January 2011 A new monitor farm has been added to the table this week. This farm is located at Castlerock and is representative of the Mossburn/Lumsden area. It has an area of 257 effective ha, and is currently milking 640 cows. The APC across the region now ranges from kg DM/ha, the highest is located in West Otago and the lowest in Eastern Southland. Central Southland is the only location to not show an increase in APC this week, however growth rates have increased and so has production. The growth rates across the region have all increased except for Telford which has slightly decreased, correlating with a decrease in soil temperature. Most of the monitor farms (except Wallacetown) are still feeding supplement to overcome the feed deficit presented at this time of year, and the production levels are either up from last week, or sitting around the same level. The rainfall levels across the region range from mm. This is a smaller range than last week, although more rain is required for pasture growth to meet feed requirements. Figure 1: Seasonal Comparison of Monthly Pasture Growth From the monthly pasture growth over the last 4 seasons graph, it is obvious that December was very low compared to all the previous seasons. This was caused by the lack of rainfall during the month of December, and the soil water deficits presented. Figure 2: Seasonal Comparison of Monthly Soil Temperatures As the monthly comparison of soil temperatures show, December s average temperature was higher than the last 3 seasons, although quite close to the season. The average soil temperature is 2 C higher than this time last season.

5 Weekly Tip Growth rates are moderate but still below demand except in Mossburn, Wallacetown and Balclutha. Supplements are therefore still an important part of cows diets. Look at doing a feed budget towards the end of February to establish how much supplement you will require and then check your cashflow budget (go to DairyNZ website Farm Facts 1-35,1-82 & 1-83). Take stock of your winter supplement to ensure you are on track to supplying adequate winter requirements or put a plan in place to fill any shortage. Soil moisture deficit levels are still moderately high and some good rain is still needed to get the grass growing well. It s therefore important to keep the cows daily pasture allocation tight and stay on a round longer than 25 days. Monitor cow condition and take action with cows that are less than BCS 4. Farm Summary Lumsden Demo Eastern Central Northern West Telford Farm Otago Average cover (kg DM/ha) Previous APC (kg DM/ha) Supplement (kg/cow/day) Rotation length (days) Stocking rate on pasture Milksolids kg/cow Milksolids kg/ha N (kg/ha) Soil temperature ( C) Growth Rate (kg DM/day) Rainfall Comments

6 Pasture Growth Rates Soil Temperature

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8 Southland Monitor Farm Project Weekly Update 5 January 2011 Average growth rates over the last two weeks have increased due to the increase in rainfall across the region. The growth rates now range from kg DM/ha/day, there has been a significant jump in growth rates for Northern Southland which went from 10 kg DM/ha/day to 26 kg DM/ha/day over the two week period. The APC s have not changed significantly, they range from kg DM/ha. Several of the monitor farms continue to top the paddocks following grazing to remove the stalkier vegetation, and maintain the pasture quality. Nitrogen is being applied on all the monitor farms, except Northern Southland and West Otago. Soil temperatures continue to increase, with the average being 2.2 C higher than the same period last year. Weekly Tip All regions have received good rainfall over the last 14 days. Try to hold your round to allow the pastures to respond to the moisture they have received. Responses to nitrogen should be good as soil temperatures have stayed high. Growth could be variable for the next couple of weeks as dead material rots down and actively growing plants respond to the moisture they have received. As heads start to clear and everyone returns from holiday take time to plan the rest of the season. Continue to record the numbers of cycling cows and rotate the bulls on a regular basis to keep them fresh and injury free. Bulls that go lame can become temporarily infertile requiring a month from recovery to regain their fertility. Higher numbers of returns could indicate that one or more bulls are not fertile, or you have insufficient bulls to cover all the cycling cows. Note: Data is the average for the last 2 weeks. Farm Summary Demo Eastern Central Northern West Telford Farm Otago Average cover (kg DM/ha) Previous APC (kg DM/ha) Supplement (kg/cow/day) Rotation length (days) Stocking rate on pasture Milksolids kg/cow Milksolids kg/ha N (kg/ha) Soil temperature ( C) Growth Rate (kg DM/day) Rainfall Comments

9 Pasture Growth Rates Soil Temperature

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