Anna Mills 
These videos, taken on 25 Jan, we look at the state of a newly established – spring sown – dryland lucerne stand. In the first video Derrick discusses the state of the young lucerne at about 80-90 days after sowing as we prepare for the first graze/cut now flower buds are visible. There is also … Read more
In this video Prof Derrick Moot discusses the differences between established and establishing lucerne stands in relation to the rate at which the roots explore and exploit water stored in the soil. Known as the extraction front velocity (EFV) this is a measure in millimeters of soil per day that the plant roots access to … Read more
A dry spring in Canterbury has resulted in our dryland pastures at Ashley Dene being destocked on 25 Nov. Spring rainfall of 78 mm is only about half that expected in an average year and pasture growth has now ceased. In this video Derrick Moot discusses grazing mangement of lucerne in the spring period and … Read more
Planning for your autumn sown annual clover based permanent pastures Order early Although it may seem a bit early to some people we thought it timely to put a reminder out for our dryland farmers to get their annual clover seed orders in to their local seed suppliers. Placing your seed orders now (before 1 … Read more
In this video, taken on 9 October at Ashley Dene, Derrick Moot describes in more detail the management we applied to the spring set stocked lucerne treatment for research purposes in order to develop appropriate on-farm guidelines. Weed control and the invasion of the problematic perennial tap-rooted and rhizomatous weeds which indicate the stand is … Read more
As a follow up to our last blog post on how to successfully implement a set stocking phase in you lucerne grazing system we thought we should show you what will happens if the stand is set stocked with either too many stock and/or for too long in spring. Basically, for research purposes, we’ve halved … Read more
In this blog post, filmed at Ashley Dene on 9 Oct 2015, Derrick Moot outlines the grazing management required to successfully set stock lucerne during early lactation. Using this method the persistence of the lucerne stand in the long term should not be detrimentally affected. Also a copy of the Derricks presentation at the New … Read more
Derrick Moot talks about grazing a runout lucerne stand. Video taken 6 October 2015 at Ashley Dene while ewes and lambs are grazing paddock 4 of a 6 paddock rotation in the first grazing cycle (approx. 1 min).
The Lincoln University Dryland Pastures Research Team and Beef + Lamb New Zealand would like to invite you to attend the Pastoral 21 Dryland Pastures Spring Field Day. Where: Ashley Dene Research Farm When: Friday 30 October 2015 Time: 1–4 pm Meet at the Ashley Dene Research Farm woolshed, corner of Bethels & Ashley Dene … Read more
In this video, taken on 15 Sept 2015, Prof Moot talks about the stocking rate used on the rotationally grazed lucerne monoculture (6-paddock rotation). The quality (crude protein and ME) of the feed on offer during the early lactation phase at Ashley Dene, Canterbury is discussed.