The Dryland Pastures Blog is moving to a new address

by

Update 27/1/2015: Welcome to the new blog site of the Lincoln University Dryland Pastures Research Team. All our previous posts have now been moved into our new site. Just like our previous blog site the comments option will be open for 2 weeks after any new post is published.  Original Post (21/1/2015): Over the next … Read more

Putting a price on lucerne

by
Sheep grazing grass pasture at Ashley Dene

With drought conditions developing along the east coast we thought maybe we would throw some numbers out to put a price on how lucerne can transform dryland farming systems. Here, at Lincoln, the 2014/15 rainfall for the Jul-Dec period is about 170 mm – or about half what is expected over the same period in … Read more

Dick Lucas named in New Year Honours list

by

Featured Image: Recorded for posterity – Dick Lucas locates a lone white clover plant in an Irish pasture while attending a field day as part of the International Grasslands Congress held in Dublin in 2005. Our resident annual clover guru Dick (Richard) Lucas was named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for … Read more

An introduction to current research at Ashley Dene

by

Monthly rainfalls have been below average here at Lincoln since April. Pasture growth rates have slowed as water stress conditions have developed and all our dryland experiments at Ashley Dene have been de-stocked earlier than usual. On Monday we released Dick Lucas, our resident annual clover guru, at Ashley Dene to talk about soils, their … Read more

Set stocking lucerne in early spring – the stuff you need to know

by

Posted on behalf of Prof. Derrick Moot This grazing management is based on new research out of Lincoln University. It is recommended ONLY for farmers with a large proportion (>40%) of their properties in lucerne who require greater areas to lamb on in early spring and who already follow the optimum rotational grazing management system … Read more

Upcoming Dryland Pastures Seminar – Marlborough 28 August

by

Professor Derrick Moot will be in Blenheim on Thursday 28th August. Come and get first hand the latest information of Dryland Pasture Research from Lincoln University. Please pass on the invite to your neighbours/colleagues. Further details below. Coffee/tea on arrival and  supper to follow. Please RSVP by Sunday August 24th for catering purposes to Warwick Lissaman at: Email: … Read more