This field day is another Beef + Lamb issues based Field day for Canterbury. I have been to the Marlborough based days, and they are truely worth attending. The theme for this field day is highly topical for dryland farmers: Profitable Lucerne and Lamb production. Derrick Moot (Lincoln University) and Tom Fraser (AgResearch) will be available … Read more
David and Jo Grigg own Tempello Farm which is situated in the Brancott Valley, Marlborough. Tempello is 4,800 ha (2,600 ha effective) and lies between the Awatere and Wairau Valleys. Tempello could be characterised as a “warm” farm with a late-August start to spring pasture growth, and often growth through winter. The pasture growth curve … Read more
Hi, Just a bit of an update on FAQs – we’re putting most of our fixed content on the Dryland website (www.lincoln.ac.nz/dryland). The Frequently Asked Questions page is where Derrick Moot and Dick Lucas have responded to some of the most commonly asked questions they get at field days or via email. They currently include responses to questions about weed … Read more
The ewes and lambs were tailed off this paddock on the 6th September, and the paddock was being spelled when I visited on the 14th September. You can see by the photo below that all the species in the mix are showing signs of regrowth, especially the Prairie Grass component. Lambs are weighed individually at … Read more
This Omaka Barley Paddock is still managing to supply a good quantity of feed to the lambing hoggets when I visited on September 14th. The pasture height was between 30-32 cm in height (see photo below). The quality of the pasture has declined now that the Barley is starting to go into reproductive (seeding) phase. … Read more
Hi, This reply has been posted in response to questions John posted on the blog Monday: Doug has supplied the 2012 soil test results (below) from ‘Bonavaree’ (0-7.5 cm soil depth). For ease the results have been averaged from 8 paddocks which were individually tested. Any fertilisers to be applied will meet requirements of the individual paddock. … Read more
You can subscribe to our dryland pastures blog updates using the RSS feed (on the right of the page under the “Meta” heading for either Posts and or Comments posted). This option will check the blog & let you know if a new post/comment has been published (so you don’t have to check it yourself!). … Read more
Beef + Lamb New Zealand offers a free text alert service which delivers lucerne management tips & the latest research from Professor Derrick Moot at Lincoln University & other lucerne experts directly to you. This free service is sent out by Beef + Lamb New Zealand extension manager Aaron Meikle and can be subscribed to at: http://beeflambnz.com/news-events/News/2012/february/text-service-provides-direct-line-to-forage-information/ … Read more
On Friday (7 Sept) lucerne on the Home Block at Ashley Dene was about 22 cm high which we estimate as being about 2200 kg DM/ha of standing dry matter (DM). This is based on calibrations we developed previously. At this time of year we expect every centimetre of lucerne height to translate to about … Read more
Lambing in Jeffries Front Flat has now finished. It is certainly not a normal season at Bonavaree. Having had the total annual rainfall in only 8 months (200 mm since lambing started) has delayed a few things. The lightly set stocked ewes on this paddock, and many others, would usually be mobbed up into larger mobs … Read more