Prof Moot was out on farms in North Canterbury this week. He was impressed with the contribution of sub clover to many pastures with the white flowers just starting to show. The combination of sub and cocksfoot was a revelation on Mt Benger, with a high legume component and few weeds 6 years after establishment. … Read more
Posted prepared by the Dryland Pastures Research Team – R. Lucas, S. Olykan, D. Moot, C. Teixeira and A. Mills. Earlier this year, Prof. Derrick Moot discussed ‘Planning for sub clover dominant spring pastures in autumn’(1) so that farmers would have high quality feed for their lactating ewes. There’s a good reason for the focus … Read more
Posted prepared by: Dryland Pastures Research Team – C. Teixeira; R. Lucas, S. Olykan, A. Mills and Prof. Derrick Moot Spring is the most important period for most pastoral farms in New Zealand. It brings lambing, calving, milking, and rapid changes in plant growth rates. The increase in air and soil temperatures and day length, during … Read more
Rachel Fields presented her PhD exit seminar on Friday 14th July at Lincoln University’s Field Research Centre (FRC). This video is a shortened version of that seminar presenting her main research findings. The topic of Rachel’s PhD was ‘Causes of elevated coumestrol in lucerne and mitigation of the subsequent risk to ewe reproductive performance’Coumestrol is … Read more
An update of sub clover cultivars reproductive development – November 24, 2016. Prepared by Carmen Teixeira, (PhD student Dryland Pastures Research Team) & Derrick Moot with the Dryland Pastures Research Team, Lincoln University It is late spring and the sub clovers plants have already flowered! This year, in Canterbury the late rains in mid-November have extended the … Read more
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
Posted on behalf of Professor Derrick Moot and Dr Keith Pollock Yes, it’s been a dry spring and summer. Not unheard of in Canterbury but more extreme than normal. At Ashley Dene, 538 mm of rain has been recorded from 1st March 2014 to 28th of Feb 2014. This is about 88% of the normal … Read more
The latest video blog from the mid-January harvest of the lupin grazing experiment at Sawdon Station. Dr Alistair Black and PhD student Travis Ryan-Salter from Lincoln University discuss grazing preference and dry matter yields, whilst comparing growth characteristics to last year’s results. Check out the video below (11 min).
Posted on behalf of Dr Derrick Moot (Professor of Plant Science, Lincoln University) The summer of 2012/2013 is one of the driest on record for North Island farmers and many in the South Island. Recent rain in some places makes decisions on what to graze, and when, crucial. The ideal grazing response will depend on the … Read more
Posted on behalf of Dr Derrick Moot (Professor of Plant Science, Lincoln University) UPDATED: 28/2/2017 One of our most frequently asked questions at this time of year is “Can I use my lucerne for ewe/hogget mating?” so we thought it was timely to post some information so you can make an informed decision: As always … Read more