The fire currently burning at Castle Hill is indicative of the dry conditions many parts of the east coast have experienced this winter/spring. We have just weaned at Lincoln and have started the ewes and lambs on a leader follower rotation around the lucerne. The weaned lambs are staying on lucerne to avoid a check … Read more
Posted on behalf of Prof Derrick Moot The recent rain has done little to top up the soils on dryland farms in the Canterbury region or fill the hydro Lakes. To understand the situation I asked Dr Black to send me the latest soil water data from the RADE. This is a typical soil (Templeton) … Read more
Posted on behalf of Prof. Derrick Moot. So what happens after the fire? On Saturday I went bungy jumping. A birthday “gift” voucher had been sitting on the fridge for several months. I was ignoring it. Silently hoping it might expire. But my wife had other ideas. She booked the date, and I confronted my … Read more
While at Bonavaree last week, Prof Moot took the opportunity to question Fraser about his current grazing management of lucerne. Fraser highlighted that they missed most of the rain the rest of the country has experienced in the last month so the land is drying out quickly. He is hopeful that he can get through … Read more
Posted on behalf of Prof Derrick Moot (Dryland Pastures Research Group) The Dryland Pastures Research Group are thinking of their east coast NI farmers – and we are feeling a long way from being able to help. So, we have put together some practical considerations for when the focus goes on pasture renewal on silt … Read more
Posted on behalf of Prof. Derrick Moot A nice problem to have – Matt Iremonger at Willesden Farm on Banks Peninsula is facing a different problem from the summer dry he encounters most years. This years rainfall has flushed lucerne back into production and Matt comments – “ 6500 lambs on 150 ha – stocking … Read more
Posted on behalf of Prof. Derrick Moot. Many east coast areas of New Zealand have had 20-100 mm of rainfall in the last week or so with more forecast. This unusual mid-summer situation has messed up my holiday – but more importantly can lead to some management issues that need to be considered for lucerne … Read more
02/11/2021 Mt Benger, North Canterbury The Luisetti-sponsored ‘Spotlight on legumes’ field day drew a crowd of ~70 people from the farming community, industry and Lincoln University to Mt Benger, North Canterbury, which is managed by Stuart Fraser. The field trip started in the hill country with the sub clover/cocksfoot pasture in Alice’s Block. This ‘Woogenellup’ … Read more
Rule 1: Never set stock on lucerne Rule 2: If you want to set stock on lucerne – read Rule 1. Rule 3: If you have a large area of lucerne (more than 15% of your farm) and are running out of lambing area you may need to set stock for a short period (up … Read more
It was great to have some rain last week – it allowed Fraser Avery some time to write about his planning for lucerne and sub clover after the first autumn rains – and to reflect on missing the opportunity to host us all at Bonavaree last week. On the farm Yes it is raining! When … Read more