The recent rain across the country may cause pastures to green up. Stay off them if you want to have feed in spring. At this time of year it is important to get a canopy of green leaves covering the ground extensively before winter temperatures cause growth rates to slow. For dryland farmers the rain … Read more
Presentation on Hill Country Management by Professor Derrick Moot (Dryland Pastures Research team, Lincoln University) to the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science (NZIAHS) forum on the “Impact of changing landscapes on primary production” held at Lincoln University, New Zealand on 23/10/2019. (approx 26 mins including questions). An accompanying PDF of the presentation … Read more
This video is a presentation by Prof Derrick Moot at the European Society of Agronomy Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland from 27-31 Aug 2018. This presentation was given on 30 Aug 2018. The presentation discusses the changes seen in the dairy industry in the Canterbury region and outlines some problems and potential solutions to some of … Read more
We were recently contacted by a Vet because he had visited a property where Romney ewe hoggets had been grazing lucerne since January 4th til APRIL 4th. At this time the hoggets were showing signs of udder development which is a clear indication of a highly oestrogenic crop. In our experience young stock such as … 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
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
Every now and then we hear about animals performing poorly on lucerne compared to grass pastures – yes it can happen and for several reasons (ill thift, lack of time to acclimatise to a new feed source, lack of access to fibre and salt …) – but, when it comes down to facts, mean daily … Read more
Here are some photos of sub clover taken by Doug Avery on ‘Bonavaree’ Farm in Marlborough. Legume–dominant pasture in spring 2016 The photo below shows Fraser Avery standing in high quality legume dominant pasture last spring (1 October 2016). This is ‘Antas’ sub clover which has been allowed to set seed in its first year and … Read more
Upcoming Field Day: High Country Lucerne Development Where: Flock Hill Station, Arthurs Pass … Read more
Dryland Pastures Research team leader Derrick Moot talks with PhD candidate Rachel Fields about her experiments which are investigating the cause of high phytoestrogen content in lucerne herbage and its impact on ewe ovulation rates when grazed (approx. 5 mins).