Preliminary spring production data from lucerne

A dry spring in Canterbury has resulted in our dryland pastures at Ashley Dene being destocked on 25 Nov. Spring rainfall of 78 mm is only about half that expected in an average year and pasture growth has now ceased. In this video Derrick Moot discusses grazing mangement of lucerne in the spring period and … Read more

Renewing Dryland Pastures

Planning for your autumn sown annual clover based permanent pastures Order early Although it may seem a bit early to some people we thought it timely to put a reminder out for our dryland farmers to get their annual clover seed orders in to their local seed suppliers. Placing your seed orders now (before 1 … Read more

How to avoid reducing the life of your lucerne stand when set stocking

In this video, taken on 9 October at Ashley Dene, Derrick Moot describes in more detail the management we applied to the spring set stocked lucerne treatment for research purposes in order to develop appropriate on-farm guidelines. Weed control and the invasion of the problematic perennial tap-rooted and rhizomatous weeds which indicate the stand is … Read more

How to reduce the lifespan of your lucerne by set stocking

As a follow up to our last blog post on how to successfully implement a set stocking phase in you lucerne grazing system we thought we should show you what will happens if the stand is set stocked with either too many stock and/or for too long in spring. Basically, for research purposes, we’ve halved … Read more

How to successfully set stock lucerne during the spring lactation phase

In this blog post, filmed at Ashley Dene on 9 Oct 2015, Derrick Moot outlines the grazing management required to successfully set stock lucerne during early lactation. Using this method the persistence of the lucerne stand in the long term should not be detrimentally affected. Also a copy of the Derricks presentation at the New … Read more

Field Day at Ashley Dene on Friday 30 October

The Lincoln University Dryland Pastures Research Team and Beef + Lamb New Zealand would like to invite you to attend the Pastoral 21 Dryland Pastures Spring Field Day. Where: Ashley Dene Research Farm When: Friday 30 October 2015 Time: 1–4 pm Meet at the Ashley Dene Research Farm woolshed, corner of Bethels & Ashley Dene … Read more

Grazing begins in the lucerne monocultures on 17 Sept 2015

In this video, taken on 15 Sept 2015, Prof Derrick Moot returns to the lucerne monoculture at Ashley Dene, Canterbury. This pasture underwent winter weed control and we look at how successful the herbicide application has been in relation to vegetative growth as spring grazing is initiated.

State of the lucerne and lucerne-grass mixtures at Ashley Dene in early spring

In this video (taken on the 26th August) Prof Derrick Moot, of the Lincoln University Dryland Pastures Research Team, discusses the early spring grazing management of a lucerne monoculture vs. lucerne mixes established with either brome or cocksfoot (orchardgrass) as a companion species (approx 2 mins).

Mid-winter grazing of the cocksfoot dominant annual clover pastures

Dick Lucas shows the pre-grazing state of the cocksfoot pasture on July 1 which lead to the decision to initiate a winter graze to ensure survival of the young annual clover seedlings at the base of the pasture. This video shows the plot the ram hoggets have just entered for a clean up graze. At … Read more