Sub4Spring: finally, it’s spring!

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

What’s up with Subs 4 Spring?

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

Soil moisture status in winter

In these three short videos, taken on 3 August 2016,  Derrick talks about the current soil moisture status of a shallow and a deep soil as we prepare for the spring growth season in our dryland systems. In the first clip we see a lucerne stand on a deep Templeton silt loam soil at Lincoln … Read more

State of spring sown lucerne during the establishment phase prior to the first graze

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

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

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