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 presentation was made by Prof Derrick Moot on 31 Aug 2018 at the European Society of Agronomy Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland. The presentation discusses the process of moving from a data driven research program to development new grazing management rules for grazing alfalfa through to on-farm adoption of a new system to increase … Read more
Prof Moot was at Bonavaree farm in Marlborough over the weekend where lambing is in full swing. The mild weather is making ideal conditions for lambing and Fraser is confident he has sufficient cover across all paddocks to get him through his major pinch period of mid August. He is is smiling here as he … 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
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
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
In this video Prof Derrick Moot discusses the differences between established and establishing lucerne stands in relation to the rate at which the roots explore and exploit water stored in the soil. Known as the extraction front velocity (EFV) this is a measure in millimeters of soil per day that the plant roots access to … Read more
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