GRASSLAND FARMING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 79, 12 September 1947, Page 6

GRASSLAND FARMING

(Continued from last issue) Plough Up And Resow Policy Now that phosphates are becoming more readily available and ample supplies of certified improved seeds have been built up, a vigorous plough up policy and pasture renewal should be implemented. Millions of acres of ploughable country in the North Island are not pulling their weight; they have been down to grass too long; they are too often dominated by rushes, weeds and poor and low producing grass; they need the reinvigoration or 'renewal. Youth should come again to many of our senile pasture swards. We are not doubting the possibility of your present pasture swards affording still a cheap, easy and reliable livelihood from a mediocre per acre production, but should we be satisfied with this state of affairs? We know many on the land have grown old and that much of youth has been attracted to other temporarily more remunerative walks of life, but if we can give the young people a greater incentive to. produce and to take a pride in that production, youth will stay on the land and others will be attracted to it as well. To decry farming is to destroy it; to encourage and fire young farmers' with enthusiasm is to preserve it. Intensive ’ grassland farming is essentially a young man’s game, but the laurels won are indeed worth while. Clover In Measured Production The efficiency of exploitation qf phosphates is determined largely by yor clover strains. Sears at Grasslands has measured the different production potential between poor strains and pedigree strains of white clover. When sown with pedigree ryegrass and under rotational sheep grazing, the poor strains without super are placed at 100. These with sliper 3cwt. per acre give at Palmerston North a 2 per cent, increase, standing at the relative figure of 102. The pedigree white clover without phosphate gave 29 per cent, increase over the poor strain, and with 3cwt. super gave 39 per cent, increase over the poor strain manured at the same •rate. These relative figures were 129 and 141 respectively. In further .-evidence of the value of clov.er, Sears has shown during the past 19 months at Grasslands that pastures without clovers just will not produce, nor will they respond to super and lime. In these trials, grass alone plots, uijmanured and with no return of dung and urine.* have in the past 12 months produced 31241b5. dry matter per acre. The grass alone plot, unmanured, but with full return of dung and'urine, hasjnoduced 44471b5. dry matter per acre. In comparison with these, the grass plus clover plot unmanured and with no return of dung and urine, has produced 10,6791b5. dry matter per acre whilst grass plus clover plot, unmanured but with full return of dung and urine, has produced 11,0551b5. dry matter per acre. A similar set of plots as above were manured with 3cwt. superphosphate and lOcwt. lime per acre per annum. The grass alone plot, manured but with no return of dung an urine, produced 27791b5. dry matter, and with full return of dung and urine, 46041b5. dry mat-' ter. In comparison with these, the grass plus clover plot, manured but with no return of dung and urine, produced 11,6691b5. ‘dry matter, and the same treatment with full return of dung and urine, produced 27791b5. lbs. dry matter per acre. Figures During the winter months, this clover built fertility becomes more obvious. During the period 5.5.47 to 12.8.47, the production figures per plot were:— 1. Grass alone. No dung or urine and no manure 1641b5. D.M.

2. Grass alone. No dung or urine but with manure 1421b5. D.M. 3. Grass and clover. No dung or urine and no manure 5191b5. D.M. i 4. Grass and clover. No dung or urine but with manure 7101bs. D.M.

The same were repeated with full return of dung an durine.

1. Grass alone. No manure 3321b5, D.M.

2. Grass alone. With manure 346 lbs. D.M. 3. Grass and clover. No manure 12061b5. D.M.

4. Grass and clover, No manure 14351b5.

From these figures of .winter production, although there is not a great deal of clover growth in the winter, the eeffct of the soil fertility build up as a result of clover is shown in the greatly increased winter grass production. Also seen is the effect of the fertiliser which is now benefitting even in the naturally high fertility soil on which the experiment is being carried out.

It has been calculated from chemical analyses of the herbages and the importance of this point cannot be overstressed, that the symbiotic bacteria in the nodules of the clovers in the clover plots have fixed in the past year the equivalent nitrogen per acre to that contained in approximately 19001bs. of sulphate of ammonia, and in addition to this, there probably has been further nitrogen supplied direct from the clover nodules into the soil.

Topdressing

We have seen that, without clover, topdressing is of little avail and yet topdressing with prosphate or with phosphate and lime is the only practical way by which we can obtain growth to carry enough stock to elaborate and return to the sward the fertility necessary for its build up and maintenance. Had we a satisfactory and cheap form of artificial nitrogen, we might be able to get along without the clover, but to date, that satisfactory and cheap form of nitrogen is not in sight. At Grasslands at present, a study is being made of the forms of nitrogen and the individual reactions of those forms on the components of the sward and on the soil organisms. We feel that, had we readily available ’artificial nitrogen in a form that was wholly compatible with the pasture components and soil organisms, then we would have a most valuable aid to intensive grassland farming, more particularly for the rapid production of out-of-§eason frass.

On this point of artificial fertilisers, we part company with the tents of the compost school. We cannot* profitably or practically compost our grasslands unless we start the cycle of production going and keep ia going, and the only way to do this is to apply prosphate or phosphate and lime to grow more clover that will sustain the animal to digest the growth to produce the all essential animal compost that we agree is the basis of all practical soil fertility building as fab, at least, as our grasslands are concerned. In any scheme, therefore, aiming at intensive grassland production, the first after sowing the best of seed, is to phosphate lavishly alone or with lime.. The less fertile the soil, the more phosphate or phosphate and lime is required to lift the initial production high right from the offset. On the raw pumice in the Waikato, this quantity is approximately 9cwt. of superphosphate in the firfst 12 months’ life on the pas* ture; on the poor gum-lands of the North, the same quantity of -phosphate is required, plus some 2 tons* of carbonate of lime.

If we dilly-dally in the early porduction efforts, we will never grow enough clover to carry sufficieht stock tQ continue the progress of pasture building. We all know most o fthe Auckland Province needed initially this kick-off of production. Some few areas got it, but there are maiy areas either still slowly building up; there are vast areas still languishing for that initial kick-off. Management A first consideration in management is to see as far as possible that the maximum opportunity to express themselves is given to the pasture components of the sward. No growth is possible without growth. Therefore, if a pasture is hard, close and continuously grazed, growth is checked and there are comparatively only a few high producing species that can be employed in such a closely grazed pasture. For example, under such management, we must at once rule out short rotation ryegrass, Italian ryegrass, cocksfoot, Timothy and the Red clovers, and we will get a greatly reduced production from perennial ryegrass and white clover. In other words, high producing grasses and clovers can 'only produce to capacity so long as they are given an opportunity to grow. This even is true of Pasfcalum. This rather postulates the need in intensive grassland farming for special purpose pastures where the management can be meted out to afford the maximum growth of these, consistent always with good utilisation and nutritive value of the fodder eaten. Also, the principle of spell and graze, spell and graze, must be observed in any of the permanent or rotational nonspecial purpose pastures if the maximum production is to be obtained from them. At Grasslands, three methods of graze-managing the same pasture resulted as follows: Hard, close and continuous grazing, 10,1371]d5. dry matter per acre; rotational grazing, 12,2051b5. dry matter per acre; and under long spell rotational grazing, 15,2681b5. dry matter per acre for the past year. (To be continued)