GRASSLAND FARMING.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 295, 4 July 1929, Page 6

GRASSLAND FARMING.

PASTURE MANAGEMENT AND TOPDRESSING. '

(By P. W. Smallfield, Fields Superintendent, Auckland) No. 11. Management of the Dairy Herd. On most dairy farms it is usual for the grazing fields to he divided into day paddocks and night paddocks, but the keynote of the new system is the quick grazing down of che pastures. We have found tTiat. grazing periods of two days of 24 hours each are satisfactory and no serious difficulty has arisen on the 50 farms where farmers are cooperating with us in grazing trials. Also, on three farms which are being worked under our direction wit) 24-hour grazing periods all over the farms the results so far have provec quite satisfactory. When the grazing period extends over the two days a good deal of the pasture growth i: wasted by fouling.

At certain times of the year when growth is not particularly rapid modification to one and a-half or one day’s grazing may b." necessary. One of the greatest difficulties in the new system is the complete cleaning up of the fields after the dairy cows have eaten the best of j the grass. Y&ung stock should follow the milking cows, but on most 1 farms there are not sufficient young I stock to do the cleaning up quickly j enough. When a very uneven growth , is left after a "-razing the mower sh"uld he used. Sheep suggest them--1 selves as efficient cleaners up after F’e cows, but there are practical difficulties in fencing and the man's c-ement of sheen which will probably preclude their use on the average dairy farm. 1 Pastures should not be allowed to ■ become too long before grazing. In the early spring a growth of three , to four inches is high enough, and , j in the late- spring and summer the aim 'should be to graze when four to five inches high. Production from Rotationally-grazed Pastures.

One of the most marked features of the current experimental work on rotational grazing is the high per - acre production of butterfat from rotationally-grazed fields. Dairy farms in good dairying districts have an average per-acre butterfat production of from 90 to 130 pounds. It is only exceptional farms that reach a production of 150 to 170 pounds per acre. It would be quite possible for most small dairy farms to raise” the average per-acre production of butterfat to at least 150 pounds by a more liberal conservation of the surplus summer production of grass as hay and ensilage and the adoption of better grazing methods. Harrowing. Pasture cultivation aims at two tilings - the spreading of droppings and the aeration of the soil. Unspread droppings cause a rank uneven growth on the pasture which is neglected by stock, and regular harrowing of pastures is an important phase of the rotational grazing scheme. The spreading of animal droppings has a wonderfullystimulating effect on grass and clover growth and forms one of the most valuable fertilisers for grassland.

Pasture harrowing also aims at surface cultivation for the purpose of aerating the soil, and there are now quite efficient harrows on the market for giving adequate surface cultivation to pastures. Heavy harrowing . for the purpose of aeration should be done during the autumn and early winter, when the soil is normally moist and the pasture plants are able to recover quickly from the cultivation. On light land I do not view very favourably the very drastic cultivation of pasture that is so often very beneficial to old pastures on the heavier alluvial types of soil. • Mowing. The appearance of abundant rank grass in pastures at the end of November is frequently followed by a sharp drop in milk yield by dairy s cows. It is the short pasture grass, about four to five inches high, that is really efficient as a milk producer. The fall in milk yield is dqe to the fact that rank grass is not so nutritious as short grass.

Rotationally-grazed fields will also require mowing once or twice in the season. Aim to do the first mowing in November to clear the pasture of ryegrass and fog seed heads. In a

dry season more seed heads will appear in the summer, but these will do little harm and these will be later cleared off by grazing animals, and if necessary the field can be again mown in February. There appears to be little benefit to pastures from midsumrper mowings, and mowing at this period is only recommended in a wet season.

It is advisable to go in for adequate phosphating of all grassland and improved methods of utilisation before attempting to further increase grass growth by the extensive use of nitrogen and potash, the economic value of which is still somewhat obscure.

A great advance has recently been made in the methods of phosphatic topdressing in the fairly-wide adoption of the practice of applying the fertilisers twice a year usually 2c\vt in the autumn and 2ewt in the spring. I look on the early autumn topdressing in March and April as being of great importance. The spring dressing of phosphates is usually applied in August and September, but I am inclined to think that a later application would be more beneficial. Experimental work conducted last season at Marton showed that November applications of phosphates carried growth on through the dry summer weather, and experiments have new been .started in the Waikato to test this point out for our local conditions. For general Waikato conditions superphosphate is probably the most satisfactory fertiliser. The average soil is light and on light soils the response from slag and rock phosphate is not as- quick as it is on heavy soils. Superphosphate is quick in action and when applied in March or April it produces a flush of grass while the weather conditions are suitable and early autumn topdressing with super is important for securing an increased winter growth of grass. On pastures that are not in good condition and where fog and weeds are present to a considerabl

extent super may bring on a big: lank growth of fog, which is neglected by stock, and on such land, slag or a mixture of slag and super would be preferable so as to encourage a good white clover growth. Summary. 1. Learn to utilise all the grass, you are at present producing before endeavouring to greatly increase the production of your pastures. 2. The storing up of a large reserve of hay and ensilage should always precede the adoption of more intensive methods of grass farming I and an increase in the numbers of the dairy herd. 3. A stack of grass silage is the safest insurance policy a dairy farmer can hold against drought. 4. Closely subdivide your best grassland and practice rotational grazing on it. 5. Harrowing and mowing are extremely-important points in pasture management. 6. Make phosphates the basis of your topdressing. Apply them twice a year to your best grassland. 7. The use of nitrogenous fertilisers is still in the experimental stage.