SUCCESSFUL FARMING.

Shannon News, 5 November 1929, Page 3

SUCCESSFUL FARMING.

ROTATIONAL GRAZING ADVOCATED. PASTURE MANAGEMENT AND THE ECONOMY OF ENSILAGE. LECTURE BY MR R. P. CONNELL. A comprehensive lecture on pasture management, with some observations as tb ensilage-making, was delivered in St. Mary’s Hall on Thursday, by Mr R. P. Connell, Fields Instructor, Department of Agriculture, before a gathering convened by the Levin branch of the Farmers’ Union. Mr H. Denton, president of the branch, was m the chair, and there were about fifteen farmers present. ... In opening the meeting, the chairman referred to the rain which had commenced that day, and said he was sorry that it had kept some farmers away, but it would nevertheless be very acceptable, following on the dry spell. Amongst the aujdience _ were several new arrivals in the Levin dis-

trict, to whom he extended a welcome Some of the settlers on the C.D. Farm had been expected, but evidently the weather had prevented them from coming. He thought that all farmers in the district were practically agreed that their best crop was grassland it was with the idea of improving their knowledge on this subject that the branch had invited Mr Connell to lecture. When Mr W.> J. 'McCulloch, lately appointed Fields Superintendent, was in the position occupied by Mr Connell, they had it from him that grass was the best crop they could grow in this district. Mr Connell, in his -opening remarks, said he was pleased that the rain had come; although it had probably kept some people away, it would do more good than his lecture. He hoped, however, that what he was about to tell the gathering would have some good effects also. THE COW AS A MOWER.

The question had "been asked, the lecturer continued, “What is the most important farm implement in New Zealand to-day?” A few years ago, he, among many others, would have answered, “The plough,” but during the last five years the position had altered to such an extent that that answer would now be quite incorrect. The most important, and at the same time the most difficult, form of farming in the Dominion was grass farming, and so it followed that some grass implement must be the most important. Just what that implement was, did not matter much, but the choice lay between the manure distributor and the mower, using the word “mower” in its widest possible sense. An professor who had visited this country, published the statement that New Zealand had millions of grass mowers; by that he meant all the sheep and cattle. In this lecture he (Mr Connell) was not thus restricting, the terms “mower”; he meant the animal mower as well as the mechanical one. The choice as to the most important implement was somewhere between the manure distributor and the mower. By ‘ ‘ grass farming” he had in mind not merely the production of grass, but the utilisation of it. At present ha was pretty certain that, in the Wellington province at least, the farmers were far better producers of grass growth than users of it. Therefore he would deal more with utilisation than production.

FACTORS IN MILK PRODUCTION. There was no doubt that New Zealand, as a country, was pretty good in producing grass, but its farmers had much to .learn as to the proper utilisation of it. Farmers generally would agree that the returns from a pasture depended, firstly, on the fertility of the \soilp secondly, on the climate, for which they were always paying in this province when they bought land; and thirdly, the way the grass was used. Few would think of saying that the way the graiss was used wa3 as ■ important as the other two factors named, as affecting cash returns* Because this point was forgotten, there was a good deal of bad grazing of pastures. No less an authority than Prof. Stapleton, director of the Empire research station in grass problems, stated that grazing, equally with the soil and climatic conditions, constituted a dominant factor in the returns from the pasture. It was quite easy to say what were the features of good utilisation; it was not quite as easy to bring it into practice.

BEST 'CONDITION OF GRASS. What w&3 actually wanted was to maintain a 'Short, clean, fresh leafy growth from year's end to year’s end. This idea was not new in the Domin-

ion; sheep and dairy farmers had been aiming at it for years. Very often they could not tell why they sought that class of growth, but they knew that they got the best returns in cash by maintaining it. Within the last four or five years,'scientists, mainly outside New Zealand, had taken on themselves the task of explaining why that, growth was desirable. Briefly, their explanation was that the short, leafy growth was, first of all, balanced excellently for wet stock, meaning stock—whether , sheen or cows—that were producing milkt That growth was almost perfect for the cow or the ewe; the nutritive elements in it were almost as perfect as man could devise, as long as they were kept there. Ordinarily there was a shortage of protein; that was what happened in December and January, when there was apparently plenty of feed about, but actually a great bulk of it was deficient ;n this particular substance. The short growth was relatively rich in protein. Apart from the <r o od balance, there was the fact of quite considerable importance in this province, that the young ■growth was richer in mineral matter than was the growth when the grass was at a more mature stage. The extra supply of mineral matter was quite important, perhaps not in this district; but in some

districts, of the Dominion it was of extreme importance because the pastures, at times, were apt to be deficient’ in mineral matter and animals showed positive signs of this deficiency. The mineral deficiencies were likely to make themselves very much less evident if the grass was always used when it was quite yourg. A further point was that the young, fresh grass was far more digestible; Avhat nutriment was in it, could be used by the animal much more readily than the same amount of nutriment tied up in stuff of more mature growth. This was of great importance, particularly with high-p-oducing cows, because if they were fed with stuff that was not readily digestible, a good deal of their energy that would otherwise go to butter-fat production was utilised in securing proper digestion. METHOD OF ROTATION EXPLAIN-

What was of direct practical importance was how to go about keeping the pastures short. To ensure this, farmers should practice rotation of grazing. Assuming that a farm comprised ten paddocks, ordinarily the stock would be distributed over those paddocks. Under the rotational system, all the cows would be put into one paddock for a short period, giving from eight to fif-

teen 2oWs to the acre. This was actually being done in. the Manawatu district. The cows would remain in the first paddock until they had- cleaned up the pasture, the aim being to have it eaten down as bare as possible without causing the yield of milk to fall unduly or the cows to suffer to any extent. In this country it happened that the dairy farmer had not sufficient dry stock to act as followers to the milking herd in the grazing, so he had to depend on his dairy cows; he would possibly punish them to a slight extent, for the sake of the pasture. When the paddock had been eaten down as bare as the stock would permit, the pasture was spelled for a while, until it was again at the best stage for grazing. The farmer might shift the cows from the first paddock to others in turn until they reached, say, the seventh, and find that by that time the first paddock was fit to graze again. The average farmer to-day did not return to No. 1 paddock, but continued the rotation to No. 10. The Department’s suggestion, however, was that lie should go back to No. 1. The three paddocks that -were not grazed, if not required for hay should be used for ensilage. This was recommended as an appliance 'for pasture control, and not merely as a means of putting aside reserve food for some adverse period. A question that might be asked was, “What is the condition of No. 1 when it is fit to graze again.” This could be quickly shown in a pad-

dock, but was more difficult of demonstration at a meeting. It could be said, though, that stage w r as reached when the growth /was about three or four inches high.. If the farmer thought that there was in No. 1 about two days’ grazing for the cows, then they should go back. One good test was te look at the old droppings; if it became too high, the stock would not eat it. If the stock did not go back in time, the growth round the droppings would never be eaten, the paddock would be uneven, and it would be quite difficult to get it right during the remainder of the season. TOPPING A PASTURE.

It might be found, after grazing No. 7 padoek, that if No. 8 was eaten out, No. 1 would become too far advanced, while if No. 8 was not grazed there would not be enough feed. There were two alternatives. The obvious one was to divide the extra paddock into two and use half of it. That would not be done usually, because this doubtful position arose at the busy time—Noember. The farmer then would go cm with the grazing of No. 8 without cutting it Up, and the result of this would be that all the paddocks would tend to get away. If the fencing that should be done was not done, what- was the other alternative? It was one not commonly carried out in this district —that was, the topping of the pastures. If the farmer had excess feed in the paddocks that were being grazed, it should be dealt with by running the mower over any paddocks that were getting away either altogether or in patches. Sucli topping usually became necessary some time towards the end of November or in. December. It cut off the long growth that was tending to run away to flower-heads. The waste that was involved in mowing was more than counter-balanced by the good done to the pastures as a whole. Animals that would not eat the standing grass would frequently eat it when it wa3 half wilted after being mown. It could be eaten by cows or ewes, but it was not at all high-class food for them, though it was quite all right for dry stock; for wet stock it was badly balanced.

There were farmers who rotated their stock, yet who did not rotationally graze them. .They were men who had plenty of paddocks, and who shifted their stock about rapidly and thought they were doing rotation; they were not following the system he was advocating, however, and were not getting the benefits that they would if they were doing rotational grazing. Their failure lay in the fa'ct that, when they shifted their stock out of a paddock, that paddock had not been grazed closely.

EXAMPLES OF BENEFITS. A natural question about rotational grazing was, “Is it worth while?” In answer he could relate what had actually happened on some farms under observation. There were five farms, in Manawatu, on each of which there was a field properly grazed in rotation, while the rest of the farm was managed as well as others in that particular district. Last year, during the fourmonth period from September*'to December, the five rotationally grazed fields gave an average production of 1431bs of butter-fat to the acre As against that, the rest of the farm produced,'' on an average, 791bs per acre.

The latter figuure could not fairly be compared with the 1431b5, because some of the farm during that period was used for the production of hay, ensilage and root crops, to be used in critical periods of late summer or winter. It was necessary to make an allowance of about 20 per cent, for the production made but not used in that period* so the/791bs. became about lOOlbs. APPLICATION TO SHEEP-FARMING It might also be asked whether the rotational system applied to sheep farms. It had been tried out at Lincoln College, Canterbury. For the ten months ended May last, by rotational grazing they were able to carry about seven sheep to the acre, whereas the grazing are-a not rotationally treated was only able to carry four sheep to the acre. The influence of the system on lamb production had also been noted. During the ten-week period, Oeto-ber-December, the lamb weight increased to 2641bs per acre, as against 2121bs per acre. A 400-acre sheepfarm on top of the Tararuas, outside Palmerston, was rotationally grazed, as far as subdivision would allow. There were ten paddocks on that farm; they were able to carry one and a-quarter ewes to the' acre, while all that the neighbouring properties, with similar farms and manuring, could carry was slightly less than a ewe to the acre. There was more wool per sheep with the heavier carrying capacity, and that wool brought Jd per lb more than was ob-. tained by the neighbours. Moreover, the proportion of fat lambs was higher. The increase on that particular farm was 25 per cent. ARRANGEMENT OF PADDOCKS.

One point of considerable practical importance was that there was no necessity to have the small, paddocks that some people thought were necessary. While small paddocks, within reason, tended to give more effective results, yet the farmer could very often practise rotational grazing with very little fencing additional to what was already on the farm. In the Manawatu district there was a farm of 75 acres, carrying 48 dairy cows. That farm was subdivided into six paddocks of seven acres each, one of eight, one of fifteen, one of six, and one of four acres —ten paddocks in all. The farm had been so arranged before the owner thought of rotational grazing, but he was able to carry out that system quite well; last season he produced G2lbs of butter-fat per acre more than his neighbours.

USE OF FERTILISERS. There was an impression in some quarters that the use of expensive nitrogenous manures was connected with rotational grazing; but it did not call for those manures at all. The confusion had arisen from the fact that, if those expensive manures were used with success, rotational grazing had to be practised. That was not the same thing at all. Another point was, that the more a person went in for the use of any manures—phosphatic or nitrogenous —the more the necessity arose for rotational grazing. The consumption of phosphatic manures was increasing year by year, and if a farmer was going to get the best results he had to keep his pastures close-grazed right through. Six or seven years ago the need in this district was for the greater use of phosphates; now the need Avas for the proper use of the growth produced. The Department that, in many instances, the full returns for the fertilisers were not obtained.

IMPORTANCE OF ENSILAGE. Speaking on the subject of ensilage production, Mr Connell said that, in certain instances, it was the key to the proper utilisation of the pastures. Fanners reached a stage, in November or December, when, though they had put aside enough growth for hay production, they still found there was more growth on the farm than the stock being carried could cope with. By closing certain paddocks for ensilage, they would be able to keep the grass short in the other paddocks. In the fourmonth period from the middle of September to January, they got 70 per cent, of the whole year’s grass growth. The actual farm feed requirements in those four months were nothing like the 70 per cent, of the year’s production. Ensilage was suggested as the method of dealing with that surplus, which could thus be removed at tin right time. If the farmer decided to use the surplus growth for hay, he was faced with a difficult position, be cause, when it was in the best condition to mow, the weather was usually unsuitable. The hay made in such weather "was poor, and if the farmer waited for good weather the hay was still, poor, because it had become too mature. Furthermore, in the latter ease he had left the growth too long, and failed to get the desirable strong after-growth that he would have got if the mowing had been done at the right time. As to the question whether ensilage should replace hay, Mr Connell said that the Department did not advise this; they thought that the good fanner was the one who made both hay and ensilage; he would have hay for the winter, and would also have ensilage, which could be / a used either in summer or winter, tlay, in the ordinary course, was too dry and fibrous for cows in February, while ensilage properly saved was splendid for cows if there was a dry autumn, with a shortage of ordinary grass growth. Various operations in the making and storing of ensilage were described bv Mr Connell, who' advised his hearers to acquaint themselves with the fuller particulars contained in the Department’s leaflet.

The address was followed with keen interest by all present, and at the conclusion the lecturer was heartily applauded. He then answered a number of questions; and, on the motion of the chairman, he was accorded a vote of thanks, by acclamation, for the valuable information he had supplied during the whole course of his remarks.