Intensive Low Stress Farming.

Intensive Low Stress Farming.

Peter Burton
21st January 2010

Experience provides a unique perspective. Regular nitrogen fertiliser use and the feeding of high-energy supplements are recent developments in dairy farming, little contemplated or used prior to 1990.

Prior to 1990, the key management consideration was matching cow numbers, calving dates, and feeding levels, with natural grass growth patterns. Financial success was largely dependant on the ability to get that equation finely balanced.

With the inability to change grass growth patterns the factor most easily varied was animal numbers.

For many present farmers cow numbers are the variable least considered when developing a management plan for the season. Is the farmer with highest cow numbers per hectare regarded as the ‘best’ operator regardless of production, mating performance, financial stability, and emotional well-being?

As every animal has a maintenance feed requirement, more cows on the same area means more feed is required before production is achieved. At what point are there too many animals?

Successful farming is as much art as it is science with each dedicated and skilled operator having his or her own preferences and that is as it should be. The one factor common to all farmers who love their craft is the ability to tune into and appreciate the natural variability of weather and grass growth.

As every summer in the Rotorua/BOP region is likely to provide a dry spell of up to 3 weeks, the late December early January period just past comes as no surprise and has been comfortably handled by those operators we have close contact with.

Well-structured biologically active soils have the ability to retain more moisture than those that are damaged. Higher carbon content soils also tend to retain more moisture.

This does not necessarily mean that these soils will maintain green lush pasture during periods of intense heat but they do have the ability to respond more rapidly and strongly to even small amounts of rain.

Long term monitoring, including pasture growth rate measures of properties regularly using DoloZest and CalciZest in their nutrient programmes indicate that January growth is quite reliable with few seasons producing less than 40kgDM/ha/day.

Prolonged dry soil conditions in late summer can be of more concern. Dry conditions markedly reduce biological activity in the soil increasing the time required for pastures to recover providing limited time to build the necessary feed wedge prior to winter slow growth.

The application of DoloZest at the rate required to ensure few if any calcium/magnesium related metabolic disorders occur in spring provides live fungi and bacteria that ensure more rapid recovery of pasture after summer.

Pastures treated with DoloZest also have the ability to provide more usable sugars. Extra energy at any time is valuable. With winter guaranteed to produce some cold and wet periods extra energy helps with weight maintenance and the ability of each animal to maximise spring production.