Lessons From a Difficult Spring - 17th Dec 2008, Peter Burton

Lessons From a Difficult Spring

Peter Burton
17th December 2008


Spring and early summer growth this season has been less than normal, feed quality lower, and unless there is substantial rain soon summer will again be drier than ideal.

There are lessons to be taken and the first lesson is that we have no control over climatic conditions, and each season provides us with a unique mix.

Secondly the success of each farming enterprise is largely due to the ability of each farmer to manage the result of the weather, and in pastoral farming that means managing the surplus or deficit of feed grown on the property.

Thirdly, sound use of ‘fertilisers’ can assist pasture growth, but cannot make up the shortfall resulting from a prolonged period of less than desirable growing conditions.

Some months ago the topic of this column was the stocking rate on dairy farms and that sustainable profit ultimately comes from converting high quality pasture into milk solids.

Based on the best long-term pasture growth rates available and a high level of pasture utilisation there are few properties able to fully feed more than one cow per acre (2.5/ha), as well as support the necessary replacement young stock without the use of substantial off-farm feed.

This does not mean that the ‘pass-mark’ figure of 1000kgMS/ha cannot be achieved. There are an increasing number of properties we work with where cows are close to or producing their live weight in milk solids each year with modest amounts of bought in feed.

A comment made by an astute and successful long-term client was that the best production seasons were also the seasons when least cows were milked and those seasons resulted in highest bankable profit.

Dairy farms take seriously the demand for increased production but if this increase is not available from increased pasture grown on the property then it can only come from other more expensive feed sources and that often reduces profitability.

Farmers integrating DoloZest, CalciZest, and SeaZest, into sound nutrient programmes are enjoying pasture growth increases of approx. 5% each year. That level of increase is probably not sustainable long-term, however sound well managed pastoral systems are capable of producing increasing quantities of feed each year.

The extra energy required for increased pasture growth primarily comes from increased quantities of humus. The majority of humus comes from the breakdown of dung, dead grass, and roots.

A pasture growing 15 tonne per year of dry matter above the ground also produces the same weight in root mass. Roots are constantly growing dieing, and providing increasing quantities of food for the multitude of earthworms, fungi, bacteria, and other ground dwellers.

The weight of below the surface livestock governs the weight of grazing animals able to be supported above and ultimately the size of cash surpluses able to be generated.