Normal Spring Growth

Normal Spring Growth?

Pasture growth during the second half of October appears to have been slower than hoped for, however until we have cages cut, grass weighed and growth rates calculated we won’t know by how much.

Fertility patches both dung and urine have been quite marked and clover samples taken recently may provide us with some useful information.

Warm rain over Labour weekend followed by a few warm sunny days may alleviate all concerns with strong spring growth again restored.

The first thought when growth at this time of the year is anything less than ideal is what nutrient or mix of nutrients can we apply to fix the problem.

One of the interesting aspects of working nationwide is comparing reports from different geographical regions and during the last ten days the description of growth and the appearance of pasture has been the same from one end of the country to the other.

This suggests that nutrient deficiency is probably not the culprit given the wide diversity of spring nutrient applications, but more a climatic issue or two.

Much of the slow growing pasture examined recently has burnt tips. The tips of recently grazed pasture are tender and a sneaky frost or hot dry mid-afternoon breeze can cause damage and as grass grows from the tip upwards little growth will occur until those areas are re-grazed.

One nutrient the lack of which can cause slow growth is sulphur, particularly following a wetter than normal winter. Levels of plant available sulphur can be largely depleted and it takes some time for bacteria to mobilise sulphur from organic ‘reserves’ to sulphate or available form.

Maybe the slowing of rye grass growth and the patchiness is a short-term normal and desirable period prior to abundant summer clover growth.

The mix of grasses and clovers that dominate our pastures are largely dictated by our climatic conditions. Grasses grow less strongly as soil temperatures approach 20°C.

Clovers thrive during summer provided they are supplied with sufficient nutrients, particularly calcium, and moisture.

Clover has the ability to fix almost twice the nitrogen required for our high performing dairy pastures. The triggers for strong clover growth are the decline in vigour of grasses allowing clover the opportunity to compete for sunlight, and reducing soil nitrogen levels.

Nitrogen is fixed by clovers in response to declining soil levels, and applying fertiliser nitrogen now and over summer limits the amount of nitrogen fixed naturally.

A short period of declining growth now may provide the ideal conditions for vigorous clover growth over the next 90 days and it is clover that produces best animal performance.

To ensure optimum clover growth an application of CalciZest at approx. 400kg/ha usually provides sufficient calcium and biological stimulus for maximum summer production and the nitrogen for outstanding autumn and winter growth.