Managing inputs in lower N environments

Fertiliser sales this autumn are well down on this time last year with the primary reason being lower incomes and higher expenses.

Fertiliser can be withheld, particularly when there is an abundance of feed and favourable growing conditions, without any immediate impact on feed budgets, however the focus now should be on spring.

In well managed situations, the feed on hand in early May has an important in uence on the feed available in the second half of September, the time when demand is high and peak pasture growth is yet to arrive.

Seasonal adjustments

Mature pasture can be carried ahead by lengthening the intervals between grazings. Successful farmers will often graze no more than one per cent of the available area daily during June and July, prior to lambing and calving.

Until recently there was an industry wide attitude that lower covers during winter could be addressed with the application of synthetic nitrogen. at is steadily becoming outdated as nitrogen applied during winter is one of the reasons for unacceptably high Nitrate N levels in groundwater. e price of nitrogen fertiliser products means the cost of the extra feed grown is currently as great, or greater, than bought in feed which has a higher nutritional value.

Comparative data shows that although farms applying nitrogen during winter experience earlier and stronger spring growth, they grow signi cantly less during late spring and summer than those where no nitrogen was applied during winter.

Winter is the time of rest and recovery for pasture plants. Having 90 days where there is no demand for extra above ground growth allows root systems to develop. proven means of limiting calcium/magnesium related metabolic disorders in spring.

A deeper and larger root base ensures stronger growth during the next growing season. e same rest and recovery phase is just as important for animals and people.

When changing to a lower synthetic N input system bear in mind that removing anything from an existing fertiliser programme will lead to lessened growth unless it is replaced by an input that provides as much energy. ere is somewhere between 5000kg –15,000kgN/ha in the top 15cm of pastoral soils and only a small fraction of that needs to be made plant available for maximum growth over winter.

Part of its e ectiveness is due to the increase in plant energy levels, particularly important in late winter and early spring aided by the inclusion of boron which helps build plant sugars.

Properties where DoloZest is applied annually markedly reduce the amount of other magnesium supplementation. Pastures normally contain 0.22 per cent – 0.25 per cent magnesium a level at which well fed cows receive their required daily intake. Mature pasture, 3500kg+ DM/ha, also contains much of the long bre necessary for good rumen function, without which minerals and vitamins are not fully utilised.

Effective Retracting Cover Systems

 Keeps feed or fertiliser dry

 Winch system for easy access

 Canvas or steel cladding options

Soil biology is is easily achieved by increasing biological activity in the soil. Adding calcium creates the conditions which favour bene cial microbes and earthworms, and only a small amount in the form of lime is enough to make a di erence. In the longer term, the synthetic nitrogen can be adequately replaced by nitrogen xed by clover and direct from the atmosphere, both free of charge with minimal leaching losses.

 Save time and cut waste

0800 262 788 info@slidingroofs.co.nz

Functional Fertiliser rst introduced DoloZest in 2003 as a soil improver that improved physical soil structures and increased the rate at which nutrient was cycled.

Based on Golden Bay dolomite it has the added bene t of supplying maintenance magnesium, an essential input on nearly all dairy farms and is a www.slidingroofs.co.nz

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