AUTUMN Pasture & Fertiliser 2022

They can grow at di˜ erent speeds, and the rate of growth can vary quite considerably between the di˜ erent species in a mix in the same spot of paddock. Kaiwaiwai Dairies measures all the pasture of its 325ha milking platform farm every seven to ten days which in total takes about half a day of a sta˜ member’s time, Aidan says.

“A lot of farmers don’t do this because it is labour intensive, but the value of having this knowledge outweighs the cost of the labour. You can’t manage what you don’t measure, so measuring is very important.”

Through Abby, Kaiwaiwai Dairies goes so far as to post its measurements, along with Platform Farm in Greytown, in the Wairarapa Midweek every week as a free service to other farmers.

“It’s ÿ ne for other farms to use the data but they should do measuring on their own farm. The variability can be quite dramatic,” says Aidan.

For Kaiwaiwai Dairies, grass is the foundation of its feed plan.

“The cheapest feed we have is grass so want to utilise all of it.”

Aidan likens a pasture to a giant solar panel, with the aim of capturing as much of the suns energy and turning it into as much feed, as is possible. At the end of the workshop Abby points out that “we have got to remember that with farming we have a lot of science, but there is a bit of art as well.”

This sentiment is backed up by an antidote from Aidan about a farmer who asked an older farmer what the secret to good pasture management is. The older farmer told him to get a black box, put it in the middle of the paddock, stand on it, and slowly turn 360 degrees looking at the pasture.

Once the farmer had mastered this, the older farmer told him to do the same thing “but leave the box behind.”

There is a value in looking around - not just using a plate metre, Aidan says.

“Do its measurements line up with what you are seeing with your eyes. The more often you do it, the better you will get at pasture management.”

There are a lot of things involved in running a farm but the foundation of any successful farm is pasture management, Aidan believes.

“High quality pasture management delivers the best farm performance. But this is an area that has been slipping a lot in the last ten to 15 years. People are doing a lot less farm walking.”

One of the most important things a farmer wants in a new employee is a good grasp of pasture management, but these people have become hard to ÿ nd, Aidan says.

“Many farms do not have people skilled people at pasture management, and those that do are often vulnerable because they only have one sta˜ member who is trained in pasture management. If they lose them they may ÿ nd it hard to replace them.

But there is not that much required to be become skilled in this area, as the workshop illustrated.

There are simple formulae, which when used with good measurement data, can be easily understood and used to make proÿ table decisions.

Going over the simple formulae to work out the ideal food plan.

Abby is pleased to see these skills are being learned at these short and accessible workshops which are also perfect as refresher courses for farm employees.

“They are entry level workshops that are suitable for anyone relatively new to the industry including young people. They are set up as practical core part of any management system.”

Another DairyNZ pasture management workshop is being held at Carterton/ Masterton on Tuesday 1 March, 10:30am - 1pm (host farm yet to be announced)

Contact Abby Scott 021 244 3428

Agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank New Zealand is predicting a fall in urea prices over the next sixth months.

In contrast, it expects phosphate prices to remain at current levels or even increase marginally over the next six months.

Both predictions are made in the bank’s annual ˛ agship report, Agribusiness Outlook 2022, titled “Will the Party Continue in 2022?.”

In recent weeks, some of the demand and supply drivers that elevated global urea prices to record levels have begun to ease, the report says.

“We expect this is the beginning of a slow decline in urea prices over the next sixth months.

“While this is good news for New Zealand farmers, we expect local urea prices will remain materially higher than for 2021 for this season.

“We also expect freight interruptions will continue to plague deliveries, which may cause some delays.”

Prices of European natural gas, a key raw material in urea, have now fallen by 60 percent from midDecember 2021 levels due to increasing supply.

There is also some optimism that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will be approved by regulators which would further pressure gas prices, but geopolitical tension with Russia is already driving gas price volatility, the report says.

“Following recent global headlines about urea shortages, some indicators show that the supply balance is improving.

“The two most recent Indian tenders were oversubscribed by more than double.

“Some 1.19 million tonnes of urea were booked for the most recent December 23 tender, after o˜ erings of 2.75 tonnes.

“Furthermore, northern hemisphere demand has been very quiet in recent weeks, which has left the market wondering where all these extra tonnes will go. Despite our expectation of lower prices over the next six months, we expect local prices will remain well above average.”

If Russian gas supplies into Europe reduced, this would again send nitrogen prices upward.

Rabobank expects global prices of corn, soybeans and wheat will all remain relatively high, which is likely to act as a ˛ oor in global fertiliser prices, as farmers will continue to aggressively chase yield and protein.

It’s important to keep in mind that local prices may take as much as three months to re˛ ect global price movements, the report says.

“In contrast, we expect that phosphate prices will remain at current levels or even increase marginally over the next six months.

“We expect supply of phosphate will remain very tight while China’s expert restrictions remain. Typically, China export about 30 percent of global phosphate trade.”

The threat of con˛ ict or even further sanctions on Russia and ally Belarus is a major upside risk for fertiliser prices.

“If Russian gas supplies into Europe reduced, or even cut, this would again send nitrogen prices upward.

“Furthermore, 23 percent of global ammonia trade, 14 percent of urea, and ten percent of phosphates is exported by Russia. Together with Belarus, they make up 30 percent of global potash exports. Interruption to supply would again send prices upward from high levels.”