GRASSLAND FARMING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 221, 1 September 1932, Page 11

GRASSLAND FARMING

pasture maintenance and CARE. IMPORTANT CURRENT PROBLEMS. The farming position being as difficult as it admittedly is, farmers should make every effort to assure themselves that in solving problems which arise from time to time they are fully exploiting all recent advances in our knowledge of methods and materials which assist in obtaining better economic results (states a writer in the “Otago Dally Times”). At times, because of additions to our knowledge, certain matters require somewhat different treatment from what was justified in tho light of previous knowledge. One of such matters is the “break-ing-up” of pastures, about which some farmers have been following a fairly fixed policy for some years past. It is a most important matter which many farmers will have occasion to consider at this time of the year and which naturally subdivides into the following questions:— What area of grassland could advantageously bo broken up during the coming season? What should be its location? To a certain extent these questions represent but different phases of the one matter. SPECIAL FEED IMPORTANT. This matter usually needs to be considered from several aspects. First, it is necessary to take into account what area of special crops, such as mangels, swedes, turnips, and chou mollicr should be grown To ensure adequate provision of feed for tho critical periods when the feed available from grassland is likely to be below the current requirement of stock. Of some significance in this connection is tho fact that generally the provision made for the critical seasons is inadequate—-sometimes markedly inadequate—and that especially in dairying, but also in sheep farming, there would frequently bo more profitable returns were the plough more freely used as a step towards better feeding during those periods when the growth on pastures is commonly scant. INFERIOR SWARDS.

Secondly, the ploughing down of many pastures is called for because of their inferior swards. In some cases such pastures may consist of plants generally inferior to those which the land is fitted to support advantageously when due regard is given to the possibility of reinforcing natural fertility by judicious topdressing. For instance, pastures which are dominantly weeds, brown top, or dogstail, may be found occupying ground which could profitably support ryogress, white clover and cocksfoot, especially if given /Jasonable assistance in the form ok phosphatic topdressing and efficient grazing management. In other cases, because of the use cf inferior types of seed, incorrectly reputed to be of perennial character, or because of the ravages of the grass grub, pastures may consist of

plants so few in number as to warrant ploughing as a first step towards replacement of tho open swards with ones of greater density. With some justification based on past experience farmers at times hesitate to plough up pastures which they believe are not of as high a standard as could reasonably be expected under the circumstances. Underlying such a.n attitude is usually a doubt whether it is possible to replace the present pastures by ones which will continue to be superior to them for a period long enough to make the venture a profitable one. The doubt which operates m such cases Originates almost invariably in disappointing past experience m which the use of inferior strains of pasture species led to rapid falling off in production of relatively young pastures.

IMPROVED “STRAINS.” All doubt of this nature is unjustified in the light of the present knowledge of strain differences in important pasture species of which perennial ryegrass is of most current moment. We now know not only that at times newly-sown pastures fell away in a disappointing manner, but also Why this occurred, and fortunately the knowledge of why it occurred is supplemented by the knowledge ot how to avoid such regrettable falling off. In brief, it has been demonstrated that lines of seed commercially known as “perennial” ryegrass fell broadly into two main classes—(a) true perennial ryegrass, (b) false perennial ryegrass, which at times proves less persistent and less Valuable than ordinary Italian ryegrass. This latter undesnable type was commonly used in the sowing of pastures which were desired to be ot as permanent a character as possible. Even on land of relatively high ter tilitv such inferior ryegrass incorrectly reputed to be of a'perennial nature disappeared from the sward in a comparatively short time, thereby making an opening for the entrance of inferior plant species; the ultimate result being that the young pasture tended quickly to descend to the low standard of the one which it replaced. The use of the true perennial type of ryegrass would obviate such falling off in pastures.

INTERESTING COMPARATIVE RETURNS.

For two seasons the Department of Agriculture has been conducting trials in Canterbury in order to indicate the comparative grazing value of different strains of ryegrass. In these trials, which are still being carried on, grazing is effected by sheep. An interim report relative to five of these trials shows that in their second season for part of the autumn just under two days’ grazing was obtained on the plots sown down with true perennial ryegrass for every one day’s grazing obtained on the companion plots sown down with false perennial ryegrass. The exact figures were 1844 days Of sheep grazing on tho true perennial ryegrass plots in comparison with 989 days of grazing on the false perennial plots. These figures reflect in detail a position which is Indicated on many other observational trials throughout tho Dominion. t CERTIFICATION. The fact that the ofllclal system of seed certification assures a reliable supply of the desirable strains of pasture plants has within recent years intensified the case for the “breakingup” of worn-out pastures, which at times have been retained mainly because of uncertainty, the teal justification of which has now been largely removed. While “strain” differences are of paramount importance in the case of ryegrass, they are of considerable, even if not of equal, importance in the case of white clover and cocksfoot. The position is summed up in the fact that the possibility of Using Improved strains of pasture plants is a direct and weighty incentive to the replacement of somewhat inferior pastures by the best possible swards which will respond more profitably to good pasture management practices such aS topdressing and efficient grazing management.

TOP-DRESSING. A third matter bearing on the breaking-up of pastures is the role of top-dressing. By top-dressing farmers have often been able to achieve such great results that they have inclined at times to rely on it overmuch. Certain pastures have been improved strikingly by top-dressing, and from this it lias been deduced thqt all pns tures could be similarly improved. This is not always so; but, even if it wore, it does not necessarily follow that top dressing is tho most economical means

of improving the composition of pastures. It is quite conceivable that the improvement which could be effected in a short time by breaking-up and renewal would take so long to achieve by top-dressing as to make the breakingup and resowing the more desirable method despite the fact that it involves the greater immediate expense. Further, it is overlooked at times that On certain swards top-dressing, even if it is as judicious as possible, can reasonably be expected to bring about only a very limited amount of improvement; if a sward is devoid of superior species such as ryegrass, white clover, and cocksfoot, the influence of top-dressing is necessarily limited to the inferior plants which are present and is unlikely to bring about any marked changes in sward composition. In such cases the standard method of obtaining an improved sward is plough ing and reseeding.

SURFACE SOWING OF SEED. In some instances this standard method, because of labour costs or other considerations, may not be practicable. In such cases it may be advisable to endeavour to bring about sward renovation by surface sowing of seed. It is well to keep in mind that surface sowing of seed, is associated with risks arising mainly from weather conditions and is not always successful. Hence, if at all practicable, the sowing of pasture seeds on a ploughed and cultivated surface should be practised. POSITION SUMMED HE. The position, summed up, is that during recent years the breaking-in of inferior pastures has not proceeded as fast as it profitably could have done. At times there has been too great a tendency to effect pasture improvement by slower and at times uncertain methods, such as topdressing and surface sowing of seed. From the pasture viewpoint alone on many farms a greater amount of ploughing would be well justified, and, in addition, ploughing, resulting in greater amounts of supplementary crops, would tend materially and profitably to improve the feeding of our live stock.