PREVENTING RANK GROWTH

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 9, 21 December 1933, Page 15

PREVENTING RANK GROWTH

CONTROLLED GRAZING NEEDED. TWO DAY PERIODS SATISFACTORY. No one farm layout could serve as a model suitable for general adoption. The individual farmer must plan for himself the system which best suits his circumstances. The most suitable size for the paddocks will be determined by two main factors, both of which are likely to vary from farm to farm, i.e., the size of the herd and the fertility of the land. Other factors to be taken into consideration are the density the pasture, the rate of growth, the amount of harrowing done and the number of dry stock carried in conjunction with milking stock. For the above reasons also, uniformity in tho size of. fields on the same farm is not likely to be either necessary or desirable. Now Zealand experience has shown that good results can be obtained on farms divided into ten or twelve paddocks, though probably even better results would be obtained by still further subdivision. On a farm of ten to twelve paddocks, it may be possible to close three or four for the production of hay or ensilage, leaving six to nine available for grazing during the period of maximum pasture growth. If the fields being grazed rotationally are utilised when they carry enough growth to meet the requirements of the milking herd for about two days, there will be, on such a farm, suitable intervals of spelling to allow of adequate development of the pasture. Carefully recorded and supervised farm experience has shown that grazng periods of two days’ duration have given excellent results, though satisfactory results have been obtained with both shorter and longer grazing periods. The stage at which grazing should bo commenced is determined not so much by the total amount of feed on a paddock as by the length and maturity of the growth of herbage. Thus an onen pasture might call for stocking in the autumn, when it provided only one day’s grazing, while a dense pasture would call for stocking when in the spring it provided two days’ grazing for the same number of stock.

The vital feature of properly controlled grazing Is the prevention as far as possible of the growth becoming mature and rank, and it is to achieve that end that the rotational system has been so generally adopted. That this method of pasture management increases the production from each acre of land cannot be doubted, but the important question is whether that increase can be obtained economically. That, of course, will depend on the circumstances on each individual farm.