NEW GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3869, 8 May 1928, Page 12

NEW GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT.

The idea that is held in some quarters that thei e is nothing in grass land management should be shelved without delay, for although it may not be feasible on many holdings to rotate or move the stock from grass paddock to paddock as often as one might desire, it is well to recognise that the intensive feeding of grass interspersed with a : period of rest is past the experimental stage, and is a practice which should be put into operation where possible. The new system is based on the following main principles, which everyone will admit are sound and beyond criticism:—(l) Grass when kept eaten down and short contains much more digestible protein than grass which is allowed to grow long, coarse and tufty. (2) All classes of stock do better when the grass is “ coming to them ” —i.e., when the conditions described in (1) are fulfilled. (3) The obvious outcome of (1) and (2) means stocking up to the maximum and moving dr rotating the stock round, so that each grazing field is well eaten down, and then given a period of rest and recovery before being grazed again. (4) Seeing that nitrogen, phosphates and potash are all required for maximum production in arable farming, it is not unreasonable to suppose ! that similar treatment on grass land ' would increase production from it I also. The adoption of grazing on the foregoing lines necessitates, for best results, the generous application of fertilisers, stock rotation, and the spreading of the droppings after each grazing, and necessarily somewhat smaller areas than we are accustomed to, while the provision of drinking water must not be overlooked. It is held that efficient grazing and the carrying of the maximum number of stock is achieved when the giass is 4in to 6in high, a condition which entails carrying a large number of stock in | order that the grass fields may be thoroughly cleaned up. Again, a sufficient recovery period must be allowed before the area can be eaten down again, say, approximately 21 days. This will depend upon climatic conditions, the season of the year, and the adequacy of the fertiliser used.

One aspect of what we may term the new system of grass land management which will appeal to dairymen and graziers generally is manuring for the early bite. Grass a fortnight earlier may mean everything to the dairyman and the man who is lambing ewes early in the spring. How often we find the cows “ come in ” and little enough feed of a succulent nature to give them, or early lambs with their mothers hard pushed to get a bite, and with little milk as the result of a late spring. The top-dressing of pastures with suitable fertilisers will practically assure the necessary early feed, and enable the sheep owner to market his fat lambs without losing any of their lamb flesh. It is worth thinking over. It is not necessary, of course, to top dreSs all

the grass areas immediately, but if some of the smaller areas were treated it would be possible to graze the dressed paddocks according to weather conditions and to the carrying capacity of the treated grass lands. The stock can be run “ on and off ” these dressed pastures —that is, put on the manured grass in the forenoon and early afternoon in the case of dairy stock, and back on to the unmanured pasture at night. One small field, then the other, can be grazed bare, and both can be manured and allowed to grow until ready for eating down again. The tendency to do less and less arable farming has ; its drawbacks, and the danger • of depending upon grass lands merely because they have been fertilised should not be overlooked. We cannot well do without' the plough, and thus assure a certain amount of early feed for cows and lambing e-wes. The provision of some cereal with a legume, failing lucernej and, later in the season, rape, chou niollier, or the like for dairy cows and lambs, respectively, cannot well be omitted, while more scientific use of our grass lands is, we are convinced, very ' possible.'. ' i The three main fertilising constitui ents —nitrogen, potash, and phosphoi us— I must be supplied to grass lands to ensure generous growth in early spring, ■ and although we are prone to pin our, faith on the last-mentioned element for practically all lands in the Dominion, it, is doubtful if a complete manure , would not give better results. We cannot get away from the fact that in years gone by the drain on the organic matter in the soil has been tremendous. Humus—decaying vegetable matterplays a most important part in 1 the agriculture of any country. It is an important source of plant food, particularly nitrogen, without which crops (be: they grass or’ otherwise) cannot thrive. A soil may contain all the mineral elements of plant food, but if there is no

humus present ordinary plant life cannot thrive until an adjustment is made. Finally, humus serves an important office in rendering the mineral elements of the soil available as plant foods.