DOMINION’S MAIN CROP

Taranaki Daily News, 1 August 1931, Page 11 (Supplement)

DOMINION’S MAIN CROP

VALUE OF GRASSLANDS J £ SECURING GREATER PRODUCTION. 1 1 THE ROLE OF TOP-DRESSING. ( t “Pastoralists must learn, to farm * grass and not leave grass to an Act of God,” is a statement made recently by Sir Daniel Hall, chief scientific adviser to the British Ministry of Agriculture. ' This noted authority’s, remarks apply ‘ with particular emphasis to New Zealaud, where, occupying some 33,000,000 acres, grass is by far the most important crop. The acreage under all othei crops combined is under 2,000,000 acres. J Our pastoral industry, giving us our principal exports —meat, wool avid dairy produce—is pivoted on grass. The question, therefore, of maintaining and if possible increasing our production from grassland is surely of vital interest to ' all Fortunately for. the welfare of the Dominion, the last few years have seen t a marked step forward tn the direction of better grassland farming. Rotational grazing iby means of which o-rass is controlled and kept in its most highly nutritive state, is now practiced by a large number of farmers, though a further extension of this practice is much to de desired. , The value of mow- i ing as an adjunct to grazing .in pasture control is also 'becoming more widely • recognisefi. ' . . ~ To overcome the “mat’ in old pastures and to tear out weeds and spiead , animal manure, harrowing is now extensively practiced. ' STRAIN IN GRASSES AND CLOVERS. Excellent research work by the N.Z. Plant Research Station officials, Messis. Levy and Davies, has demonstrated the great importance of strain in connection with our principal herbage plants, Byeorass, Cocksfoot and White Clover. New < Zealand has strains in all three, possibly superior to any existing in any other < part of the .world, and before long a valuable export trade should be built up which should aid the economic pro gress of this country. The persistent strains of the grasses and clover mentioned will also, when widely established, help Dominion farmers in securing greater production from their grassland —an urgent necessity at the present time when low prices for primary products are affecting our primary producers, and, through them, the rest of the community. THE ROLE OF TOP-DRESSING. ■ It has been amply demonstrated in recent years that the greatest single. factor in increasing production from pastures in New Zealand, more especially in the post-war period, has .'been the wider use of lime and fertilisers. In the Journal of Agriculture for June, Mr. E. Fawcett, Government Farm Economistj writes ‘‘As fertilisers repre- . sent the greatest single factor in mami taining or increasing . production and ; lowering the unit cost, a curtailment of their use at the present time i?> unsound Hom every view-point." Ihos- ■ : phate is the niain type of. fcrtihsei; used ' ? in topdressing pastures and super is the most-popular type of phoSphatjc. man; uring. Slag is very extensively used in some districts, e.g., North Taranaki, but, over most .of. New Zealand, super is the most popular fertiliser. Recent tendencies in . manuring grassland are. towards ‘ two applications instead ot one, the popular periods being autumn and summer, the main object being to help growth over periods of normal pasture scarcity. ■ , Phosphates, not only increase, herbage growth, but also improve, the mineral content, arid, through this,' aid the body "t-owth of- the grazing animals. Research is showing; also that ip .certain areas potash manuring is essential for a good 'pasture growth. On lightish and peaty soils potash is usually deficient, as it is on even better class eoils where danying has been conducted over a long term of years. Within 'the last two or three years there has been a marked development in the Dominion in the use of a soluble nitrogenous manure to further aid m getting the fullest possible returns from pastures. Research work on the Continent and in England demonstrated the value of a nitrogenous manure such as sulphate of ammonia on pastures. The use of this fertiliser received a big fillip when science was able to make it synthetically by harnessing the nitrogen of the air, and in making it available at a price only about half that ruling three or four years ago. Fortunately, there has been a downward trend in price, a drop of nearly. £2 per ton in sulphate of ammonia being recorded in a little over 12 months. ■ The main use of a nitrogenous fertiliser is in securing early spring or ont-of-season” grass.” Trials by the New Zealand Department of Agriculture on 80 dairy farms over two years ago have shown tho value of sulphate of ammonia on pastures. An extract from a report cn these trials (statement made by Mr. A. W. Hudson, crop experimentalist). states: “It is evident therefore,’ that the use of nitrogen on good pasture for the production of early and late grass will pay, even though we ignore the indirect value of ■ out-of-sea-son’ grass.” MAKES EARLY CALVING SAFE. In order to get extra production, particularly in the early part of the season, farmers have been endeavouring to calve their cows earlier each year. W e take the case of farmers where cows would calve early and where feed conditions are short in the early spring, as is so often the case, this is on farms where no nitrogen had been used. The cows would get a oevere set-baek in their early lactation period which would affect them over the whole season. If there had been an area of nitrogentreated grass available, say, three to four weeks earlier than the ordinary spring grass was available the cows would have 'been kept going till the normal grass appeared, their whole season’s production thereby being influenced by the nitrogen-treated grass. BETTER RESULT... The value of a lengthened growing period of pasture into the winter and of bringing it earlier in the spring means that’farmers are less dependent on supplementary crops. It is significant that the areas under roots are now very much less in such areas as the Waikato and Taranaki than in recent years. 1 Growing “out-of-season” grass, plus the use of ensilage and hay, can be considered the important factors in making farmers less dependent on such crops as turnips green feed. Another country has shown that £1 spent on growing grass gives better results than £2 spent on supplementary crops., No figures arc available in this country, but it can be taken for granted that it is much cheaper to provide grass for stock than it is to grow crops, as, after all, grass is the cheapest and most nutritious feed tor all stock.b’armers know that the use of such fertilisers as phosphates, potash and

lime, tends to make nearly all pastures run to too much clover in proportion to grass. The use of a nitrogenous manure along with fertilisers as abovementioned, gives much better balance to the pasture, inasmuch as the percentage of ryegrass is increased, and far too many farms need a further increase of ryegrass and a lessening of Clover. WHAT EXPERIENCE HAS TAUGHT. As a result of two years’ experience, tho following information is given so as to guide farmers in getting the fullest value from the use of a nitrogenous fertiliser on grassland: — (1) Generally speaking, the better the type of pasture, the better ..the results from the use of a nitrogenpus fertiliser. Pastures with the highest percentage.of ryegrass, and particularly those with the persistent strain of ryegrass, e.g.. Hawke's Bay, give the best return., (2) The best returns come from land that has a sufficient supply of phosphate, lime and potash. The use of nitrogen alorie is not advocated. (3) Manures give the best response when applied to pastures after they have been well grazed or mown, and where harrowing is carried out at the time the manure is applied. (4) As to time of application, this is a rather difficult matter to set down, owing to the variation in the Seasons in the different parts of New Zealand, and also because of the variations from one season to another in any particular district, However,' the following general rules can 'be laid down: (a) To secure continuance of autumn growth of pasture and of growth into the early winter, nitrogenous fertiliser should be applied in the autumn before the grass has finished growing. The least responsive period is in the ‘dead’ winter season and application should be made either at the end of autumn or else when there is some root growth in the late winter or early spring. Ii the. Waikato and North Auckland districts, where a nutn'ber of herds calve in June and July, the use of sulphate of am: monia in 'April and early May is advisable to give grass growth in June and early July. Further areas should be treated in July and August so as to give grass in late August and' September, one of the critical periods for grassland growth. (Although some applications made in June have given good results, generally speaking this is- a ‘dead’ month and should be avoided except on sheltered paddocks). On sheltered paddocks the response is earlier than on unsheltered paddocks. Further south, Late July and August applications are advisable to get early spring grass. (b) It looks as though the standard practice will be to treat a percentage of the grassland in April and May, another percentage in July and August, in order to supply, in the first case, late autumn and early winter grass, and in the second case, early spring grass for dairy herds and for ewes and lambs.