Farm Practice and Management.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 57, Issue 6, 20 December 1938, Page 531

Farm Practice and Management.

Contributed by Officers of the Fields Division.

Previous Grazing - management Affects the Silage and Hay Crops.

IN the Ruakufa' grazing trials silage and hay crops have been taken after hard ■ winter - grazing and after lenient winter-grazing— . is, winter-spelling. In each of the two .. years . of the trial there has been an astonishing difference in the crops grown for silage and hay after these opposite kinds of grazing-manage-ment. The. following scheme shows the. main differences:— . .. Silage after Winter-spelling. Ready in about seven weeks. Very. even crop. ■ . Heavy crop. Mainly rye-grass and fog with no sweet vernal. - - . . ■Excellent aftermath and clover-growth i'• maintained through dry summer. - i’ ■■' Silage after Winter-grazing,-. ' ■■ • Takes about four weeks longer. . Very patchy crop. i.' ■i ' '■ - Very light crop. ■.:/.■ \ < Mainly . rye-grass. with some sweet; vernal, ’ but no fog. . ‘ ' Aftermath quite good, but clover-growth i'i not maintained through dry summer. ' Hay after Winter-spelling. ' Gives much fog and cocksfoot, as well as ■;, rye-grass. .i- , V An even crop. ■■ , ■No weeds. - ; • • - Ready sooner/ cut sooner, aftermath h sooner, and therefore can be grazed s sooner. ’• Hay'after Winter-grazing. •Rye-grass dominant, but little or no fog and cocksfoot. Very patchy indeed. .

Very much plantain and other flatweeds. Takes longer and, because it is cut later, is likely to give a poor aftermath. The nutritive values of these two kinds of silage and hay is not yet known. This is unfortunate, for it is possible that there may be ; a big •?. difference . which could outweigh the advantages of . taking silage and hay crops after winter-spelling. . In the meantime it may be as well, until more is known about the feedingvalue of different kinds of silage and hay to base our management on the knowledge we have, and this leads us to the conclusion that silage and hay crops should follow winter-spelling rather than wintergrazing.

E. R. Marryatt,

Fields Instructor,

Ruakura Farm.