Pasture Production and Weed Control

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 98, Issue 4, 15 April 1959, Page 341

Pasture Production and Weed Control

Seasonal Notes by the Extension Division

W/ITII the increased amount of hill 'country topdressing done during the last few years the need for the best use of the extra feed produced is becoming increasingly apparent. Subdivision will assist in, making better use of this feed.

SUBDIVISION OF HILL COUNTRY

SUBDIVISION of hill country should be planned to facilitate easy access from paddock to paddock so that stock ■ can be shifted with

minimum disturbance. The provision of bulldozed tracks can sometimes help tremendously in this respect. The aim .is to make stock graze where required rather than where they themselves fancy.

Shady faces need to be fenced from sunny faces to enforce fern control on the shady faces. Steep sidelings if possible should be fenced from easier slopes and flats, and newly sown pasture must of course be fenced from established pasture. In practice the fences should be situated mainly along the easier ridges and to some extent along the floors of gullies. Where it is possible to operate a tractor care must be. taken with the positioning of fences so that sufficient manoeuvring room is left at the tops and bottoms of slopes. Access to water also has to be taken into account.

There is no set formula for determining the number of paddocks as long as there are sufficient to enable areas to be spelled four to six weeks after being grazed for up to one week. Up to 20 paddocks would be desirable to simplify management and ensure maximum benefit from mob-stocking, though excellent results have been achieved with considerably less than this number. L. BANFIELD, Thames

BUTTERCUP CONTROL ON WINTER WET SOILS

DAIRY farmers on heavy, wet soils who are troubled with buttercup in their pastures should eradicate the seedling

■ plants now, as it may be October or November before they are able to get equipment on to their paddocks. About i lb acid equivalent as contained in one pint of 3.6 lb acid equivalent ethyl ester of 2,4-D is sufficient to kill seedling buttercups and will severely check or kill seedling docks. For giant buttercup, salts of MCPA should be used at up to 1 lb acid equivalent per acre, as 2,4-D preparations are not effective on this species. In newly sown pastures MCPB should be used once there is complete ground cover, which occurs usually six to eight weeks after the new grass has been sown. ' The ate of application in this case is up to 1 lb acid equivalent per acre.

Eleven gallons of water per acre usually gives a good coverage and ensures an even kill of the weeds. Most spray booms have nozzles spaced at 14 in. intervals, and to achieve 11 gallons per acre a pressure of 30 lb per square inch, using a 32 fan nozzle and travelling at 4 m.p.h., will be necessary. Farmers can check their units by putting in the tank a known quantity of water, spraying an acre, and checking the amount of water

remaining in the tank. Too much water and weedicide can mean clover damage; too little leads to a poor and uneven, kill. —D. A. NEWMAN, Dargaville

KILLING DOCKS IN YOUNG PASTURES

WHERE docks are prevalent on the farm young pastures are often heavily infested with both

seedling docks and regrowths from pieces of old root which have survived the cultivation work. The hormone weedkiller 2,4-DB applied at from 1 to 2 lb acid equivalent per acre has proved to be very effective in eradicating both seedlings and regrowth from root pieces without doing any harm to the clovers and grasses in the young sward. The treatment gets rid of most of the other weeds too.

Spraying should be done as soon as the ground cover is complete and when the seedling clovers have reached the first true-leaf stage. Fine, warm weather at the time of spraying, with no rain for at least 24 hours after treatment, is essential for success. Should rain fall after spraying, the treatment should be repeated. It is also essential to get the hormone on to every dock plant, and for this reason it is often necessary to give a light, quick grazing before treatment, so that the docks are fully exposed to the spray.

Though the hormone weedicides are ineffective in the treatment of old docks in established pastures, the treatment of docks in young pastures with 2,4-DB will give the young grass a clean start.

S. H. HENRY,

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