Winter Pasture Management

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 100, Issue 5, 16 May 1960, Page 441

Winter Pasture Management

Seasonal Notes by the Farm Advisory Division

BREAK FEEDING WINTER FORAGE

TO utilise winter forage properly and to ensure supplies through to the end of winter some form of break feeding is necessary. The number of breaks and size of a break will depend on the crop,

the stock, and other feed supplies available. The technique employed should provide good utilisation and clean feed of good quality at the right time. Young stock should receive preferential treatment by being fed on a fresh break, using older sheep to clean up the remainder of the crop under dirtier conditions. It may be necessary to accustom hoggets to winter feed and to do this they should be closed on an area for a week in the early part of winter. To have good feed for the period just before lambing it is often necessary to ration supplies strictly in the earlier part of the season. Where grass is sown with the crop, the provision of good feed can be ensured by a system of back fencing. This does not involve a great deal of extra work since at each move only the back fence is shifted. By the time the last break is being fed the young grass in the earlier breaks will be showing considerable recovery. Even when no grass is included back fencing is worth while, as it prevents continual pugging under wet conditions. When the earlier breaks are ploughed the soil is friable and requires the minimum of cultivation.

—B. J. McSWEENEY, Timaru

WINTER MANAGEMENT OF DRAINED PASTURES

❖ ❖ DRAINED pastures can be pugged as easily as undrained ones during wet weather. If they are pugged, their drainage will be impaired.

The following are suggestions to prevent pugging: 1. Allow drained paddocks to grow some inches of pasture cover before the onset of wet weather and then control grazing so that the pasture is not grazed bare. An inch or two of cover acts as a “buffer” between the animals’ hooves and the soil. On set stocked areas the maximum safe stocking rates are suggested as six or seven adult sheep or one cattle beast per acre. 2. On dairy farms the drained paddocks should be shut up in the autumn to be fed off in breaks when the pastures are 4 to 8 in. and should be back fenced. Back fencing reduces trampling over the grazed area and also assures a faster recovery of the pasture. 3. When it is necessary to use a drained paddock as a run-off when feeding off a forage crop, pugging will take place and the drainage will be affected as a result. The paddock used as a run-off should where possible be the one which will be cultivated the following season, as the cultivation will restore the original soil structure destroyed by pugging. Winter management of drained areas is most important and should be planned before winter approaches so that as small an area of the farm as possible is bared and pugged by overgrazing.

—K. L. MAYO,

Palmerston North

WINTER GRAZING OF LUCERNE

CONTRARY to opinions held widely in the past, farm practice today indicates that the common hay-type lucerne varieties can be grazed frequently without damage. There is considerable evi-

dence that judicious grazing management can increase, both the yield of lucerne and the productive life of the stand. Grazing, and in particular winter grazing, benefits lucerne in two ways. It aids in the control of the weeds and weed grasses that invade lucerne stands and when' mixtures are used it is essential to the maintenance of a satisfactory grass-lucerne balance. Its second and most important function is to maintain the high level of fertility necessary for thrifty lucerne. If hay reserves are adequate, or late haymaking risky, stands shut in late autumn may be break fed through early winter. This system is well suited to grass-lucerne mixtures and average crops will provide rations for 1,000 ewes per acre per day. It is often better to utilise late autumn production in this manner than to incur the cost of baling and feeding out. Recent experience indicates that grazing may continue up to mid July in the colder districts with no adverse effect on the subsequent spring production of the lucerne. If the control of grass weeds is the objective, heavy late winter grazing appears to give the best results. Where possible, stands should be used as a run-off or feeding out paddock. Only clean lucerne hay should be fed out on the area. Care should always be taken that heavy concentrations of stock do not cause pugging, as the lucerne plants can be severely damaged or destroyed by excessive trampling. As a general principle, aim to maintain the fertility of lucerne by adequate topdressing and by feeding back on to the stand at least part of the hay produced from it.

—M. L. CAMERON,

Timaru

* OVERSOWING OF TUSSOCK GRASSLAND IN CENTRAL OTAGO

* * BEFORE oversowing low rainfall hill country a cover of tussocks, indigenous grasses, and herbs is neces-

sary to aid moisture retention for establishment of better grasses and clovers. This can best be achieved by careful grazing management and spelling at certain times of the year to allow maximum reseeding, though additional fencing may be necessary to avoid overgrazing on warm country or to utilise rank growth on shady country. Many areas have been oversown from the air with fertilisers and inoculated red, white, and alsike clovers only, because of problems associated with the establishment of grasses due to low soil fertility or dense ground cover. Cocksfoot is the most generally suitable grass to introduce into tussock country and can be included initially when oversowing or in subsequent topdressings, depending on local conditions. Late winter and early spring are the most suitable times for oversowing. Trials have recently emphasised the importance of sulphur in plant nutrition and while both the sulphur and phosphorus fractions of superphosphate are needed on most soils, better results are usually obtained in Central Otago when a higher proportion of sulphur to phosphates than in superphosphate is applied. Other fertilisers may be required on some soils and those in doubt about seeding and manurial practices should seek information from the local officer of the Farm Advisory Division.

—W. A. LUNN,

Ranfurly