WINTER-SAVED GRASS ON NORTH ISLAND DAIRY FARMS

Te Ao Hou, May 1957, Page 52

WINTER-SAVED GRASS ON NORTH ISLAND DAIRY FARMS On North Island dairy farms paddocks may be closed for winter-saved grass up to about the middle of June; for subsequent feed fields may be closed from then on after concentrated grazing of dry stock which have been heavily fed with hay and silage. Application of nitrogenous fertilisers in July on these later-closed fields may be worth while to increase early spring grass growth, the Department of Agriculture considers. The effect of close winter grazing and winter spelling on sward composition should be carefully watched, for hard grazing subsequently encourages white clover growth and spelling encourages grasses, particularly Yorkshire fog. Adverse changes in sward composition should be avoided by not subjecting pastures to the same management each winter; fields which were winter spelled last year should normally be hard grazed this winter and vice versa. Wintering on the same fields year after year weakens the grasses and allows clovers to become dominant; they come away very quickly when spring growth starts, producing a flush of immature feed which is very liable to cause bloat.