viewpoint
February 2016
with John Barnes – Managing Director
February Feast
Rain has arrived on a “just in time” basis so far this year; we pray that it continues.
I have often advised feeding a bale or two of straw or hay during times of fast grass growth, and here is why…
The protein in pasture can be incredibly high in these high growth periods with low fibre content leading to stock scouring which lessens the uptake and absorption of nutrients. Not only that, but the excretions from animals with levels of feed protein above 15% will contain high levels of nitrogen, particularly in the urine which goes to the soil and leaches to our waterways.
We all know what the Government and local bodies think of that!!! So there you go!
Believe it or not, this not only comes from me but also from an eminent scientist at LWT Animal Nutrition, Dr Lucy Waldron.
SOLUTION: Feed some dry matter like a few bales of hay or straw, she advises.
She says that farm advisers are telling farmers to intensify and put supplement into the system while not understanding the implications of animal health.
I can only agree wholeheartedly.
MAGNESIUM
The amount of magnesium in soils has a big impact on how well the farm will perform. It would be hard to think of another element (apart from calcium) that influences a farm’s profitability so much. True, every single element is important whether it is a trace element or a major element such as N.P.K.S.
In the soil
In the soil, magnesium rates alongside calcium. Magnesium at the right rate will help keep the soil friable. Too little magnesium and soils will be compacted.
Too much, and the soils will be equally unworkable. Many, if not all, of the magnesium sources in New Zealand take months to work. Applying magnesium fertilisers now will not fix short term magnesium problems. That is why we have developed our VitaLife range which, along with the microbes, break down magnesium so that it will work faster, giving you results during the Spring.
In the leaf
Magnesium is an important element for rapid plant growth. Magnesium is important for photosynthesis because it forms the central atom of chlorophyll. Therefore without sufficient amounts of magnesium, plants begin to degrade the chlorophyll in the old leaves causing Chlorosis, or yellowing between leaf veins, which stay green. As magnesium is mobile in nature, the plant takes the magnesium from the older leaves and transfers it to the younger leaves which have greater photosynthetic needs.
Within the animal
The overriding factor here is, magnesium is not stored well in animals, so regular daily intakes are necessary. Often farmers blood test for elements including magnesium. However, some magnesium can be stored in limited amounts in various parts of the body. If magnesium is short in the blood, it will transfer this element from other areas to the blood. The only conclusion is if magnesium is deficient in the blood, there will be none anywhere else in that animal. Minor deficiencies in the blood will show as a sub-clinical problem. Sub-clinical deficiencies will lose 10% production. Checking for sub-clinical symptoms is something that farmers need to look for. In cows these are the head down, lack of energy in the paddock, and/or flighty in the shed.
LUCERNE
Lucerne has been grown in many parts of New Zealand, and the benefits have been recognised by many farmers for over 60 years. Recently newer varieties have been developed and so there has been a renewed interest in growing Lucerne. Here are a few facts which may be of interest:
- It has a large tap root which means it will grow well in dryer conditions.
- It has a nutritional value, far greater than rye grass and clover.
- Several cuts can be taken off during the growing season.
I well remember my father growing Lucerne in the 1950s. It was an integral part of his farming programme. During a dry period (usually in mid-summer) Lucerne could either be carefully break fed or turned into hay and fed back out to the dairy herd. It was a great “get out of jail” option. In recent years some well-known farmers in the Marlborough area have grown Lucerne, and found that even in the driest of areas they could farm profitably. Unfortunately not all farmers have caught the vision of these forward thinking folk. Because of my father’s interest in Lucerne I also have taken a greater interest in how we can make this great crop perform even better. Over the years we have tried many types of fertiliser on the crops. The stand-out fertiliser has been a liquid which has given exceptional results. My work over the years with the 8.3.6 mix has shown we are growing more leaf and often less stalk which means an even higher quality of feed for the stock.
We presently call this fertiliser product Actavize which we have refined over the years.
So it was of no surprise when a Nelson farmer walked into our office and said he was about to plant a stand of Lucerne and could we advise on his fertiliser. During this growing season he was advised to apply Actavize between every cut. He has just finished his 4th cut which grew 90cm in 27 days. According to those who have seen several Lucerne crops this year “it was the best they had seen”! Bearing in mind that a few years ago a good harvest was 3 cuts per season, this farmer is looking at 6 cuts – all of them being a heavy crop.
Our own research shows that where we have applied Actavize against a Control Block there has been a 15% increase in dry matter between cuts. In many cases the period of time between cuts was about 27 days.
For further information call us.
I have been in the farming community for all of my life and have some understanding of how difficult it is out there. In fact, the reason for setting up Fertilizer New Zealand was to provide farmers with a choice. We believe that if a farmer’s fertiliser is leaching, and scientists are telling us it is, then we should all be concerned. Leaching as far as I am concerned means that some of what is being applied is going to waste. Waste is something no farmer in New Zealand can afford to be a part of in this financial down turn. Our philosophy is to provide farmers with phosphate and nitrogen which will almost eliminate loss. This will be both economic for the farmer and also good for the environment. There will be no loss of production either with this programme; it just means that fertiliser is used and applied in a slightly different way.
John Barnes