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The art of making silage

Making silage is a balance: when a paddock is closed, yield increases but quality declines. For quality silage, make light crops and cut early. Quality may not be important for feeding stock on a...

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Pickle it now, don’t let it rot

Making high-quality pasture silage should not be difficult, but it must be viewed as a supplementary feed, rather than just a necessity to manage pasture.  NZ experimental results indicate that...

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High-quality in, high-quality out

High-quality silage is a stable feed made from high-quality pasture. Pasture is preserved in the absence of oxygen by a high-quality fermentation to minimise any loss of feeding value.  It is...

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Minimising losses while making silage

Most losses that occur when you make silage are invisible, but they can be up to 40% of the original cut pasture.  Losses occur as sugars and protein in the grass are broken down by enzymes, and...

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Too late to plant maize silage?

About this time of the year, we always seem to get calls from merchants and farmers asking several versions of the same question: “Is it too late to plant maize silage in November?”  The next question...

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Contractor lands zoo feed deal

Manawatu agricultural contractor Mike Hancock is helping to feed some of the world’s most stunning and endangered animals. The 23-year-old is a joint operations manager for Bruce Gordon Contracting,...

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Planning prevents poor maize

The predicted dry patch, which in November seemed impossible to envisage, has arrived. As I write this, I look out on blue sky and brownfields (except for the maize paddocks) and listen to the...

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How’s your farm’s food conversion efficiency?

Food Conversion Efficiency is often misunderstood and overlooked, despite its role in profitability. FCE is a simple calculation that defines the amount of feed (grown and purchased) required to...

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Opportunities to lift herd health

Are your cows getting enough calcium? Last month I attended an informative talk put on by industry suppliers of a new product aimed at reducing milk fever in cows. What interested me more than the...

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Building pasture cover levels

The long summer dry has meant many farmers are now focused on how they can increase pasture cover levels while still meeting cow condition score targets. Maize silage is an ideal supplement to use...

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Feeding out maize silage

Maize silage is a maize crop cut and ensiled in a stack or bunker; commonly used as a supplement to pasture in situations where cows would otherwise be underfed. Maize silage is a high quality forage...

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Limiting losses while feeding cows grass silage

Grass silage begins to break down once exposed to air, making steps to reduce losses crucial. Losses occur as sugars and protein in the grass are broken down by enzymes and bacteria. This process...

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Better feed uptake, minimises wastage

Redpath explains how to efficiently feed cows in their dairy housing. Clear roofed dairy housing manufacturer, Redpath says each farm operates different feed-out regimes. It says each feed system has...

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Organic product to tackle selenium deficiency in soils

A new generation of organic selenium supplementation will be introduced into New Zealand this year, helping to solve NZ soil's issue of low selenium. Selenium is an essential trace element for...

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Feed pads worth their weight in concrete

Pioneer forage specialist Ian Williams on the many benefits of feed pads. Pioneer at Fieldays promoted the use of an app we had developed looking at the profitability of building feed pads.  The app...

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Cows thriving in carrot country

The Frew family in Ohakune have arguably the largest milking platform in New Zealand – some 4000ha – yet run only 700 cows. The question is why? Peter Burke explains. The Frew family partnership is...

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Transition period critical for stock

GrainCorp Feeds is offering dairy farmers advice on transition feeding for their calving season as a means of improving cow health and lifting milk production, reports general manager Daniel Calcinai....

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MTF makes calf feeding a breeze

Bigger and better, says Stallion chief executive Grant Allen describing the company’s largest MTF mobile calf feeder, the Mixer Tanker Feeder. Designed to feed 60-65 calves on the 80-teat feeder, the...

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Managing the biting reality of winter

DairyNZ talked to two Canterbury dairy farmers about how they look after their cows and the environment during the challenging winter. Rain and cold make winter the worst of challenges – wet underfoot...

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Easing cows into winter crops

Successful grazing of crop paddocks is achieved by good management of people, cows and the environment, says DairyNZ. Soil loss risk increases markedly with the grazing of crop. This is due to the...

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Bad winter grazing does do harm

Winter grazing of forage crops is very harmful to the environment, says an AgResearch scientist, Professor Richard McDowell. His comments follow the publication of photographs showing cows deep in mud...

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Trace mineral products — spoilt for choice?

What should you keep in mind when choosing trace mineral products? Greg Jarratt, vet and director of Matamata Veterinary Services explains. Since as early as the 1940’s and 1950’s NZ agricultural...

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Pushback on disease affecting brassica crops

A team led by Punjab Agricultural University, India, with researchers from The University of Western Australia, reports a breakthrough in disease resistance in brassica crops. Brassica is an important...

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Catch crops' bottom-line and environmental benefits

Catch crops could rise in importance in crop rotations, particularly as the regulatory spotlight lights up the environmental impact of winter feed crops. Catch crops are sown as early as possible after...

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Summer feed options

Feed shortages happen every summer. Ian Williams, Pioneer forage specialist explains some options to fill the feed gap. As New Zealanders, we love to talk about the weather. We have NIWA predicting...

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Maintaining a healthy, productive animal

Dairy goat farmers should carefully plan the feed requirements during the lead up to transition and the early lactation period. How you manage the nutrition at the different stages of this period will...

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Winter grazing is everyone’s problem

The Government taskforce report on winter grazing says farmers are not solely to blame for all the problems associated with this practice. It also points the finger at bank managers, seed merchants and...

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Animal feeding testing upgrade

New Zealand feed manufacturers are lifting their game when it comes to quality and safety of their products. The New Zealand Feed Manufacturers Association (NZFMA) has introduced a new risk management...

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Turnips can help bridge a summer feed gap

Turnips are a brassica root crop commonly used as a fast-maturing single-graze crop to bridge a summer feed gap and maintain milk production. Turnips can be sown from spring through to late summer,...

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New ryegrass ‘boosts production, reduces methane’

A new higher-fat variety of ryegrass could help farmers boost production while lowering methane emissions, says agricultural seed company Germinal. It has partnered with the Institute of Biological,...

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Fodder beet yields unaffected by reduced fertiliser use

New research shows that it is possible to reduce traditional fertiliser recommendations for growing fodder beet – sometimes by more than half the usual amount – with no effect on crop yield or quality....

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Quality of animal feed vital

For everyone involved in food production today, traceability and transparency are ever present considerations.  Consumers increasingly want to know where the foods they eat come from, what are its...

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Feed budgeting vital to recovery

Feed budgeting is the big issue for Southland farmers coming out of the early February floods, according to Ollie Knowles, DairyNZ regional leader for Southland and South Otago. Knowles said it was...

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Why is milk fat content low?

What should you do when your milk fat percentage has fallen? Recently, I have had several calls from different farmers wanting to know why their milk fat percentage is lower than usual. Of further...

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Drought stricken farmers are dipping into winter feed reserves

Farmers in drought-ravaged Waikato are now dipping into their winter reserves to feed cows. If the rains stay away, most farmers in the region could start drying off cows from next week, almost two...

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Portion control key when it comes to fodder beet

Fodder beet can be a key part of your farm’s feed regime, but restrict its usage, says DairyNZ. New research shows the crop should make up no more than 30% of lactating cows’ diet and 60% for...

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Tightened US rules an opportunity

OPINION: The updated US Department of Agriculture (USDA) rule for “grass-fed” or “pasture-fed” milk or meat is very restrictive. But, if managed prudently, it could actually give New Zealand farmers a...

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Managing winter feeding a priority

Going into autumn, Beef + Lamb New Zealand is encouraging farmers to think about how they will manage their winter fodder crops – particularly in a year when feed resources are likely to be tight....

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Feed needs discussed

Work is being conducted to improve feed and supplement levels in regions around the country. Beef + Lamb NZ (B+LNZ) says it’s working with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and other industry...

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Bumper maize crop despite drought

Waikato owner-operated farmers Nacre and Anthony Maiden says the “stars aligned” this year to give them a particularly bumper maize crop despite the drought and their sandy loam soils. However being...

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Yields up in difficult season

Yields for the 2020 arable harvest are up 16% across the board when compared to 2019, according to a new survey. The results were presented in the latest Arable Industry Marketing Initiative (AIMI)...

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Smart silos a clever choice

Made from rotationally moulded polyethylene, the Smart Silo range offers capacities from 280 litres to 30 tonnes. They offer a longer lasting and more hygienic storage solution for all types of...

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Call for help answered

With the drought reaching a crisis level in Central Hawkes Bay with supplementary feed almost non-existent, farmers in the Wairarapa have answered the call for help. Farmers Sophie and Dan Hansen got...

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Proper nutrition pre-calving boosts yield

If milk fever is keeping you or your staff awake at night, you are not alone.  Many New Zealand dairy farms grapple with down cows at calving with research showing that on average between 2-4% of all...

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Maize stubble fills feed gap

In a normal season, maize stubble wouldn’t be required as a feed on dairy farms. But this is no ordinary season – most parts of the North Island are experiencing their driest first half of the year on...

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Monitoring trace elements key to sheep health

Assessing the trace element status of a flock should be part of your animal health programme.  There are four important trace elements to consider in New Zealand sheep flocks. These are selenium (Se),...

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B+LNZ launches winter grazing campaign

Animal welfare is a central focus of Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s (B+LNZ) new winter grazing campaign. When done correctly, winter grazing is an effective way to keep animals fed and healthy over winter...

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Keep an eye on winter grazing practices

Farmers are taking steps to improve wintering systems despite the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions and weather events. That’s the view of the Winter Grazing Action Group, formed to work on...

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Pitfalls of dropping feed, not herd size

Greg Jarratt, vet and director of Matamata Veterinary Services, on why farmers shouldn't reduce feed without also destocking. The main goal of any dairy producer is to successfully convert low quality...

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Pitfalls of dropping feed, not herd size

Greg Jarratt, vet and director of Matamata Veterinary Services, on why farmers shouldn't reduce feed without also destocking. The main goal of any dairy producer is to successfully convert low quality...

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