By DANNY BUTTLER
NOVEMBER reminders for the farm:
* If you have surplus pasture on the milking area use silage making to control residual, giving better pasture quality next round. This will be a balancing act between pasture quality and quantity.
* Out paddocks or support areas play a key role in proving fodder for milking and dry cows. Management should try and utilise as much available feed as possible, including use of nitrogen.
* If pasture becomes limited in late November and soil moisture is still adequate, consider an application of nitrogen and or a blend if required, to maintain or build
pasture cover coming into summer.
* This pasture will be highly beneficial as feed from pasture is essential to profitably maintain milk production.
* Consider applying potassium and sulphur fertiliser to paddocks post-silage or any paddocks where leaching over winter may have occurred.
* Soils differ in their ability to retain nutrients, so soil testing is a cost-effective decision support to assist with this management option.
* If you have paddocks with low soil nutrients that can be irrigated with effluent it is coming up to the best time of year to apply the effluent, getting some pasture growth and having a low risk of run off.
Irrigation
* Apply irrigation water to maximise pasture growth rates if possible. Have a plan of how much area you can water through the summer to ensure your water lasts for the
irrigation season.
* It’s time to start mixing the dairy effluent into the irrigation water – summer pastures are very responsive to the additional nutrients.
Summer crops
* If crops fit your system and they can be profitably grown and fed now is the time to plant. Have a plan of crop type, seed bed preparation, nutrient and pest management and planned grazing dates. Crops such as millet, forage sorghum and maize should be sown once soil temperatures reach 14 to 16 degrees Celsius and soil moisture is still adequate, usually towards the end of November.
* Application of dairy effluent onto summer fodder crops is a very effective use of this nutrient resource. Yield responses will be greater on these crops than on non-irrigated pasture. Where crops are not grown apply effluent to silage paddocks, after the silage has been removed or at least three weeks before cutting. Effluent is high in potassium, so will replace any potassium removed with silage.
* When evaluating crops include the cost of planting pastures back into paddocks after the crop.
* Consider the risks such as dry hot conditions and pest attack, which may mean that crops planted do not guarantee available dry matter in the summer months.
