May 30, 2015
When a milking cow in spring runs short on magnesium, the cost incurred isn’t difficult to calculate. In a worst case situation she dies, and the cost is the value of the animal, and her production during the coming season. Should she die prior to calving, there’s...
Apr 30, 2015
In the past, when dairy income has been tight, withholding autumn fertiliser has been seen as a valid means of containing costs. But is it a sound option? Farmers that spent less on feed last spring, without reducing animal numbers, are reporting fewer cows in-calf...
Feb 28, 2015
As one farmer client stated “this spring has been a challenge”, and he’s referring specifically to pasture growth over the last three months. In the cooler areas of the Bay of Plenty, and the pattern by most accounts has been similar country wide, there’s been a few...
Dec 30, 2014
A report of Dairy NZ’s recent annual meeting quoted Dairy NZ director Alister Body as saying that he was apprehensive about going to social gatherings knowing someone might “have a go” about dairy farming. Chief executive Tim Mackle was also quoted as saying that the...
Oct 30, 2014
My love of cars and enjoyment of driving stems from the exquisite sense of freedom achieved as a result of purchasing my own vehicle as a teenager. Summers of picking up hay provided sufficient money for the restrictions of push bikes and unreliable bus services to...
Aug 30, 2014
It’s not run-off into waterways from pastoral land that’s the greatest concern it’s what’s coming out the bottom into aquifers that’s the major contaminator and the quickest and most effective way to stop that is to cease tipping it in the top. Nitrogen constitutes...
