A recent Newspaper article commenting on the latest low dairy payout for the West Coast this season stated that with present urea prices every kilogram of milksolids would be produced at a loss. The notion that there is a direct link between urea and milksolid production is fascinating.
Urea contains 46% nitrogen. Nitrogen is an essential element in plant growth, but just one of the commonly regarded 6 major elements and many minor elements, growth being limited by the lack of any one.
At best only 50% of applied solid nitrogen fertiliser finds its way into the plant, the remainder being lost through the soil profile taking with it other essential growth elements.
Most soil test results indicate sufficient nitrogen in the top 15cm for maximum pasture yields.
Nitrogen is the most common element in the air with a useful rule of thumb being that 80% of a plants nutrient requirement comes from the air and 20% from the soil.
There was much reliable data collected prior to the use of nitrogen fertiliser showing that grass and clover based pastures could produce 18+ tonne of dry matter annually.
Perhaps the most important fact to be remembered is that in a well-structured soil where there is strong clover content during summer sufficient nitrogen can be fixed for the remainder of the season virtually free of charge.
Nitrogen fertiliser used appropriately is a useful tool, however a dependence on it to grow pasture throughout the growing season strongly suggests a fundamental problem with nutrient balance and physical soil structures.
The twin constraints of price and council regulation will in time ensure that farmers are required to develop the knowledge and skills to maximise pasture growth without the use of nitrogen fertiliser. The inability to do so will inevitably lead to the sale of property and a change in career.
The start point is regular soil and leaf analysis, along with an examination of physical soil structures.
Experience suggests that most soils under intensive grazing will be more compact than ideal for strong root development and, both calcium and magnesium levels will be lower than desired.
Dolomite, a New Zealand resource containing 11.5% magnesium and 24% calcium and found only at Golden Bay, provides an answer to all three issues.
Applied at approximately 250kg/ha annually sufficient magnesium will be provided to replace losses in intensive dairy situations, and relegate calcium/magnesium related metabolic problems to an occasional minor issue. The cost is negligible compared to the value of a dairy cow lost in spring.
Dolomite has a proven positive effect on physical soil structures, improving tilth and the formation of granular aggregates.
Although the first inclination in a low payout year is to stop spending, those with experience know that the key at these times is to look after animal, plant, and soil health so advantage can be taken of the good times that inevitably follow.