Can grass production be maintained with more lime use, and utilisation of the retained phophorous in the soil?
Fertiliser is one of the biggest costs in a farmers expenditure and some farmers are questioning whether continual large inputs of chemical fertiliser are creating good profits.
To survive in todays tough financial climate farmers need to be profit driven, rather than production focused.
The working "smarter not harder" philosophy, has many farmers re-evaluating their stocking rate and stock class mix, to get the best combination that allows the best net profit.
How important are your "phosphate levels" to drive grass production, or can you survive with lower fertilser costs and still generate sustainable profits?
Forced to survive on a $2 payout caused by the receivership of the NZ Organic Dairy Farmer Co-operative of which he was a member, King Country dairy farmer David Miller re-evaluated his farming business. Listening to advice from American sustainable agriculture consultant Dr Ardern Andersen, who has visited the Waikato many times, Mr Miller cut fertiliser application by about six sevenths, reduced his stocking rate from 3.1 stock units per hectare to 2.6 and began using his herd, in the spring, to "prune" his pastures.
Dr Andersen, who is also a GP and doctor in the US Air Force, believes soil is being damaged by the overuse of fertiliser chemicals and the answer is reducing them to nurture the microbiology of the soil reports The Waikato Times. Dr Andersen's principles are embraced by Bill Quinn, of Organic Promotions in Paeroa, who Mr Miller also consulted. "My fertiliser budget went from $75,000 to $10,000, and I grew just as much grass," Mr Miller, who farms with his wife Ailsa at Honikiwi near Otorohanga, said.
The teachings of Dr Andersen, and other consultants like him, had changed the way he farms and produced plenty of grass during drought when neighbours were struggling to feed their stock. "Learning to make our budget work at $2 per kg of milk solids, I have learned to utilise water well," Mr Miller said. "My ryegrass clover pasture plants have a root system going down one metre, and are all still growing. I am 63 and I have only just learned that."
Mr Miller said he couldn't believe the difference between Dr Andersen's low input system and the conventional system, where roots grew to a tenth of the length.He'd also seen earthworm population increase from half a dozen small worms, per spadeful, to two dozen large worms after switching systems."Getting away from the N, P and K system we are able to feed our animals."
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