Pasture Management when the Drought Breaks
Paddocks that have survived months of drought and hard grazing will need careful management to make it through the winter, and to avoid them becoming thin and infested with weeds and volunteer grasses.
While the drought is on, the clover and ryegrass plants or lucerne are in hibernation and not putting on any growth. Root reserves are staying static as there is no growth, and as there is virtually no top, there is no plant removal. Grazing damage is mainly from hoof damage, and as the soils are so hard, there is little root damage.
With the onset of drought breaking rain, the plant is stimulated back into growth and the root reserves are depleted as nutrients are pumped into new shoots. These new shoots expand to capture energy from the sun and this energy is then pumped back into the roots.
If the young shoots are eaten off as soon as a sheep can get a hold on them, the plant will exhaust the root reserves and put up very small leaves to just maintain itself. If the plant is left to re-establish, then the root reserves are built up so that regrowth is possible.
After a drought breaking rain, stock should be held on sacrifice paddocks, still being fed supplements, until good ground cover is achieved in some paddocks. Stock can be then rotated around the paddocks, but your aim should be to build up feed ahead of the mob.
Some pasture plants can be toxic early after a dry period. Phalaris is a good example, as are a number of weed species. Nitrate poisoning is a risk with all early growth.
Total production from spelled paddocks will be far ahead of paddocks that are grazed immediately after the drought. Weeds and volunteer grasses will not be so prevalent. The cost of feeding for a couple of weeks while you wait for ground cover to build up in some paddocks is a cost of the drought. The re-establishment of a good pasture without having to go through a renewal programme is your saving in return.
- Don't graze the new shoots.
- Wait until you have good ground cover.
- Feed supplements to allow pastures to recover.
- Rotational graze-don't set stock.
- from spelling paddocks, you can maximise grass growth by making sure enough fertiliser has been applied, or by applying nitrogen (see section on Nitrogen Fertilisers for more details).
Agricultural Consultant
Agriculture New Zealand
Darfield
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Manager
North Island Regions
Sector Performance Policy
MAF Policy
Hamilton
NEW ZEALAND
Phone: +64 7 957 8313
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