Bill Webb Feed Solutions Outlook

A lift in the 2016/2017 forecast farm gate milk price by 50c, increasing the price to $5.25 per kilogram of milk solids has also lifted farmers’ spirits. Let’s hope it continues to strengthen into the rumoured return to a $6-plus kg/ms payout. This is the best news farmers have had in the last two seasons.

It’s been a hard winter in other ways too, with a lot of rain and then conditions turning good in July-August. Most farmers, except those in the Central Plateau area, are now seeing grass growth with warmer spring conditions and more daylight hours.

It’s time to be preparing paddocks for turnips, maize or other crops. Cropping is a good way to restore winter sacrifice paddocks or undertake drainage in areas where wet weather has shown up drainage problems or poor pastures.

Be mindful of the need to clean machinery before it leaves your property for another and to check contractors coming on to your land have cleaned all their equipment thoroughly to avoid the risks of introducing or spreading pests like velvet leaf, alligator weed and Noogoora bur.

It seems despite the best efforts of Ministry for Primary Industries, more and more pests and disease are getting across our borders and they can be costly to agricultural and horticultural industries. It’s up to us all to play our part to stop the spread of those already here and prevent the introduction of new ones.

Unwanted pests

It might be tempting to buy cheap maize from the United States or import second-hand machinery but before doing so, give consideration to the damage it might do if they bring unwanted pests and diseases with them.

Used agricultural machinery is a way pests could get through our borders as they can be hard to thoroughly clean and have a myriad of places insects and seeds can hide. It appears velvet leaf may have come in mixed with fodder beet seeds. And because all of the seed is coated to protect it and help it grow, it’s almost impossible to tell what’s fodder beet and what’s velvet leaf. Another thought was it came in with some imported chicken feed, then the chicken manure was spread on maize paddocks in the Waikato.

Machinery can also be contaminated with diseases like foot and mouth so if you’re thinking of buying second-hand from overseas, check out where it’s been and make sure it is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected both before it leaves and when it gets here. MPI can only do so much and it is our industry we want to protect.

Delayed start

The spell of very wet weather in September put us behind for our silage harvesting so our start to planting maize this year will be seven-10 days behind last year. But that’s the reality of farming. As we all know, nature can and will throw up the unexpected. All we can do is prepare as best we can, rather than navigating the seasons by the seat of our pants.

So order your feed from us early, when it’s at its cheapest, with early orders straight from the paddock ensuring you’re getting top quality feed.