Outlook with Bill Webb Bill Webb Feed Solutions

The whole of New Zealand is getting dry. We haven’t had much rain in Bay of Plenty. Possibly 25ml since Christmas Eve. Some farmers will be drying cows off early if this weather continues.

So farmers will need to be mindful of pasture renewal – they need to get onto this sooner than later. Identify paddocks that are weedy or got pugged last winter/spring and deal to them while it’s dry. Get the drainage done and tidy them up.

They should now be selecting paddocks they’re going to put into crops next season as well. Spraying those out and putting them into annuals would be a good idea, to get a bit of extra winter feed off those paddocks; maybe a cut of silage next spring.

Especially if you’re dealing with kikuyu or mercer grass, spray that now while it is actively growing – if it is at all. Even those varieties may be struggling at the moment.

But it is an opportunity to kill those wild species that aren’t normally active in spring, so get them under control now.

Farmers also need to be mindful about armyworm caterpillar because it’s in these dry spells they seem to come out in force in new grasses and crops etc. So keep a vigilant eye out.

Now is also good time to get your feed budgets done early. See what feed you’ve got on hand, what pasture you’ve got and what you need to grow between now and spring. If you can predict shortages it’s best to deal with them now while there is surplus feed around. Because if it stays dry there will be more demand for feed.

We’ve still got a bit of winter grazing available, plus hay and silage, and some maize silage here.

We’re right into our maize harvest early. We started planting maize earlier this season, with spring being kinder, so that’s brought it on early along with the hotter days. The heat units – from warm nights and hot days – has provided more growing days. We’ve had 32-33 degrees Celsius days – we just don’t get those temperatures. I’ve never seen them before here in the BOP.

So farmers need to ensure they’ve got well-prepare stack sites ready because maize could be coming early this year. Have your level stack sites away from drains, power lines etc and in a free-draining area. Long grass attracts rodents. Pukeko can peck holes in stacks so use netting to keep birds out. Have bait stations set to keep rodents at bay. And compact the stack well and cover it well with tyres touching – put a seal around the base with lime, soil or something. Seal it nice and tight, and pack it nice and tight. And fence it off to keep the stock out. It happens just about every year. Use a good quality inoculant – and use a good quality silage cover. Don’t re-use last year’s one.

We were expecting a cyclone to come down from the tropics, which I think most farmers were looking forward to for the rain but not the wind. But it looks like it has missed us, which is probably a blessing in disguise as we don’t need the damaging winds or flooding associated with cyclones. Although, we could all do with a bit of rain to revive the dry spell.