“Regrassing may be expensive to do but it costs you more in the long term if you don’t do it,” Hugh said.
“You’ve got to compare the renewal costs with the extra income you’re going to get from the new pasture compared with the old to decide whether it is worthwhile and it certainly has been.”
After being involved with the pasture renewal programme for the past nine years, Hugh can now confidently predict the grazing heifers will meet their desired liveweight (LW) targets.
“You don’t now put heifers on a paddock wondering if they are going to grow; you put them on knowing they are going to grow.”
The balage on Hugh Thomsen's farm is stored in plastic tubing.
Often the tractor is used only once a week since balage is fed out on to three breaks ahead of the grazing animals.
Making stack-pit silage is not an option because towing a silage wagon around the hills is too dangerous.
Weaners were first introduced to balage in February this year at a rate of half a bale to 100 animals. This represents about 20-25% of their daily intake and is designed to get them accustomed to it.
In spite of there being good grass covers the weaners preferred the balage and growth rates averaged 0.8kg/head/day.
“We now know this was because our autumn grass was low in soluble carbohydrate and the heifers preferred the balage because of its higher soluble carbohydrate content,” Hugh said.
The Shogun cultivar of Italian ryegrass the Thomsens have found ideal for their pasture renewal programme also seems to make excellent balage.
Growth rates of the heifers this year are the best yet and if they continue R2 heifers will leave the farms at an average of 450kg.
FARM FACTS
Patoka, Hawke’s Bay – 48km northwest of Napier
- Home farm – Lindholm, bought by Hugh and Deirdre Thomsen in 1986
- Amalgamated with two other farms
- Farmed by Hugh, Deirdre and sons Greg and Hamish
- Entirely dairy support
- Total area of farm business – 690ha (612ha effective)
- Altitude – 330-466m
- Rainfall – 1200-1500mm
- Production – 784kg net liveweight gain a year
- Pasture renewal – 20-30ha/year
- 1200-1300 bales of balage/year
Dairy heifers carried
- 1280 R1s
- 1280 R2s
