At soil level it’s no better. Donald Martin of GrassCo has been measuring at sites throughout Southland and it’s averaging about 5C. It needs to be above 7C for ryegrass to grow and even higher for clover.
Calving started on most farms in the region a month ago and he was worried as grass covers were falling to levels he’d never seen before.
“We’re measuring 1100kg drymatter (DM)/ha on some paddocks. They say a cow can`t graze below 1300 cover,” he said.
GrassCo has been measuring grass covers and soil temperatures in Southland since 2009 and Martin said he hadn’t experienced a spring like it.
“I think it’s the worst we’ve had for 40 years. We’ve come out of a dry summer into a wet, cold winter and it hasn’t stopped.”
He believed farmers should be rethinking their calving dates.
“With the payout drop, now is the time to look at the big picture and I think too many farmers are calving too early here. They’ve got to start matching the calving dates with the grass growth curve.
“The start of calving has crept further and further into July and we’ve had some mild winters in the past few years and people have got away with it, but not this year.”
He said most farmers planned to dry off with at least 2000kg DM/ha average cover on their farms in Southland when they sent their cows away for winter grazing.
“Usually we gain about another 500kg DM/ha on top of that by the end of July but this year I think we actually lost cover.”
Many of his clients by the start of September were down at 1700kg DM/ha and still slipping.
“And we’re only on the first round. I haven’t seen anything like it before.”
The first weekend of spring it snowed, again, and by mid-September although there was the odd day at 17C, cover was still flat-lining.
“A warm day might make us feel good and the longer daylight hours are helping but covers are still too low and soil temperatures are in the single figures.”
“Everyone knows the grass doesn’t really start growing in Southland until the start of October so you can calve when you want to but you have to have supplement to feed your cows to get through until then so you can look after your grass.
“You have to have grass to grow grass. Urea doesn’t work on mud, however much you put on.”
He’d lost about half of his 80 clients this spring because of the payout drop but was picking up sheep, beef and deer farmers to replace them. Although he understood dairy farmers might not be able to afford to pay him this season for measuring their grass covers he believed now more than ever his services, and other businesses that do what he does, were needed.
“We should be working 24/7 at the moment.
“If you don’t know what you’re growing onfarm then how do you know what you’re feeding your cows, whether you need to buy in supplements to meet deficits or whether you can start making balage?
“You might have enough grass and you don’t realise it and you go and buy expensive feed. We can stop you making those mistakes.”
He believes in independent grass monitoring with precision equipment to give accurate results so farmers could plan and make decisions.
“All data is not equal. A lot of people in Southland still depend on the Woodlands grass growth results but they don’t realise Woodlands is a sheep farm and the grass that is measured there is grown in cages. Who farms in cages?”
Martin and his wife Andrea employs two full-time staff and covered most of Southland and West Otago.
Results are sent to farmers by email within an hour of the farm being measured. A sledge designed by the Martins and pulled by a four-wheel motorbike measures the grass with GPS ensuring the same track was driven through the farm each time.
“Most farmers are measuring the grass with us either once a fortnight or once a week. These are the good farmers, the profitable farmers.
“A lot can happen in a week, especially in Southland. The exceptional farmers measure every four days and that is true control.
“It’s the only way you can really have your finger on the pulse.”
