“We recommend people try to put as much weight on to heifers in that time to make them less reliant on autumn growth,” Baynham said.
If farmers were grazing dairy heifers, he said it was a good idea to run another class of stock with lower winter feed demand, but high enough to capitalise on summer and autumn growth.
Breeding cows often work well in this role. If cows start calving in September, their feed demand should lift in line with spring growth.
Come summer and autumn, they can graze behind heifers, giving young stock feeding priority and maintaining pasture quality at the same time.
Pasture quality issues can be exacerbated by the presence of kikuyu, which thrives on the heat and humidity common in Northland.
In wet and warm weather, kikuyu typically grows 50-70kg drymatter/ha/day, lifting above 100kg when conditions are even more favourable.
Baynham said kikuyu was difficult to manage though because it loses quality quickly.
“If they’re good managers, farmers with kikuyu can achieve really good weights in their heifers.”
He said trials had shown kikuyu can be more profitable than ryegrass. It also lacks the high facial eczema spore counts that can be common in ryegrass.
Despite currently strong beef prices, Baynham said dairy grazing was still a financially attractive option for drystock farmers.
Heifer grazing was a better fit for the pasture growth curve than dairy cows and many dairy farmers had their own winter cow grazing regime.
‘Sheep and beef farmers need to make most of their money from May to December – if cows have eaten a lot of that grass it takes some of the cream off it.’
“Sheep and beef farmers need to make most of their money from May to December – if cows have eaten a lot of that grass it takes some of the cream off it.”
The unique north
Farm size, layout and stocking ratios in Northland are unique. Baynham said beef are more predominant than sheep on many drystock farms in the region, accounting for about 70% of stock units.
Sheep and beef farms are typically about 300ha and Northland had a similar number of sheep and beef farms as dairy. This made it relatively easy to find grazing nearby.
Baynham said dairy farmers sometimes got frustrated that the quality of grazing can be variable between farmers. In these cases, grazing companies can do a good job facilitating relationships between dairy farmer and grazier.
Baynham facilitated year-one of the three-year Heifer Grazing Project for Northland – an initiative to improve growth of young stock, in-calf rates and the relationship between dairy farmer and grazier.
The project has been running five focus farms throughout the country, with two of those in Northland.
Bayham said many people attending the grazing project events were keen to learn about formal grazing agreements.
“You’d be disappointed how many farmers do it on a handshake. That’s fine when it’s going well, not when there’s a drought or the animals are under weight.”
Communication and understanding expectations of both parties was an important topic during the first year of the grazing project. Baynham said there were good templates and guidelines available from DairyNZ.
Decisions around supplement feeding depended on the grazing agreement and whether or not there was a drought.
Northland is also a popular grazing destination for Waikato dairy farmers. Baynham said weekly grazing rates tended to be cheaper up north, about $5-7/heifer calf and $7/yearling.
With monitoring in place to ensure weights are being achieved, the distance shouldn’t be a problem but it does make a contract particularly important.
“We’re a long way from places like the Waikato – facilitated grazing has a wonderful role in giving both parties confidence they’re on track,” Baynham said.
