Track 1-14: Implementing and Monitoring Management Strategies to Deal with Variability in Grasslands at Farm Level
Description
The critical importance of pasture production to New Zealand’s economic performance has been widely recognised. However, a number of critical issues have been identified that limit dairy industry growth, including sub-optimal pasture condition and poor pasture persistence. Dairy farm systems in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty provinces in the upper North Island of New Zealand are predominantly pasture-based, with a temperate climate and they represent around 30% of New Zealand’s total number of dairy farms (LIC and DairyNZ, 2012). This project was established to quantify pasture performance and identify factors that drive that performance. We established a network of on-farm trials where case studies of pasture renewal practices and outcomes were developed. Ten farms in each province were monitored for three consecutive years – four paddocks from each province are considered here.
Included in
Drivers of Pasture Growth in Perennial Ryegrass Pastures in Northern New Zealand Dairy Pastures
The critical importance of pasture production to New Zealand’s economic performance has been widely recognised. However, a number of critical issues have been identified that limit dairy industry growth, including sub-optimal pasture condition and poor pasture persistence. Dairy farm systems in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty provinces in the upper North Island of New Zealand are predominantly pasture-based, with a temperate climate and they represent around 30% of New Zealand’s total number of dairy farms (LIC and DairyNZ, 2012). This project was established to quantify pasture performance and identify factors that drive that performance. We established a network of on-farm trials where case studies of pasture renewal practices and outcomes were developed. Ten farms in each province were monitored for three consecutive years – four paddocks from each province are considered here.
