Since many of us at Fertco have farming experience, we understand the upheaval that shifting farms can create. If you were part of this year’s ‘gypsy day’, then we hope that all went well and you’re beginning to settle into your new home.
One of the major tasks involved in shifting to a new farm is to learn about its soil fertility since this is going to directly affect your income in the coming season and beyond.
There are two ways to do this. Firstly, by observation, and secondly, by accessing a number of different written records.
Winter/Early spring cover
An immediate consideration after shifting is assessing the feed cover since this is the time to act if it appears that there isn’t going to be enough to get through the winter and into early spring. Measuring the grass cover and creating a feed budget is a great tool to help with this.
If your feed budget shows deficits, common practice is to apply nitrogen (N) to boost growth to avoid these. It’s also standard practice to continue N applications through calving time, whenever soil temperatures and moisture levels suit.
While in theory this is simple enough, in practice, the time pressures and wet, muddy conditions typical of late winter and early spring can make this task almost impossible.
A proven solution is to choose a polymer coated urea (PCU) like Fertco’s 44 Magnum, or N Smart, and apply this early, before calving gets underway. Because the nutrients in the PCU are protected from extreme wet weather and are gradually released over three months to match plant growth more closely than ordinary urea, a single application is all that you need to get you through the spring (read more about the benefits of PCU on our website www.fertco.co.nz).
Unpalatable paddocks
Another useful, though not to be underrated strategy for assessing soil fertility, is to observe your paddocks. Which aren’t performing as well as they should? Are there paddocks that your stock don’t seem to like? Earmark these now for soil testing in the spring.
Soil tests
When it comes to assessing soil fertility using written records, an obvious place to start is with previous soil tests. If you don’t have access to these, our Fertco Field Reps can request them from soil testing labs on your behalf. Soil tests are excellent for studying the nutrient status of farm areas so you can identify nutrients that might be short, or alternatively, already within the ideal range to achieve maximum pasture production.
But don’t just look at levels of macronutrients like NPK. Check the secondary elements like sulphur and magnesium, and the trace elements too. Any shortage of these can indicate possible metabolic and animal health problems that you might need to deal with in the coming season.
If previous soil tests aren’t available, book a test for spring so you don’t waste money applying the wrong fertiliser, or applying nutrients that your farm might not even need. Two areas where checking soil fertility is particularly important are effluent blocks and paddocks intended for cropping.
Because we know how important soil testing is, we at Fertco don’t charge for sampling your farm. You only pay for the lab analysis which we send to NZ-based labs who use methods developed for NZ soils and conditions.
Pasture analysis
Also worthwhile for learning about the soil fertility of your new farm is to book a herbage test for spring. Include a clover only test too since this is an excellent way to determine trace element requirements.
Nutrient reports
Another useful source of information is the annual nutrient report. A report like Fertco’s detailed nutrient report helps you keep track of your N use and forms the basis of the next season’s fertiliser plan.
This article was published in the Coast & Country News.
