With his farm lying 600m above sea level, Mike has a challenging climate to contend with: the farm experiences summer temperatures of up to 30 degrees, and snowy winters. With the cold winters, Mike needs to put more energy in to his cows’ diet so they can milk and reproduce.
Mike worked with his Farm Source TSR on his pasture plan to find a cultivar that thrived under these unique conditions.
“Our TSR came to us a few years ago after undertaking a lot of research and consulting a partner agronomist and said, ‘we think we’ve found a cultivar that will work well for this climate’.
“He was right; that was Governor (a perennial ryegrass) it has a massive fit and provides the persistence I need.” “We now use Shogun to stitch into a few paddocks and sometimes use Tabu+ – which has been successful in undersowing.” “They have all proved themselves, great yield and great quality.”
Mike says seven years ago, his herd was producing an average of 450kgMS/cow, but he had to spend a lot of money on feed to achieve this figure.
“Bringing in these pasture species is extending my season, as there is more grass growing on the shoulders of the season,” he says.
“There are massive benefits to growing more grass on the shoulder of the season, including getting more days in milk.
“I’ve transitioned away from buying feed in to growing more here, and that’s really helped the bottom line.”
Farm Source Technical Sales Representatives are in it for the long haul. Like farmers themselves, they have experienced all manner of dairy farming seasons – from the very best to the very worst – and bring a valuable and well-rounded knowledge of the industry to the table.
They are there to support dairy farmers all year round, from soil preparation to planting seed and weed control, and pasture management to nutrition and filling feed gaps.
Our TSRs have access to a hub of knowledge, they are able to pull in advice from their colleagues, Dairy advisors, Fonterra Veterinarians, and a large pool of vendor experts.
The impartial, solution-focused approach of a Farm Source TSR means farmers always get the best advice for their farm system.
“There’s obviously a good culture at Farm Source,” Mike says. “Everybody is on the same page, everybody’s got great energy.
“They’re quite driven about what they do and come with a passion, which is great to see.”
Each farm is unique and an effective pasture plan requires knowledge of what will work with the soil, topography, sunshine, drainage, wind and rainfall in the area you are planning for. That’s why the person best able to help you put together a pasture plan is your local Farm Source TSR, combining unrivaled local knowledge and access to a widest range of seed, AgChem and fertilisers.
Find out how Farm Source Technical Sales Representative are working with farmers in your region at nzfarmsource.co.nz/autumn
