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Regenerative Agriculture and Direct Drilling
Holistic Farming
"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..
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<blockquote data-quote="Global ovine" data-source="post: 6552556" data-attributes="member: 493"><p>In regard to your point that many TEs deficiencies are getting worse with time: I completely agree, but must ask the philosopher's question "why is this so", before assuming anything. So lets list a few things that have changed in sheep and cattle farming since WW2:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Productivity in animal output has increased per hectare.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Much more use of common breeds vs reliance on developed local breeds adjusted to local deficiencies.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A very significant increase in pasture production (DM/ha) in all seasons.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Wide use of concentrated fertilisers, especially N.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Regular reseeding with pasture cultivars expressing increased seasonal production.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">More species uniformity in sown pastures and weed control technologies.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Increased use of bought in concentrate feeds where animal TE requirements are irrelevant to the arable grower.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Better equipment for spreading barn muck over a wider area of the farm encouraging more growth from previous avoided fields.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Environmental restrictions in many regions preventing wintering outside on roots etc. where more soil was ingested.</li> </ul><p>These changes (along with others which haven't yet come to my mind) have all occurred while the formation of soil continues along at a similar rate as its has always gone. That is the interaction of plants, microbes and weather chemically breaking down the parent material, rock, or clays etc. thereby adding depth to the root zone if cultivation does not occur. The release of TE's from the very slow breakdown of the parent material will probably be insufficient nowadays given the technologies we have to grow much more DM than those decades when farming was running at a slower rate.</p><p></p><p>A classic case of this occurred in NZ when a large tract of land in the Hakataremea Valley in South Canterbury was owned by the NZ Land Co. based in London. Following WW2 the manager reported rapidly declining lambing percentages, from historically around 100% to falling by around 10% per annum, a very spread out lambing and a large proportion of empty ewes. Lambing % declined to below 50%. In the early 1950s the manager sent the London office a telegram reporting that going on half of the flock was empty, so expect a worse lambing result. London got back with the directive to "stop the lambing".!!!!</p><p>Research was called in to make the initial discovery of selenium deficiency, which proved to be extremely widespread with almost 3/4 of NZ pastoral regions being responsive, as the naturally low levels were being depleted due to the parent materials being very low in all TEs. Over successive decades these regions have expanded with Te levels having to be monitored more closely now that productivity has increased so much (since 1990 kgs lamb output per ewe has doubled, milk solids up 32% per cow and beef up 4% per cow while stocking rates have increased across the board despite 3/4 of previous sheep and cattle lowlands going exclusively to dairying). The Haka. Valley now has animal performance equal to any other well developed NZ pastoral region now that deficiencies are corrected.</p><p></p><p>Reverting back to pre WW2 style farming and productivity may restore some balance with the natural release of TEs, but would it work with today's input costs and land values....I doubt it. Fix the problem but don't push the system too hard.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Global ovine, post: 6552556, member: 493"] In regard to your point that many TEs deficiencies are getting worse with time: I completely agree, but must ask the philosopher's question "why is this so", before assuming anything. So lets list a few things that have changed in sheep and cattle farming since WW2: [LIST] [*]Productivity in animal output has increased per hectare. [*]Much more use of common breeds vs reliance on developed local breeds adjusted to local deficiencies. [*]A very significant increase in pasture production (DM/ha) in all seasons. [*]Wide use of concentrated fertilisers, especially N. [*]Regular reseeding with pasture cultivars expressing increased seasonal production. [*]More species uniformity in sown pastures and weed control technologies. [*]Increased use of bought in concentrate feeds where animal TE requirements are irrelevant to the arable grower. [*]Better equipment for spreading barn muck over a wider area of the farm encouraging more growth from previous avoided fields. [*]Environmental restrictions in many regions preventing wintering outside on roots etc. where more soil was ingested. [/LIST] These changes (along with others which haven't yet come to my mind) have all occurred while the formation of soil continues along at a similar rate as its has always gone. That is the interaction of plants, microbes and weather chemically breaking down the parent material, rock, or clays etc. thereby adding depth to the root zone if cultivation does not occur. The release of TE's from the very slow breakdown of the parent material will probably be insufficient nowadays given the technologies we have to grow much more DM than those decades when farming was running at a slower rate. A classic case of this occurred in NZ when a large tract of land in the Hakataremea Valley in South Canterbury was owned by the NZ Land Co. based in London. Following WW2 the manager reported rapidly declining lambing percentages, from historically around 100% to falling by around 10% per annum, a very spread out lambing and a large proportion of empty ewes. Lambing % declined to below 50%. In the early 1950s the manager sent the London office a telegram reporting that going on half of the flock was empty, so expect a worse lambing result. London got back with the directive to "stop the lambing".!!!! Research was called in to make the initial discovery of selenium deficiency, which proved to be extremely widespread with almost 3/4 of NZ pastoral regions being responsive, as the naturally low levels were being depleted due to the parent materials being very low in all TEs. Over successive decades these regions have expanded with Te levels having to be monitored more closely now that productivity has increased so much (since 1990 kgs lamb output per ewe has doubled, milk solids up 32% per cow and beef up 4% per cow while stocking rates have increased across the board despite 3/4 of previous sheep and cattle lowlands going exclusively to dairying). The Haka. Valley now has animal performance equal to any other well developed NZ pastoral region now that deficiencies are corrected. Reverting back to pre WW2 style farming and productivity may restore some balance with the natural release of TEs, but would it work with today's input costs and land values....I doubt it. Fix the problem but don't push the system too hard. [/QUOTE]
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"Improving Our Lot" - Planned Holistic Grazing, for starters..
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