XtraBlatt Issue 02-2017

more common grass, the weather allows
only a maximum of two cuts per season,
in June and September.
NEW BLOOD A
PROBLEM
Even although agriculture in Japan, and
especially in Hokkaido, is highly respected
within the population, there’s a real problem
in encouraging younger generations
into the sector – as in many other parts of
the globe. Average farmer age is 64. Every
year, the number of farms reduces by 4%.
With young people, a career in farming
is just not “hip”, a problem known all too
well throughout industrial countries.
of the US or southern Canada, areas also
lying between latitudes 40 and 45 N. This
also means that winters are long, sometimes
lasting right into May, with lots of
snow – in total about 4 m of the white
stuff. Average precipitation is a plentiful
1100 mm per year.
For the above reasons Hokkaido tends to
be unsuitable for rice cultivation compared
with the main central islands of Japan.
Neither is it a typical arable region.
The relief map is characterised by ranges
of mountains and hills. So farmers are
left with the options of livestock raising
and grass husbandry, rural skills that are
highly regarded in the region. You see this
right away getting off the ‘plane at the
local airport of Nakashibetsu, with regional
dairy products proudly presented on
the premises. Vegetables are also grown
in many parts of this island.
Alongside concentrates, grass silage is
the main feed for cattle. Growing period
for maize is generally too short here, with
just 75 - 85 days. However, small maize
fields are seen here and there. With the
Masashi Yasuda found his happiness in
farming, running an 80 ha dairy farm
only a few kilometres out of Nakashibetsu.
“200 cows, 95 of them in-milk, are
in my barns. Average milk production:
10,000 l/year.” He belongs to a machinery
ring with members farming a total 300
ha. The society runs a BiG X 650 with 3m
pickup for the first silage cut over about
one third of the land area. But the larger
proportion of forage is baled as grass silage
by round balers. “We have two cuts
per year whereby average yield is about
20 t fresh weight per ha,” explains Yasuda.
At harvest, dry matter content (dm) is
around 30% and chop length 13 mm. The
low dm means silage additive is usually
added in the clamp. Wilting depends on
the weather and there’s often only half
a day for this. On the few forage maize
fields, the climate also means that only
50 t/ha can be carted home. Hereby, none
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