North Canterbury News: September 23, 2021

HAY, BALEAGE, SILAGE
30 North Canterbury News, September 23, 2021
Increasing clover content
Dryland farmerslooking to increase the
subterranean clovercontent in their
pastures should be thinking about when
to shut up paddocks to allow seed­set.
Beef +Lamb New Zealand (BLNZ) says
subterranean (sub) clover flowers are
apparent in pastures at this time of the
year, so it is agood time for farmers to
assesshow much of this valuable legume
is in their swards and consider shutting
areas up to allow re­seeding to occur.
As arule of thumb, BLNZ says if there
is more than one cloverplant every
secondstep when walking uphill, then
the correct management will increase
the population.
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If there is less than this, then farmers
should consider over­sowing with sub
clover next autumn.
But in this spring period, farmers
wanting to build sub clover content
should avoid grazing targeted areas
below 1200kgofdry matter per hectare
and then should allowthe sub clover
plants to set seed by shutting sheep out of
the area for acouple of weeks at least.
After aspell, the area should be grazed
with cattletolimit grass­seed
production.
‘‘It is important not to use sheep as they
will actively seek out sub clover runners,
reducing seed production,’’ BLNZ says.
All heading and windrowing
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1951439
Harvest time ... There is plenty to consider with amaize crop.
PHOTO: FILE
Better maize results
The Foundation for Arable Research
(FAR) is expanding its research into
the use of cover crops, following maize
grain harvest, with anew cover crop
research strategy.
The strategy encompasses cover
crop economics and how they can
contribute to improving production
resilience and beneficial
environmental outcomes in maize
grain systems.
FAR maize researcher David
Densley said cover crops for maize
grain required quite adifferent
approach to cover crops for maize
silage.
‘‘In maize silage, the function of a
cover crop is mostly undertaken by
annual ryegrass, which is sown
immediately following harvest.
‘‘With maize grain crops,
establishment is not so easy. Many
maize grain crops are not harvested
until the end of April, or later, atiming
which can make cover crop
establishment tricky, and the amount
of crop residue remaining following
grain harvest presents another
establishment challenge.
‘‘Land that is being used to grow
maize for grain has been identified as
‘high risk’ for soil sediment and
nitrogen loss over winter, so it’s
important to look for ways to
incorporate cover crops into maize
grain systems to help reduce these
risks.’’
Cover crops can provide numerous
benefits to maize and other farming
systems.
These include nutrient management
­legumes, such as faba beans or
clovers, fix nitrogen as they grow and
after cover crop termination, this
nitrogen becomes available for use by
future crops.
On the other side of the scale, nonleguminous
cover crops can ‘‘mop up’’
nutrients left over from the previous
crop, reducing the potential of nutrient
losses through the soil profile.
Cover crops help hold soil in place,
protecting it from wind and rain
erosion and can contribute to soil
organic matter, which helps to improve
soil structure, water infiltration, and
water­holding and nutrient­supply
capacity.
Non­grass cover crops can
contribute additional soil microbial
biodiversity where maize grain is
grown in amonoculture system.
Cover crop roots can help to break up
compacted soil layers, while the plants
themselves can reduce the impact of
heavy rains.
Cover crop residues increase water
infiltration and limit soil water
evaporation, helping to reduce
moisture stress in the following crop
during drought conditions.
Weed suppression is something else
to consider, with cover crops reducing
weed germination and growth during
winter and spring, while some can also
have an allelopathic effect on weeds.
Some cover crops can be grazed
provided care is taken with the grazing
programme or conserved as silage
before termination.
Copy: Foundation for Arable
Research.
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