It got me thinking about priorities and how at events like field days we can get carried away and buy things that we really don't need.  I have written before about such purchases, and to me it's a bit like going to the supermarket -- make a list of things you really need and have budgeted for, and stick to it.  Don't get distracted by new, shiny and expensive toys!

Winter is a good time for setting priorities for next season by reviewing all that has happened in the previous one.  What have you learnt from the drought?  What things did you do right, and what will you do differently next time?

I have had the opportunity to have a good look around the Waikato in recent weeks, and I see the signs of production priority on many farms.  The rain arrived briefly last month and the paddocks have greened up but there has been little growth since.  The combination of moisture lack and low biological activity in soils has resulted in very shallow roots and the cows are pulling out grass in clumps.

Looking closely at one paddock that, five years ago, I would have viewed as impressive with its cover of around 2700 kgDM/Ha, I noticed that about 25% of what the cattle were eating was coming out of the ground as clumps.  The root depth was only 30 mm, and when I checked the pasture with a Brix meter it confirmed my worst fears – a reading of 4.0.  That was about a third of its potential.  On this particular pasture the farmer had applied no nitrogen – just as well because that would have halved the Brix level.

I am relieved that I have finally learned about these things, even if it has taken me 50 years to sift through the science and combine it with practical farming experience.  The result is not rocket science – it is just plain good soilmanship and stockmanship as set out in the Six Laws of Best Farming Practice.

Over the past couple of years we have used the Brix meter on pastures of all types from Northland to Southland, and we now have a good handle on what constitutes high quality pasture and its effect on animal health and production.  We can also identify the dangers of indiscriminate use of urea.  Watch over the next few months and you will see how artificial nitrogen can contribute significantly to the incidence of metabolic problems, particularly milk fever, grass staggers and nitrate poisoning.

When will we ever learn?  It took me long enough to realize what was happening!  In my Ruakura days in the 1960s we used high rates of nitrogen and potash to lower levels of magnesium in cows artificially so that we could figure out how to cure grass staggers.

Today on eCOGENT farms metabolic problems are virtually unheard of.  Last week I had the privilege of spending time with one such farmer and his wife.  They had come through the worst drought in their history with 350 cows in better condition and with more pasture cover in mid-May than in any previous autumn in their 30 years of farming.  Their dairy herd is a picture of fat, happy cows.  They haven’t had to sow any grass seed or use any urea. 

In their third year with the eCOGENT process they have trebled profit while reducing production by 6%.  This is a totally sustainable situation, and I can't wait until next year to measure the increased topsoil carbon levels they will have achieved.

I know there are people who scoff at the measurement of Brix levels and say that there is no proof that increasing Brix levels does anything for cow nutrition.  My answer to them is that the proof is in the profit.  The same is true of soil carbon levels – there is a belief that New Zealand pastoral soils have reached saturation point and that they cannot accumulate more carbon.  Fortunately, an increasing number of farmers are finding out just how wrong that is.

In fact, if I can just last another year I will see a number of farmers recording higher levels of carbon in their soils, so perhaps I will have three-score-years-and-ten carbon party!  I will be able to rest easy in the knowledge that growing the biological activity and increasing the carbon content of soils leads to better profits for farmers – such a satisfying journey.

I just hope for your kids’ sake that you don't take as long as I did to make this your top priority.

 Peter Floyd is the Managing Director of eCOGENT.biz
www.ecogent.biz ph 0800 433 276