Production through heavy use of supplemented feeds will bring rising costs to the dairy industry as grain stocks are reported to be low in NZ.

With some of the dairy conversions in the past few years on Canterbury and Southland grain farms and the price of feed wheat and barley low, volumes of product have reduced and it appears shortages are staring to appear.

The call for back to basics grassland farming systems is being heard more and more, as operators try to keep costs down as they chase extra production.

If grain is short more pressure will be made on PKE supplies and importing of cheap grains from Australia. Both these practices come with risks and farmers are urged to refine their skills in pasture farming to meet seasonal feed shortfalls.

DairyNZ Southland productivity developer Steve Lee advised farmers at a seminar in Winton last week to stockpile grain for next year if possible because of an expected shortage reports The Southland Times. Most grain in New Zealand was grown in the South Island but there was a declining rate of crops planted in the past few years, while internationally the price of grain had climbed because of natural disasters and poor seeding, he said.

Sergeant Dan Stockfoods managing director Daryl Moyles agreed, saying grain stocks in Southland were low. "A couple of bigger grain providers in Southland said it is the first time in four years where there is nothing left in the silos," he said. Ardlussa grain grower Brian Dillon, near Balfour, said Southland farms were consuming more grain than was being grown in the region, forcing prices up.

Grain growing was a boom and bust industry, so many growers swapped to other forms of farming when it last crashed and that was causing the shortage, he said. "Over the last few seasons we have had lower prices, which have been caused by the surpluses – (but) all our grain silos in Southland have been emptied now," he said.

Meanwhile, the seminar was held by DairyNZ to teach farmers about the use of grain as its demand grows. DairyNZ Southland regional manager Miranda Hunter said most farmers were receiving information about grain use from people who sold it and some of that could be distorted. It wanted to provide unbiased information.