Less fertiliser, greener grass

The Butler Farm has 105ha of effective pastures 10ha of forestry 20ha of unused hill country 330 milking cows Pasture: 93haof ryegrass and clover 12ha of a mix of fescue, cocksfoot, chicory, plantain, and red and white clover .The cost of fertiliser has affected the bottom line of many farmers of late, but one Havelock dairy farming couple entered in this year's Environment Awards have few complaints on that front reports The Marlborough Express. Andrew and Claire Butler have reduced the level of nitrogen and phosphate applied to their farm significantly since buying the 135-hectare dairy farm formerly owned by Robert and Jeanette Buchanan in 2006. They have done so by phasing out their use of ryegrass in favour of a KiwiSeed mixture. The change was not prompted by high fertiliser prices, which were still reasonably low when they moved, but as prices have skyrocketed the switch to less fertiliser-dependant species proved as good for the bank balance as the environment, says Andrew. It's a good time to do it because it [phosphate] is bloody expensive at the moment. We haven't put any phosphate on now in 18 months." They became disillusioned with fertiliser in Southland where high applications of urea had a visible impact on pasture, soil and animals. "It was actually quite disheartening, but now we have got control of what we put on our land and our cows are happier," says Claire. Farms the Butlers worked on in Southland applied about 260 units of nitrogen per hectare, which caused a lot of cow loss and animals were always upset, says Andrew. When they bought the Havelock farm they did not apply any nitrogen at all for nearly three years, only giving in recently to help the ryegrass rejuvenate following the very wet spring and hot January."The cows started moaning straight away," says Claire "They leave heaps of grass behind and come out hungry," she says. Rather than going cold turkey on the nitrogen again, they plan to apply 40 or 50 units each year. To compensate for the lack of nitrogen being put into the soil artificially, the couple are making a move to non-ryegrass pastures which are renowned for their ability to fix nitrogen naturally. So far, they have converted about 12 hectares of the farm's 105 hectares of ryegrass to a mix of fescue, cocksfoot, chicory, plantain, and red and white clover. Andrew says phosphate levels are being mined down to about 20 Olsen P and more lime is being applied to try to get the soil's pH up to a more clover-friendly 6.5.