KING Country’s NZ dairy discussion groups are back after a long Covid hiatus. In early March, 30 farmers and rural professionals met in Piopio to learn more about disruption management, economics and agronomy. Phil Irvine from Dairy NZ ran the group alongside other expert speakers. Participants discussed ways to revise their emergency planning. What might they do if they were unable to milk: would they have a generator or use a neighbour’s shed? What if there were no nearby neighbours dairying? Did they have a generator and appropriate insurance, and a budget for expected repairs to fences and equipment? Piopio dairy farmer Paulette Johns, who attended the group, especially appreciated the content around disaster preparation. “Whatever happens, you’ve got to make a plan. That way you’ll sleep better at night. The staff will know what to do, and you’ll get through,” she said. Pasture damage was a big theme at the get-together. The group considered questions such as helping paddocks recover after serious flooding has killed the grass: regrassing or cropping? And how? What’s the point in regrassing if another flood could come along next week? For Paulette, prevention was better than cure. “We try and avoid pasture damage at all costs, and pugging obviously” she said. “We would try and stand the cows off if we needed to, and try to keep them out of those lower, wetter paddocks.” Many farmers at the group said the big wet had been hard on stock health. In particular, they had noticed more lame cows – estimated at about half again the usual number. That could have a big impact on the length of a farmer’s day, Paulette said. That was one of the ways current conditions had made things tougher than usual for farmers. “This has been a year like no other for all of us, in terms of the volume and frequency of rain events. We all know that we have to deal with these things: it’s part of our job, and we are, but you can just see it is taking a toll on people.” For some farmers, it was like being knocked over in surf by a wave … and then another wave coming and knocking them again. Nevertheless, Paulette left the group feeling the community had remained resilient. Phil from DairyNZ felt farmers in the group were “getting into positive territory,” in their mindset and with their finances. While some farms had been financially behind for much of the season, many were now either catching up or getting ahead through early March. Phil stressed that farmers needed to be aware of the short term help available to get up and running after disruptive events. “MPI can help farmers with short term recovery, and help them get up and running again quickly,” he said. He acknowledged the empathy the Piopio farmers had for their counterparts in Northland and Hawke’s Bay. Dairy NZ had tips for farm recovery after flooding events. The key points were: • Take time to clear rotting trash. • Remove any gravel/shingle that won’t provide a good seedbed. • Plant annuals to give quick bulk of feed and undersow or regrass in the autumn. • Drilling usually provides better results than oversowing. • Or use a combination of annuals and permanent pasture by direct drilling or cultivation where a substantial area of the farm has been affected. • Fly seed on if necessary to get pastures established quickly, use pelleted seed. • Weeds survive well, especially with spring sowing. Have a plan for them. • Nitrogen and sulphate applications are critical for quick pasture establishment. • With heavy silting phosphate and potassium may also be required. Pastures will be in a variety of damaged states from being lightly silted to being dead from having been under water for weeks. An assessment should be made, as the method used to get pasture growing again will vary depending on the type of damage, Dairy NZ advised.
