Farm Tech

PasturePlan

‘Castlepoint Station’, Emily and Anders Crofoot

Location: Castlepoint, coastal Wairarapa.

Farm size & type: 2950 ha. Hill country sheep and beef breeding.

Topography: Coastal hill country.

Rainfall: 950 mm/yr.

Climate: Summer dry.

Soil type: n/a.

Fertiliser regime: Strategic use of nitrogen when the farm is short of feed.

Phosphate levels are maintained in the high teens.

Stock numbers: 20,000 sheep and 1,000 cattle.

Carrying capacity: 9 su/ha.

Plot descriptions: (a) North-facing hill. (b) South-facing hill. (c) Old pasture. (d) New pasture.

Detailed description: n/a.

Farmer's comments: For four years the Crofoots have been monitoring pastures each month with local farm consultants Baker and Associates (PMS pasture monitoring systems). Unlike PasturePlan, PMS derives pasture growth statistics derived from stock performance, rather than the measurement of actual grass growth.

"It will be good to get some ‘real world’ information from commercial farming conditions." (Anders Crofoot)

Results published: Central Districts Farmer.