Farm Tech

PasturePlan

‘Byynwllyarch Trust’ farm

Location: Matiere, near Taumaranui.

Farm size: 455 ha (effective).

Topography: Ranges from a small area of flats to easy rolling hills, plateaux and some steeper country.

Rainfall: 1200–1500 mm/yr.

Climate: n/a.

Soil type: Mairoa ash soil and some papa.

Fertiliser regime: The 242 ha home block, where the pasture monitoring sites are maintained, has a good fertiliser history, getting around 400 kg/ha of 15 per cent potash super over the past two years.

Stock numbers: 5000 su, including 250 breeding cows, 110 1-yr bulls, 99 1-yr heifers, 620 hoggets and 1950 ewes.

Carrying capacity: 10–11 su/ha.

Plot descriptions: (a) Old flat. (b) Old north-facing.

Detailed description: n/a.

Farmer's comments: "Monitoring makes it possible to meet supply with demand, making it easier with feed planning. We will be able to predict pasture growth rates through the seasons to give us a guideline to making better management decisions." (Mike Sarich)

Results published: Ruapehu Press, middle of each month.