24 Mar 2016

Diary of a Dairy Farmer: Re-grassing

From Country Life, 9:20 pm on 24 March 2016
Andrew McPherson prepares to re-grass his paddocks

Andrew McPherson prepares to re-grass his paddocks Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles

Sharemilker Andrew McPherson is drilling seed on his Waikato dairy farm. He re-grasses a portion of the farm each year after annual grasses have been  grazed and also under-sows  grass seed in paddocks with established pastures.  He says this year it looks like a lot of the farm needs a liberal application of grass seed.  Black Beetles have been running rampant in Waikato paddocks. They loosen grass roots so when cows graze they pull out the whole plant leaving bare ground.

Grass seed ready to be sown

Grass seed ready to be sown Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles