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Dairy 1 is one of Massey's working farms. It borders the Manawatū River, within the city boundary. This research site is grazed by dairy cows and includes three farmlets:
- Farmlet A – standard pasture under contemporary management
- Farmlet B – diverse pasture under regenerative management
- Farmlet C – diverse pasture under contemporary management
Update
June was warm and dry, with average air temperatures 1.4°C above normal at 10.7°C and only 38mm of rain for month contrasting against a 30-year average of 96mm.
Management is focused around minimising pasture damage and holding condition on the cows to set up for a successful transition and early spring.
Diverse pastures under regenerative management have received a foliar application of nitrogen, fish hydrolysate, and fulvic acids to support winter growth as covers are still behind target (aiming for 2600-2700 kgDM/ha by 23rd of July).
The standard pasture farmlet has started feeding the winter crop of oats. There have been concerns with elevated nitrate levels, so crops are being tested four times per week and grazing of crops has been limited to 1-hour per day in the afternoon.
Latest pasture covers
Click the tiles to enlarge the graphs, or download a PDF copy to view.
Dairy 1 latest pasture covers for Farmlet A, B & C (PDF, 486.4 KB)
Farmlets data
| 18/06/2024 - Week 3 | Farmlet A | Farmlet B | Farmlet C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pasture | Standard | Diverse | Diverse |
| Management | Contemporary | Regenerative | Contemporary |
| Cows In-Milk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cows Dry | 30 | 24 | 24 |
| Days In-Milk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Daily Prod (kgMS/day) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Production - YTD (kgMS) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Liveweight (kg) | - | - | - |
| BCS | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.8 |
| Supplement Fed - YTD (kgDM) | 3420 | 6350 | 6330 |
| Supplement Made - YTD (kgDM) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nitrogen - YTD (kgN/ha) | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| APC (kgDM/ha) | 2421 | 2477 | 2648 |
| Growth (kgDM/ha/day) | 20 | 24 | 28 |
| Rotation Length (days) | 80 | 120 | 155 |
| Residual (kgDM/ha) | 1377 | 1375 | 1406 |
| Pasture Offered (kgDM/cow/day) | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Supplement Offered (kgDM/cow/day) | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Crop Offered (kgDM/cow/day) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Soil Temp (°C) | 9.8 |
| Air Temp - MTD (°C) | 10.2 |
| Rainfall - MTD (mm) | 6 |
Other Whenua Haumanu research sites
Massey University: Pasture and Crop Research Unit (PCRU)
The PCRU is one of Massey's working farms. This research site is grazed by sheep and includes 4 farmlets: standard pastures under contemporary and regenerative management, and diverse pastures under contemporary and regenerative management.
Lincoln University: Field Research Centre (FRC)
The FRC is Lincoln University‘s hub for applied plant, soil science and ecology research. This research site is grazed by sheep and includes four farmlets made up of 20 plots each.
