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DairyNZ Comment:
21 Aug 2019
Farm Data
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Date Collected
21 Aug 2019
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Soil temp
11
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Growth
40 kgs DM/day
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APC
2150 kgs DM/ha
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Rainfall
40 mm
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BCS
5.0
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% in milk
92 %
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MS/cow
2.40 kgs
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MS/ha
7.80 kgs
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MS/ha YTD
251 kgs
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Rotation
30 days
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MS/cow YTD
- kgs
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Nitrogen YTD
40 kgs/ha
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Supplements
10 kgs/cow/day
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Supplements YTD
390 kgs/cow/day
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Weight Gain
- kgs/day
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Stocking Rate
3.8 su/ha
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Crude Protein Level
-
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MJME
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From a weather perspective, this spring hasn’t been too bad. Some frosts, a bit of rain, but mostly mild temperatures and good conditions for growing pasture. In the main, managing our effluent and staying compliant hasn’t been as challenging as the past two spring periods.
One of the keys to good decision making is understanding the concept of soil water deficits. Understanding this is important to prevent ponding and run-off of effluent and to avoid applying effluent to saturated soils. The soil water deficit is the amount of water (in this case effluent) which can be applied to the soil before it reaches field capacity (which refers to the amount of water held in the soil after excess water has drained away). If effluent is added at field capacity it will likely result in ponding, runoff or leaching – all of which we’re trying to avoid.
DairyNZ has a number of useful tools that can help you make more accurate decisions around spreading of dairy effluent. The DairyNZ Farm Dairy Effluent Spreading Calculator (app or Excel spreadsheet) allows farmers to easily calculate nutrient loadings and application rates for dairy effluent based on a number of inputs that can be customised to your situation. This means that you can manage the application of your effluent nutrients with greater precision. The app contains two calculators. There are two calculators in this app. The Quick Calculator is for spray irrigation systems such as travelling irrigators and sprinklers, and an Advanced Calculator is for slurry tankers and muck spreaders. If you prefer to use your computer, it is also available as an excel spreadsheet.
Dairy effluent is a valuable resource which, when managed well, can increase pasture production and reduce fertiliser costs. However, it’s not without its complications and difficulties during wetter periods of the season. Attention to detail will keep you out of the ……. effluent.