{"id":7522,"date":"2013-05-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-05T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/drought-takes-toll-on-anawai\/"},"modified":"2013-05-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-05T12:00:00","slug":"drought-takes-toll-on-anawai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/news\/drought-takes-toll-on-anawai\/","title":{"rendered":"Drought takes toll on Anawai"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>
\n

AgFirst consultant Ben Harker in front of 24ha about to be sown in plantain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Anawai Station\u2019s lucerne stands have proved their worth this year.<\/p>\n

The farm\u2019s 91ha of lucerne are all up on the Maraetotara Plateau country, and they\u2019ve been used to graze the multiple-bearing ewes, finishing lambs and weaner deer.<\/p>\n

From October to the end of January this year lucerne has produced 24% more drymatter than existing pastures. This compared to the 2011-12 summer where the lucerne produced 18% more drymatter than the other pastures.<\/p>\n

Ewes and their lambs on the lucerne have outperformed grass-fed ewes, including single-bearing ewes.<\/p>\n

Initially the lucerne was stocked with 12 twin-bearing ewes a hectare, but this was pushed up to 15.<\/p>\n

The lambs from these ewes grew 355g\/day on average until weaning, and 66% of the lambs were killed at weaning. Dressing-out percentages were 48.8% for the first draft and 47.3% for the second draft.<\/p>\n

In comparison lambs from grass-fed ewes grew at 225g\/day to weaning, and 19% of these lambs were killed at weaning. The first draft had a dressing-out percentage of 46.8%, the second draft 44.3%. These paddocks were stocked at 9.5 twin-bearing ewes a hectare.<\/p>\n

The ewes on lucerne averaged a body condition score of four early in December, while those on grass averaged only two.<\/p>\n

Anawai is one of the hubs for East Coast Future Farming Systems\u2019 lucerne trials in Hawke\u2019s Bay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nitrogen is a crucial factor in Anawai Station\u2019s recovery from this year\u2019s drought.\nThis month will see up to 40 units of nitrogen applied to the higher part of the Beef + Lamb Hawke\u2019s Bay Monitor Farm to help increase pasture covers for spring.\nThe higher part of Anawai Station receives more than two metres of rain in the average year, while the lower part at Elsthorpe receives half that.\nColin and Denise Davis manage Anawai for owners Craig and Penny Hickson. Colin says they will wait until the lower land greens up before any nitrogen is applied.\n\u201cWhile Farmax says we can apply it all now, it is pointless to apply to pastures which are not growing, so we will wait until they come away and are ready to graze,\u201d he says.\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":7523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t