With such an overwhelming reliance on all-pasture feeding of farm animals, New Zealand has developed innovative and efficient methods of assisting farmers, making sure that livestock access the best quality feed and harvesting the food and fibre products.

These methods cover pasture establishment, soil testing, fertilising, feed budgeting, grazing management, soil and water conservation, shelter, genetics, animal health, pest control, milking, shearing and stock handling.

They form a package of agricultural technology that is commonsense, effective and able to be adapted to grazing systems throughout the world.

Profit for the farmer is the main focus of the grazing-based systems, working from a strong scientific base to develop the methods and technologies based on pasture which give the farmer the tools to improve profit. It's a system that can absorb the year-toyear variations in pasture growth, and has allowed New Zealand farmers to maintain profitability in the face of falling pay-out prices and the complete removal of subsidies.

New Zealand farming may be low-cost, but it is certainly not low-tech. 

Grazing management principles came initially from the United Kingdom, blended with rangeland techniques from North America where appropriate.

However, since the Second World War New Zealand research stations, educational establishements and farm advisory services have been developing and teaching a unique approach to pastoralism.

One of the main drivers for continuous improvement, from scientific inquiry, has been and remains the dairy industry. With over 95% of dairy production processed into basic commodities and further processed products and exported to markets on the other side of the world, New Zealand has to remain the world's lowest-cost dairy industry. While the national dairy herd is based on Holstein, Jersey and Ayrshire breeds, the Animal Evaluation model ranks animals using production figures, farm costs and economics, and in so doing emphasising fertility, longevity, aggressive grazing behaviour, efficient feed conversion from pasture and profitability.

It has now been established in international trials that New Zealand cows have higher concentrations of fat and protein in their milk, are more efficient converters of feed into milksolids and have greater fertility and survival than Northern Hemisphere cow families.

Therefore, not only are New Zealand cows more efficient and productive in their home environment, their genetics can, and do, provide measurable benefits for farmers in other countries. Parts of the dairy industries in many other countries are now turning away from the high-input, confinement systems which chase per cow production and adopting aspects of the New Zealand low-input approach which emphasises milk production per hectare.

The genetic and productivity gains in the sheep, beef cattle and farmed deer industries have also been spectacular. For instance, more export lamb by weight is now produced from a national ewe flock of 30 million compared with the lamb production from 50 million ewes only 20 years ago. This constant improvement is now greatly assisted by the Sheep Improvement national database for all sheep breeds and crossbreeds.

New Zealand also leads the world in the pasture-farming of deer, and has adapted specific technologies in breeding, feeding, fencing and handling for these flighty animals.

In 60 years of concerted research and trial effort, New Zealand has developed a new pastoralism which deserves the name "The New Zealand Way", which other farmers can now access and turn their high-input, low-profit farms around.

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PASTURE

The basis of the New Zealand Way is pasture – grasses, legumes and herbs — grown in site-specific combinations for maximum dry matter and energy production.

Pastures are then harvested in the field by the animals themselves, and only at maximum pasture growth during the spring are surpluses cut and conserved for winter feeding. At all times, animals remain outdoors and their grazing intake and pasture regrowth carefully managed with a combination of grazing pressure, stock numbers, subdivision, growth boosting with fertiliser and mixed leys to include plants which grow better at different times of the year.

New Zealand plant breeders and seed companies have developed more than 100 proprietary lines of grasses, legumes and herbs, each designed to do a specific job with regards to site, aspect, soil fertility, season, palatability, energy content and persistence.

Many of these varieties are now available in Australia, South Africa, the Americas and Europe.

Pasture cultivars suited to specialised grazing conditions are under constant development, for example, ryegrasses which will cope with drought, hard grazing, and the treading of stock. Clovers and other forage legumes have been specifically bred for low fertility areas, acid soils, and pest and disease resistance.

Specialist New Zealand seed companies are increasingly breeding and supplying high producing plants for use in specialised grazing situations. In areas with dry summers, species such as chicory, tall fescue, prairie grass (brome), and phalaris are becoming an important ingredient in maintaining high production.

Pasture improvement includes introducing new improved cultivars and specialised species to existing pastures, called "renovating" pastures. To achieve this, without the high costs of full cultivation, specialised, no-cultivation pasture seed drills, which allow sowing direct into pasture, have been developed. The drills allow damaged pastures to be oversown with improved cultivars so they are producing in the spring when they are needed. The same machines allow direct drill sowing of "no-till" seed brassica, green feed crops, and supplementary feed to overcome both winter and summer short supply.

Soil and pasture quality are also important factors in the New Zealand pastoral system, where farmers regularly monitor both soils and herbage to ensure their cattle are receiving a balanced supply of nutrients. By taking samples across the whole farm, fertiliser applications can be fine tuned to ensure the right amounts are applied in the right places. Generally, samples taken by farmers are sent to specialist laboratories for analysis. In addition to nutrient levels, farmers also test regularly for trace elements important to animal health.

Fertiliser companies are now promoting targeted use of all types of nutrients, and new technology utilising precision agriculture and satellite navigation can apply different rates to different soils, slopes and aspects. Fertiliser is the biggest single cost on all New Zealand farms and the technology and effort is employed to make sure that it is used wisely.

Pasture improvement includes introducing new improved cultivars and specialised species to existing pastures, called "renovating" pastures. To achieve this, without the high costs of full cultivation, specialised, no-cultivation pasture seed drills, which allow sowing direct into pasture, have been developed. The drills allow damaged pastures to be oversown with improved cultivars so they are producing in the spring when they are needed. The same machines allow direct drill sowing of "no-till" seed brassica, green feed crops, and supplementary feed to overcome both winter and summer short supply.

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UTILISATION

Technology has also greatly assisted the New Zealand farmers to utilise the maximum amount of the dry matter and energy produced in the pasture mass. Conventional fencing and paddock layouts have been supplemented with electric fences for controlled grazing management. First developed in the 1930s, power fencing requires an energiser, earthing system and the conducting fence material – either wire or polywire. The energy level in the system controls animal behaviour. Grazing pressure is delivered on to smaller land areas for shorter time periods. Pastures are not allowed to become rank and lose productivity due to shading and senescence. More vegetative pasture is produced from the available sunlight energy and resources. Animals eat more high-energy pasture to increase production and profit. Tighter subdivisions and slower rotations allow longer resting and recovery times for all areas of pasture, and when grass is rested it grows faster. The key is the optimum length or leaf area for growth, not too long, which leads to shading, nor too short, which is not enough leaf to catch the light.

Instead of putting time and labour into cropping, fodder harvesting and caring for housed animals, farmers spend their time monitoring pastures and moving power fences and animals. They have less capital tied up in buildings and machinery, which reduces financial risk and results in more sustainable, environmentally friendly farming. 

Dairy cows in a grazing system are hard on fences, and permanent fences don't give the flexibility required to control feeding sufficiently. It is no coincidence that New Zealand companies lead the way in providing farmers throughout the world with the necessary electric fencing to operate pasture-based farming systems. They are world leaders because they have superior products, developed in a demanding and highly competitive market, their products fit into an integrated system, and they provide world-wide servicing and technical back-up.

The latest generation electric fence is resistant to the effects of wind and snow, and is not so prone to power "leakage" over longer distances as the earlier types of electric fence. A novel system which allows a complete polywire electric fence to be simply rolled across the field has also been developed, which saves time and energy.

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FOLLOW-ON TECHNOLOGY

The principle of grazing management is to match grass growth with nutritional demand to achieve the maximum output at the least cost. In the case of a dairy farm this requires calving cows in spring so that their nutritional requirements for maintenance and production coincide with the available pasture. It is a delicate balancing act, restricting feed intake during late autumn and winter; and transferring feed from periods of low demand and surplus, to periods of high demand and restricted supply.

Breeding technology plays a part in this. Use of controlled internal drug release (CIDR) devices to synchronise calving patterns is now widespread. It has given dairy farmers far more control over timing of calving in relation to the spring pasture flush.

Pasture must also be meted out accurately to avoid wastage. Effective grazing management depends on monitoring a range of herd, pasture and individual animal variables. Feed budgeting assesses both the quantity and quality of the pasture on a regular basis. Pasture dry matter levels are measured to check progress against budget. There are several methods of doing this including assessment by eye, sampling, and the use of calibrated measuring devices such as the "rising plate" and the electronic pasture probe.

Measurement is not confined to grass. Measuring and monitoring the live weights of cows and heifers with electronic scales can assist in improving profits by:

• ensuring heifers reach target mating live weights

• ensuring the correct animal remedy doses are given.

• using weight loss to identify health problems.

• paying graziers on live weight performance ensures proper feeding.

The latest electronic scales from New Zealand are very robust and accurate and, best of all, allow the automatic recording of weight data, thus avoiding the tedious and labour intensive chore of manual recording. Weight data is captured from the load bars under the weighing crate and can be supplemented by inputs from the operator, such as animal ID number, condition, animal health treatment, follow-up needs etc.

Electronics and automatic recording are also being used to record milk production.

Electronic milk meters can quickly record and sample milk production for individual cows - an essential component of any breeding/genetic improvement program. 

New Zealand dairy cows are selected specifically for high production performance under commercial pasture farming conditions. These genetic improvements mean that cows are adapted to produce well in the outdoor, pasture-based system. The genetic improvements are real because cows have been bred to perform in the grazing environment which exists on every farm. 

Many New Zealand sheep, beef cattle, dairy and deer farmers spend a lot of time moving animals through their yards, administering animal health treatments with drench guns, boluses or pour-ons, recording weights and conditions and making mating and management decisions. New Zealand has some of the most advanced and user-friendly, "real situation" farm management computer programmes which are being sold around the world, translated into other languages and adapted for local farming conditions.

SOURCES:
Pasture Quality: Principles and Management, published by Meat New Zealand.
Green to Gold, Issues 1, 2 and 3, published by New Zealand Genetics, Livestock Improvement.