MCU14/0028 Appendix 1Techno-grazing

TechnoGrazing™ – a new grazing concept (J.F.L. Charlton & J.H. Wier)                                                   35



He now stocks his systems at 3.5–3.7/ha of 400-kg              the sheep with cattle to clean up any taller residual
bulls, buying yearling bulls throughout the season –           pasture. Mr Scoular reports that TechnoGrazing
the first ones at around 300 kg and the last ones at           combines well with regrassing to boost his farm income.
450 kg. Animals are sold as pastures become dry,
and stocking is minimised until the autumn break.              Jerry Rowley, Loganburn Station, Ranfurly, Central
During the winter, the young stock grow at 0.6–0.75            Otago
kg/day, stocked at up to 1000 kg liveweight/ha,                Jerry and Shirley Rowley farm Loganburn Station near
whereas older animals grow at 0.3–0.4 kg liveweight/           Ranfurly, Central Otago, on 2025 ha with a short
ha, stocked at 1400–1500 kg liveweight/ha. The                 growing season due to the 550–950 m altitude and
finishing target weight is 600 kg liveweight. Mr               460 mm rainfall. The station comprises 650 ha of
Mabin now observes his stock every 2 days, disease             variable flatland, 650 ha of tussock grassland, and an
prevention is much better and animal health has                upper plateau at 900 m asl. The Rowleys installed K-
greatly improved. He considers TechnoGrazing really            line irrigation on 84 ha in September 1999 and began
comes into its own when the scale justifies a second           TechnoGrazing on 36 ha. Loganburn Station carried
labour unit.                                                   500 deer, 5000 merinos and 150 cows when purchased
                                                               in 1996. They now carry 900 deer, 5000 merinos and
Nick Prendergast, Arohena, South Waikato                       450 cattle (180 cows). Under TechnoGrazing, 270 cattle
Mr Prendergast runs a beef technosystem with a dairying        are finished each year, compared with 140 beforehand.
system as separate operations on 146 ha of rolling             The bulls are stocked at 5.5 yearling bulls/ha and have
upland hill pastures. He runs Hereford bulls for sale as       produced approximately 650 kg beef carcass/ha, with
dairy cow sires to Waikato dairy farmers. He practices         a further potential to increase this production through
Technograzing on an area that offers only limited access       fertiliser application. Cow numbers have been increased
to his dairy herd, because of a dividing gully. He             on the farm, supplying more stock for TechnoGrazing.
converted his bull unit to TechnoGrazing in 1993 and           The property is developing well and Mr Rowley reports
has doubled his stocking rate from 1.5–2.0 bulls/ha to         that its full potential will be realised within 2–3 years.
5 bulls/ha following the change. He now runs 220
bulls, stocked to maximise the spring pasture growth           Common findings by TechnoGrazing farmers
peak before they are sold during October–December.
                                                          The new system enables much better pasture feed
Andy Scoular, Threave, Poukawa, Hastings,                 utilisation, with higher sward covers and more grass-
Hawke’s Bay                                               growing time, higher feed quality and a lower incidence
Mr Scoular farms 380 ha of flat, rolling and steep        of pasture-related livestock disorders. Because the bulls
dryland near Havelock North, with 800 mm annual           are run in small groups with a stable routine, food
rainfall (only 400 mm during 2000). The operation is      conversion rates are improved. Though existing pastures
50:50 Angus/Hereford breeding-finishing cattle and        can change rapidly to ryegrass when TechnoGrazing
mainly Romney sheep. He operates 16 ha under              begins, renovating older pastures helps to gain the last
TechnoGrazing on rolling land with sheep, and has         10–15% from the intensive system.
regrassed it twice with Italian ryegrass
to increase winter growth. The hoggets     Table 1 Production gains from TechnoGrazing on several farms.
are bought in March and finished from
                                           Farmer           Before TechnoGrazing            After TechnoGrazing
June onwards, as they reach 45 kg target
liveweight. He can carry more hoggets      J. Gunson        11–12 stock units/ha            25 stock units/ha
                                                            550–560 kg liveweight gain/ha   1190 kg liveweight gain/ha
in early September, when grass growth      D. Holden        0.5–1.9 bulls/ha                1600 kg liveweight gain/ha
is accelerating, enabling him to sell when                                                  3.5–3.7/ha
prices are peaking. He also finds it a     A. Mabin         0.5–1.9 bulls/ha                3.5–3.7/ha
                                           N. Prendergast   110 bulls (1.5/ha)              220 bulls (5/ha)
much cleaner system, in terms of parasite  J. Rowley         140 bulls finished (3.9/ha)    270 bulls finished (7.5/ha)
burdens, and this saves drenching cost     A. Scoular       540 kg liveweight gain/ha       900 kg liveweight gain/ha
and effort.
     Mr Scoular has modified the specified Techno-
Grazing system to suit sheep, and subdivides at 100 m     Future prospects
width, setting the temporary fences at 50 m apart,
running two mobs of 150 hoggets (increasing to 300        Although some exciting productivity benchmarks have
per mob in spring). He moves them every 2 days on         already been set, Mr Wier and the farmers using
around a 28-day rotation during winter, and follows       TechnoGrazing feel they are still “scratching the