09 Nov Partner farms update – Diverse pastures trial at DTT Waimate West

On our DTT Waimate West farm in Manaia we are running a 7-year trial to assess the economic and environmental impact of diverse pastures on a dairy farming system as part of MPI’s Regenerating Aotearoa program. The study involves 2 farmlets at the DTT Waimate West farm comparing a farmlet with conventional ryegrass/clover-based pastures with a farmlet which is transitioned into diverse pastures over time. A partner farmer network is facilitated by DairyNZ which consists of farmers that are including diverse pasture species and/or including regenerative farming practices into their system.

We would like to introduce these partner farms who we have been working alongside Dairy Trust Taranaki since June 2022 and share how winter and spring has been on their farms. As part of the project the botanical composition of their spring pastures have been analysed by Dairy Trust Taranaki. The results are summarised in the figure below.

Introducing the partner farms:

Conna Smith – Location Whenuakura | 58 ha (58 ha diverse pasture) | 164 Jersey cows | Stocking rate: 2.83 cows/ha | OAD Milking | System 2 farm
Over the winter period Conna had several frosts and lower soil temperatures which caused a delay in pasture growth. As of 24^th September 2025, Conna was on a 28-day round, however she had previously been on a 40-day round. With slow pasture growth through August and September the slower round length was held, and post grazing residuals were lowered. An herbage sample was collected on a pre-grazing cover of 2700 kg DM/ha on 25^th September. The dry matter was 11.7% and ME was 11.1 MJ/kg DM. The spring pastures comprised of 83% perennial ryegrass, 4% plantain, 2% cocksfoot, 2% brome and 2% white clover and has recovered well from the slow spring. A diverse seed mix containing cocksfoot, prairie grass, fescue grass, digby ryegrass, advantage tetraploid, rocket italian ryegrass, fasincite annual italian, phalaris, timothy, white clover, red clover, plantain, and chicory has been broadcasted on during September, and the soil has been sprayed with ‘Organic Connections mix’ and ‘Biosea understory fish mix’ in the past month. As of 24^th September, the farm had produced 49 kgMS/cow and 139 kgMS/ha since the start of calving (20^th July).

Cat & Simon Walker – Location Pihama | 170 ha effective (80 ha diverse) | 430 Crossbred cows | Stocking rate: 2.53 | TAD Milking | System 3 farm
The Walker’s experienced the soil being softer and not recovering as well as they would have liked over the winter period. On the 29^th of September the Walker’s were holding a 25 day round and had a growth rate of 55 kg DM/ha/day. After being hit with grass grub last season weeds started to come through. A herbage sample was collected on a pasture cover of 2200 kg DM/ha on 25^th September. The dry matter was 12.6% and the ME was 11.4 MJ/kg DM. Their diverse pastures comprised of 78% perennial ryegrass, 8% plantain, 6% Red clover and 2% white clover, 2% cocksfoot and 3% lucerne. A diverse grass seed mix has been applied through the tow and fert sprayer. With a 15^th of July calving date, the farm had produced 105 kgMS/cow and 265 kgMS/ha as of 29^th of September.

Rachel & Kenneth Short – Location Opunake | 168 ha including runoff (168 ha diverse) | 331 Jersey cows | Young stock on platform| Stocking rate: 2.4 | OAD Milking 16-30 wks | System 1 farm
Winter conditions for the Short’s were not too favourable experiencing a lot of southerly wind and several frosts. Early winter was a breeze, July had an above average rainfall, August was cold. As of the 24^th September 2025 the Shorts were on a 31-day round and will aim to get down to a 24-day round. It was worked out that September grew 70 t less than last September. A herbage sample was collected on a pasture cover of 2025 kg DM/ha on 25^th September where dry matter was 15.9% and ME was 11.2 MJ/kg DM.  The pastures comprised of 82% perennial ryegrass, 7% plantain, 3% cocksfoot, 1% Brome and 1% white clover. As of 24^th September, the farm had produced 49 kgMS/cow and 152 kgMS/ha since the start of calving (24^th July).

Allan Marx – Location Kaponga | 155 ha (155 ha diverse) | 370 Crossbred cows | Stocking rate: 2.39 | TAD Milking | System 3 farm
Allan juggled a very wet winter experiencing some high rainfall such as 450 mm throughout July. As a result there was some pugging damage which has now been addressed. Ground temperatures never went belove 7 degrees and although there were some frosts pasture did bounce back quick. Allan was on a 35 day round on the 26^th of September when the weather allows this will drop to a 25 day round for a short period. A herbage sample was collected on a pre-grazing cover of 2200 kg DM/ha on 25^th September where dry matter was 15.3% and ME was 11.1 MJ/kg DM.  The pastures comprised of 89% perennial ryegrass, 3% Red clover and 2% Brome. Diverse pasture seed mix (containing 1kg/ha of chicory and 1kg/ha of plantain) has been spread during August and September through the sprayer with a fertiliser mix. As of 26^th September, the farm had produced 77 kgMS/cow and 184 kgMS/ha since the start of calving (1^st of August).

Dave Gibson – Location Kapuni | 62 ha (10 ha diverse) | 185 Jersey cows | Stocking rate: 2.98 | TAD Milking | System 5 farm
Winter proved steady for Dave where it wasn’t too wet. The grass did struggle to grow due to the cold, so cows were held tight over August. Dave had no bailage to feed cows but had maize silage left over which was fed out. Cows have been fed maize and in-shed supplementary feed throughout early spring. As of the 26^th of September, Dave was on a 30-day round. Ammo36 has gone on with liquid N and N express to boost pasture growth. A herbage sample was collected on a pre-grazing cover of 2900 kg DM/ha on 25^th September where dry matter was 12.9% and ME was 10.8 MJ/kg DM.  The pastures comprised of 65% perennial ryegrass, 8% cocksfoot, 7% plantain, 6% chicory and 1% brome. As of 26^th September, the farm had produced 71 kgMS/cow and 211 kgMS/ha since the start of calving (30^th of July).

Each farm will have a botanical and herbage sampling done quarterly to track what is happening within the pastures. We will share the botanical compositions after each quarter through the DTT newsletter to show how the pastures evolve throughout the season.

We would like to say a big thank our partner farms for joining us in this project and for sharing their data and knowledge with us!