“ On these farms, we have two seasonal calving periods, and my calving and breeding strategy fits into a 60 / 40 breeding split. We started calving on 15 February and are now at the tail end. Then it is about raising the calves. This year, we have 140 calves at Nutcombe and 120 at the Estcourt farm.”
“ With a strong El Niño forecast to influence our weather next year and create extremely dry conditions, Agrimark can play a significant role in securing supplements when they are really needed.”
“ From 15 March to 15 April, we plant and rejuvenate our pasture platforms, as well as our dryland pastures. We plant seven to eight different pasture varieties, all as mixed pastures, including hybrid grasses, perennial pastures, lucerne, red clover, chicory and brassicas. It has taken the best part of three to four years to establish good dryland pastures. It doesn’ t happen overnight, but now we can simply rejuvenate them by stitching in with a drill.”
Graham explains that his planting strategy stretches over a 45-day period.
“ My pastures are predominantly taken over by kikuyu and, because we are on the drier side of the area, we spray Roundup ahead of the cows coming in to graze, but only at about 100 ml / ha. The cows graze it, then we mulch it down and drill it in. This sets the kikuyu back so that it does not dominate in autumn.
“ We have found that nitrogen is not the main driver of grass production; potassium plays a bigger role. We push potassium and have enough phosphates in our soil.
“ We top-dress our pastures at the end of April and keep the programme simple.”