P blend brings ‘rampant’ growth

P blend brings ‘rampant’ growth
Hauraki Plains dairy farmer Graham
Needham’s milk production has shot up
since he began using dicalcic phosphates 10
years ago. He milks 220 Shorthorn/Ayrshire
cows on 78ha of predominantly peat soil
in Ngatea, running an all-grass system with
a small amount of green feed maize grown
on farm to get his herd through the region’s
typical late summer dry.
Needham said he used to apply the
standard 30 percent potassic super to his
property, with “fair to middling” results.
For the past decade, he has been working
with Bay of Plenty-based Fertco, whose
products he said have really made his farm
produce.
“The ability to mix Fertco’s granulated
lime with dicalcic phosphate in customblended
mixes has seen our pH levels rise
to 6.3-6.5, which is unprecedented for peat
soils,” he said.
“This has seen the paddocks stand out
in our neighbourhood due to their
intense dark green colour and
rampant clover growth.
“Consequently, our milk
production has skyrocketed and
now sits at 87,000kg milksolids
(MS). Animal health issues are
virtually non-existent and we’ve got
an abundance of earthworms. My
sharemilker is happy and production
is still climbing.”
Sharemilker James Clothier said
local farmers reckoned this year’s
crop of maize was the best any had
seen on the Hauraki Plains. “And we
only used the Fertco standard farm fertiliser
– no special maize mixes and no extra
nitrogen [N].”
Fertco general manager Warwick
Voyce said the company has developed a
unique method of manufacturing dicalcic
phosphate that results in an eco-friendly
product with a high nutrient content.
“As well as saving money on both cartage
and spreading, our Dical range has benefits
for soil biology, animal health and the
environment,” he said.
“It also helps maintain soil phosphate
[P] levels and production, using a quarter
to a third less P, which again saves farmers
money.”
Fertco services the greater North Island
region. For more information visit www.
fertco.co.nz.