The Bay's farmers can expect a tough start to new pastures this spring after the wet winter.

The dry autumn and wet winter mean establishing new grass paddocks has been significantly slower than usual this season, says DairyNZ pasture specialist Rob Brazendale.
'A lot of new grass has only had one light grazing so far. Normally it would have been grazed two to three times by now,” he says.
The tough growing conditions also appear to have provided excellent conditions for black beetle.
'How farmers manage their newly sown pastures over the first six to eight months has a huge impact on the life-time performance of that paddock and its profitability,” says Rob.
It is important farmers know which management techniques will maximise the return on their investment on new pastures. Many farmers have invested between $1000-1500 per hectare on regrassing and the size of the return from this investment is highly sensitive to how long the new pastures persist,” says Rob.
The factors affecting persistence of new grass species are complex. Farmers are advised to refrain from grazing in wet weather to minimise pugging and also to avoid over-grazing.
'Do not let these pastures get too long. Pre-grazing levels around 2500kgDM are ideal,” says Rob.
Farmers are also advised to feed new grass nitrogen as clovers do not fix sufficient nitrogen in the first year of establishment.
'Many farmers may be thinking about reducing nitrogen inputs to cut on-farm working expenses, but we recommend farmers should continue to use it on new grass, as the return is so great.
'Nitrogen promotes tillering, so where these new grasses are struggling, the nitrogen will promote growth and thicken it up.”