78 | nzdairy DAIRY SERVICES » BlueGrass Contracting Your one stop shop Specialists in Kenworth, DAF & Cummins Engines Parts & Servicing We also have on site CoF testing and an in-house Auto Electrician 07 575 3883 81 Hewletts Road, Mt Maunganui www.truckline.co.nz trucklineservices Phone 07 888 7264 or 027 240 8415 • jimmy@jimmynealelectrical.co.nz When it comes to all things electrical, we’ll see you right. • Whether it’s domestic, commercial or rural electrical • You have my commitment to consistency and continuity • Personal service and consultation Proudly Supporting Bluegrass Contracting Ltd Si-Lac f resh culture silage bacteria Coveris bale wrap film Silage covers 150 micron, underlay sheet & double covers & bags Heavy duty Pro-net and Net replacement films Baling Twines from conventional to High density Zill stack protection and weighting systems Si-Lac Extra for high moisture hay up to 25% Kevin – 027 521 8991 – Nthn NI Charles – 027 284 1400 – Sthn NI Gary – 027 284 1440 – Nthn SI Jared – 027 284 1401 – Sthn SI Bluegrass Contracting harvests around 3000 heactares of lucerne alone. Lucerne the Kiwi version of ‘bluegrass’ Russell Fredric • to page 76 BlueGrass Contracting managing director Brook Nettleton estimates the company annually harvests around 3000 hectares of lucerne alone. The roots of Brook and his retired father Allan, a former dairy farmer, are intrinsically connected to the drought-tolerant perennial legume. “I guess that’s where the name BlueGrass (Contracting) came from because Kentucky blue grass of America is probably the gold-plated feed,” Brook says. “Dad had a farm that was 100% lucerne. We’ve always had a real passion about lucerne; it’s such an amazing plant and an amazing forage that we’ve made it a big focus of our business and we do a lot of lucerne.” However, BlueGrass Contracting’s services covers much more than harvesting lucerne, grass and maize. The company’s eld work often starts with cultivation, with its skilled operators completing this ef ciently and to a high standard with a full arsenal of equipment at their disposal. This includes a three metre Agrisem minimum tillage disc-ripper, a four metre tine, a ve metre Atlas disc roller, a ve metre Kuhn undersower, Kuhn ve metre power harrows, maize planters, and an eight row strip tillage implement that cleans, rips, cultivates, compacts and places fertiliser. For Brook and the BlueGrass team ef ciency is crucial and each item of equipment utilised is designed to achieve this. For maize, spraying with glyphosate three weeks before cultivation creates great single pass options, Brook says. “The best time to smash the turf and root mass is when it is still attached to the ground.” The Agrisem implement can do this in one pass; it has a ripping foot with a unique lifting action that is positioned for the soil to hit the bar roller chopping it into a nutty seed bed suitable for planting. The tine plough is especially engineered to accomplish aeration and cultivation in one process. Its two rows of tines work by lifting the soil to crack it without altering its composition while the vibrating action of the times ensures consistent soil loosening, and its double ripper roller cultivates and compacts for moisture retention. For cultivation 10 days or less after spraying, the Atlas disc roller is excellent at cutting root mass into small clods, working at a shallow depth. It has the weight and aggression to also cultivate at a primary depth with excellent results, while a second pass will give a ner secondary nish. The disc angle creates a much superior action to pull in and cultivate without the compaction of the standard straight-axle discs. “We are pretty big on looking after the soil, so we do a lot of strip tilling and minimal cultivation.” Strip tillage involves cultivating only the strip of soil that is being planted with a base fertiliser included. BlueGrass started doing strip tillage about 12 years ago, partly as a means of reducing soil erosion. “I guess people were a little bit sceptical about it because you weren’t cultivating the whole paddock, but it works as good as good as anything. Strip till is becoming a real big thing now because of environmental reasons for erosion, and on hills and by rivers.” “I guess that’s where the name BlueGrass (Contracting) came from because Kentucky blue grass of America is probably the gold-plated feed.”
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