Autumn News Update

We've had a lot of groundbreaking stuff going on so this is a little lengthy.

Browse the headings / key points and check out the stories of interest …

Sum up for the Season 

Hi everyone, I hope you're keeping your spirits up, in spite of the drought conditions in many areas.

There were some crazy low soil nitrogen levels at the end of Winter which I haven't seen before in

my 30 years. Plant nitrogen was really low even on untreated paddocks which had 100 kg Cold

Start fertiliser applied just 2 weeks prior to herbage tests.

It's been a great year for Southerners with respect to growth, but pretty poor for many others with

really dry / poor Spring growth, a hot Summer which tested irrigation capacity and now a prolonged

dry. It can be very testing mentally. Keep talking to each other or us or seek the free mental health

support options. There are tough decisions still remaining for some farmers. Through our products

we have assisted people out of major feed deficits leading into Winter, several times in the past.

Call us to find out what we can do for your situation.

Drought Recovery

We are currently in an 'Indian Summer' and soil temperatures are 14.5 degC. We have (for over a

decade) been testing our products in combination with gibberelins plus 4 - 9 kg of Urea nitrogen

per hectare in liquid form. Starting in May at 9 deg C soil temperatures, we were able to generate

750-1000 kg (5 bales balage) more dry matter over 6 weeks going into Winter. It was faster in

April. Magni-Grow is the secret weapon. The payback would be the equivalent of one bale of

balage. By comparison, Urea at 120 kg/ha gave 125 kgDM/ha. Two years ago we measured an

extra 250 and 400 kg drymatter over 42 days (for old and new pastures respectively) when Magnify

alone was applied in mid June. We are here to provide the best solutions and we have done a lot

of previous work for these situations. Give us a ring to chat about your options, payment options

etc. We have some pricing incentives detailed below. Ask us how we can assist with a more

detailed program designed for your farm and budget.

Trials this year :

Te Anau

Our trial work has been focused in Te Anau basin this year with Peter Lewis , our Te Anau rep

collecting field data from Riverslea farm which is a sheep and beef farm between Manapouri and

Te Anua. Magni-Grow and Magni-Life combinations have been yielding 18 to 73% more growth

with post-grazing advantages being greater than the first 4 weeks. Young grass paddocks are

producing the greatest advantages (73%) with runout paddocks producing the smallest advantages

(18%). There's been a 400-1050 kg gain over the first 3.5 months across 4 different paddocks.

0800 66 88 100

www.magnifynz.co.nz

info@magnifynz.co.nz

May 2024Extra growth is still being measured. Avergae cost per kilo at present is 10 cents/kg. So the

message is care for the best and medium producing paddocks before trying to rescue run out

paddocks. Adding 4 kg of nitrogen would have increased the response significantly in the first 8

weeks. Call our 0800 number or email and we will get a rep to assist you with what you need to

achieve more growth for less cost.

Banks Peninsula

Last year we measured many paddocks with a 450% gain in growth over September and October.

There was better palatability and pasture recovery. This year we had similar percentage gains but

the overall growth was half that of last year due to weather patterns (plus some growth reduction

was from salt and wind). There was a noticeable improvement in root growth after just 9 days.

Leaching down 91-94%

Leaching and nitrous oxide emissions are predominantly caused by urine . Many of you have

acheived Regional Council leaching targets which are measured in kgN/ha. These have little to do

with drinking water standards as it depends on the drainage volumes. Magnifies study and (most

other) studies have shown this. This study was done with 2.5 cows / ha and 190 kgN/ha fertiliser

applied. The nitrate nitrogen in the control was 15 mg /L (above drinking water standards and in

agreeance with other reseach data) and Magnify treatment was 1.22 mg/L. This study showed sim

ply reducing cows will not solve drinking water issues and we could farm with 3.5 cows per ha and

still be within the proposed freshwater standards - something most farmers currently think is

impossible. This kind of reduction is very significant for reducing nitrous oxide . The 15%

greenhouse gas emissions reduction for 2030 can be achieved without reducing your stock

numbers 15%. This will be vastly more economic. There is no better solution available on the

market or currently in research that will meet the 2030 deadline.

ME levels are higher

To produce a set of assumptions on herbage ME and nitrogen levels Overseer did a review of

historical data for the country. Herbage tests from our clinets pastures are typically 10 -15% higher

than those assumptions. based on recent international research this will create a 10-20% reduction

in methane emissions per unit of production. We have started dialogue with Overseer with respect

to this but your prayers and best thoughts for our success may also be helpful.

Global Fertiliser Prices

After huge price increases in recent years, 2024 fertiliser prices are projected to calm but this still

includes 3.8% annual increases yearly from today's prices. Fertiliser is a major cost in farming

operations but it also creates many other costs with respect to animal health and reproduction and

the flow on effect to staffing required to deal with lame and sick cows. Thus the cost is far higher

than just the fertiliser price. Magnify was created 23 years ago for these times. Growing grass with

less fertiliser yet improving profits substantially. We've done some bold things to fertiliser budgets

in the past and have been successful 100% of the time.

Interesting Fact of the Season

Phosphorus Reserves

Decades ago fertiliser was sold on the basis of 'if you apply more than leaves the property then

you will have some in reserve when times get tight financially'. For pastures, Magnify helps that

become a reality and is infinitely cheaper. In addition to what extra you have applied over the years

(your own personal inputs), in 1961 geological analysis of the Southern Alps 'parent rock' showed

0.46% Phosphorus pentoxide (22% P). That creates soil with a minimum of 4.2 tons of

Phosphorus/metre. Every 1 mm of dust adds more than 4 kg P/ha. Pastures contain 0.38-0.45%

Phosphorus but beech forest leaves can contain 1.35% P in their leaves (from a German study) -

so it's possible that dust from beech forests is on the higher end of the concentration (1.35%),

creating over 12 ton P/metre/ha. An intensive sheep farm removes 3 kg P/yr and dairy farm 20 kgP/year. So isn't the issue getting at the phosphorus? We use microbes to assist in this process as

soil microbiologists are now confident that over 80% of nutrient transfer is controlled by microbes.

The details for reference article is : https://doi.org/10.1080/00288306.1961.10420122

The addition of 2-3 litres per hectare of Magni-Life to your farming programme will allow

you to access your Phosphorus.

Contact us if you want to use the P that you already have in your soil and keep costs down.

Pricing

We have for over 15 years been absorbing price increases keeping our costs to you as low as

possible, but we can no longer absorb increases. We had hoped the market would get more

buoyant so it didn't feel like another kick in the guts for you all. But that's not happening. From 1

July we will be increasing our prices for Magni-Life and Magni-Grow by 5%. Some of you have

committed to next season and agreements created before the end of May will be set at today's

prices for all of next year. This will assist you budgeting.

Calving

Magni-Calf is still the best probiotic on the market according to feedback from those that

say they have tried everything over their long farming careers. Its a very small cost and

allows you to have one less worry in rearing great young stock. Once weaned, calves

require minimum pasture ME level of 11.0 in order to achieve maximum liveweight gains

prior to the first lactation. So our pasture products are important for run-off blocks.

Magni-Lamb prior to going on Winter feed

Magni-Lamb and Magni-Lamb Plus have been rapidly growing in sales and distribution. The

feedback from farmers has been exceptional. Some of you will have poorer crops than desired.

This makes them expensive per kilo of dry matter and wasting it is not desirable. Give a shot of

Magni-Lamb to all stock going onto winterfeed to speed up the rumens' recovery and adjustment to

a new feed type.

Website

Due to sad circumstances our website designer and host passed away which meant we had to

create another website this year. We have added our Trials Data which is extensive and might

give you some ideas on how to use Magnify products that you haven't considered. You'll find it

under 'Education' ... then 'Trial Data'.

Clients returning

When we separated from MacDonald Agrifert 3 years ago we did not have the client database.

Although its taking time to rebuild, we are thrilled to say more and more of our old clients (who

didn't know we were still in business) are relieved to find us again as many have reported going

backwards since they stopped using us. Our decades of research conclusively indicate that our

products are powerful and work very well.

Best wishes from the MagnifyNZ team.

Prepared by Scott Hobson, B.Ag Sc.

Director, MagnifyNZ Ltd

0800 66 88 100

www.magnifynz.co.nz

info@magnifynz.co.nz