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To establish the optimum in a pastoral grazing system is relative to your available resources i.e. the land, the classes of livestock and genetics, your management, the market pricing and your objectives. We pursue profit as our first objective and everything else lines up to achieve this noting...

Winter grazing set up – it is an open-ended question as pasture sward type, expected pasture growth, soil type, fertiliser history, rainfall, slope, paddock size and more has a significant influence. Will it be all once-over-grazing or is it expected some of the earlier grazed paddocks will have...

Fly struck sheep are a real cost - financially, time, productivity, worrisome So how can we manage this? Be proactive i.e. treat early before expected fly activity, shear early Are there any precursors? i.e. Increasing temperature and / or humidity, change in weather rain then fine Is there a...

From afar I applaud any endeavour that will bolster the bottom line creating better profit. Also it is important to acknowledge that all in the value / supply chain need to have a fair slice of profit and it is not harboured by one. We all need to seek opportunity to reduce costs and capture...

The driver for us is lamb growth rate pre weaning so trying to optimise lamb numbers and work rate with least disruption to grazing time. The rotation speed is different from number of shifts. The example for a 50 ha block divided into 5 × 10 ha paddocks with a 20 day rotation would be 4 days...

Apologies about the late reply – a tad busy I think many of the other posts have provided some very useful commentary about methods to manage the ewe with lambs at foot. There is never one method in preference to another, except to say the method to adopt is the one that is most successful in...

There are some very good grazing height recommendations for the UK and ROI. Refer to the AHDB publication 'Planning grazing management for better returns' and the Teagasc Athenry research by Tim Keady. From start of lambing 3 -4 cm works well for us when set stocked on hill country though it...

To get a better understanding of pasture growth do some monitoring, use the information to assist making some management decisions: 1) Use a 'sward' stick' or plate meter and measure the height and / or convert to kgDM/ha. If you haven't got either or aren't available just use a ruler. This...

Great stuff - the key point here is the importance of searching for options to extricate yourself from a poor situation, sometimes there is only one option and it may be very expensive to implement but often a number of small actions combined together can create a better outcome overall. There...

We have all been in this situation before - it does create some anguish knowing that feed supply to the lactating ewe with lambs is most important. Can we resolve this situation and conjure up a good outcome? Monitor the situation and take good positive action: Prioritise according to your...

We will keep a ram going irrespective of age if they continue to satisfy all our selection criteria. We value longevity as an important trait so carrying on genes that possess this trait can be very positive. On average most of our rams have finished up by year 4 and it must be noted we don't...

A most interesting discussion As a commercial sheep farmer with a self replacing maternal ewe flock we buy in breeding rams that must satisfy some key criteria: 1) maternal traits are first, second and third priority 2) the replacement ewe lamb must lamb as a hogget so by default the lamb growth...

Hey I reckon the 'Handypiece' is the best portable shearing tool to have. A proper handpiece adapted with a rear end attached motor and a flexicord that won't hinder the standard shearing action. There are other brands I am thinking of Heingner but definitely not as 'normal' or comfortable to...

I have been reading the banter about COP and from my perspective here are some points of interest If you don’t trust the other ‘partner’ in the contract then do not sign up no matter how enticing the numbers look or how easy it would be for you to fulfil the terms of trade You understand why a...

It is wet and there will be more rain tomorrow and the day after - if only the sun will shine The paddocks are churning into a sea of mud, the grass has all but disappeared The fun of out winter grazing has turned to gloom Swear word F___ For us all grass winter grazing i.e. without a forage...

So what is the 'optimal' lambing %age for the farm? This will differ for everyone subject to many factors however it becomes a valid target to work towards and develop / refine a farm system so it is achievable. What is the impact of a lower lambing %age upon the bottom line aka profit? Perhaps...

It has been a busy morning I am fully supportive as a levy payer of B+LNZ They may not do everything right as we all take a different perspective of priority order and personal favourtism towards topical issues. B+LNZ are actually stepping backwards in part from generic marketing to refocus...

Back in the day @romneymarsh - the early eighties - They were hard days when NZ farming was tipped upside down (a sunset industry one politician of note described NZ agriculture) for which I am glad have long past. Huge changes since then notably more thinking, smarter thinking and less graft...

As a commercial sheep farmer it is important the ewe flock has a good fit with environment hence longevity is highly valued therefore we have a preference to breed replacements from the older cohort of ewes. Up until now there has not been an ebv for longevity however I understand it is soon to...

Hey the Coopworth selection policy is to ensure continual genetic improvement. Those ewes that miss the cut to stay on in the elite flock if still fit to breed would move across to a multiplier flock or go into a general commercial flock. The first criteria of selection must always be...