Farming Diary for January

Written by Dr Clive Dalton

Welcome to the New Year and the exciting challenges ahead!

Financial review

January is time to review your enterprise, how it went last year, and what will need changing for 2010.
Making money is always difficult on a small block, and there's only so far you can go on cutting costs.
Start by looking at your 2009 mistakes and learn from them. If you can't see what went wrong, then get some professional help or network through the website.
Get farm records up to date and pay all accounts on time.

Tell your neighbours when you are away and who will be calling in to check things for you.
Get them to take note of all strange cars calling, especially those looking for "A bloke called John Smith" or a lost dog.
Keep you gate locked - at both ends! Burglars don't like closed gates.
Cancel your mail and get your minder to keep your mailbox empty of other junk mail.
If your freezer is in an outside shed, put some rat poison down the back. Rats love cable covers.
Check water pump is in good order and leave contact numbers for service support for your minder.
Check electric fence earth is good and wet.
If the hay contractor has not been and is likely to turn up unexpectedly, tell your minder which paddocks are to be cut and where the hay has to go. Before you go, check all the paddocks are clear of rubbish (if you can find it), gates will open fully, and ball cocks in water troughs have been tied up.
Backup your computer HD and take the backup with you.
Don't keep phoning or texting your minder every five minutes - you are on holiday.

Make as much supplement as possible; it will always keep for next year if you don't need it, and it can be converted into cash when others have run out in winter.
If you need any hay or silage, then buy it now direct off the paddock rather than wait till winter when everyone else wants it. It could be a good way to make a few dollars.
Do a budget to see which is a better deal, get rid of as many stock as you can now when prices are good, and make silage and hay to sell. If you had good pasture growth through November, and you could get fatstock away, then don't restock and get rid of culls.
Pastures (and weeds) want to get their seed heads up and it can happen very quickly so be alert to it.
If pastures get out of control and you don't want to make silage, then speed up the grazing rotation and just let the stock (cattle are best) eat the tops off, so plants stay at a vegetative stage.
When making hay or balage, make sure the paddock is not scalped, as this only lets the sun into the base of the pasture and dries out the soil.
Don't treat your paddocks like the lawn so avoid going around with the topper to "tidy up". The sun and light breezes of summer really dry out the top layers of the soil.
Avoid any build up of dead pasture litter as it's a great breeding ground of Facial Eczema (FE) spores.

Make sure everything has been shorn and you've got the wool turned into what little cash you can get for it.
Watch for flystrike on any that get dirty.
It's not financially worth shearing lambs but in the wool they are prone to flystrike even when clean. Giving them a spray is very easy and effective these days.
Get as many lambs as possible away off their mothers and quit any ewe that has not earned her keep or has any physical or health problem - especially in teeth and udder.
If you have fat lambs for sale, shop around to make sure you get top value for them.
Any lambs that need finishing should have top priority for feed.
Don't drench any sheep (lambs or ewes) until you have talked to your vet.
Get some weight back on the flock ewes for next season. Don't drench them.
Most rams don't go out till March but you need to plan ahead and get them vet checked now.
Keep rams away from any ewes if you don't want early lambs. Early lambs can usually earn a premium price so this is worth considering.
Start planning Facial Eczema (FE) precautions (see cattle). The only practical way to drench sheep with zinc is with a bolus which lasts around a month. Talk to your vet about this.

Check that you have a FE protection policy ready, as the main concern is to know when to start zinc supplementation. Talk to your vet about this.
Young growing stock, especially dairy weaners, are the main concern when it gets hot and starts to dry out. Keep offering them the best pasture to hopefully gain at least 1kg/day. If feed quality drops then 0.6kg/day is more realistic
Big fat beef cows take little hurt when it gets dry; their main priority is good water and shade. Watch for biting flies and treat with a pouron if they become a serious nuisance.
There should not be any bulls running with cows by now. Keep an eye on their health through the warm summer weather, especially checking for lameness. Any not needed need to be sent to the works - bulls are always a hazard on a farm.