Pastures

• This is going to be a very tough autumn and early winter, with the hammering pastures took in the drought conditions in many parts of the country.
• It’s going to need some emergency management actions, as pasture growth from now on cannot make up the summer deficits.
• So it’s time to take a serious look at what feed you have, and where it’s coming from over the rest of autumn and into winter.
• It’s time for an end-of-season tidy up of pastures, and especially any that got long, dead and straggly and where weeds like Californian thistles are still looking far too healthy.
• Thistles are real drought survivors with their massive root stores.
• The best and cheapest way to weaken weeds is to keep cutting off their food factory – their stems and leaves, otherwise they just manufacture food to feed the roots to be bigger and better next season.
• If weeds have reached the flowering/seeding stage, you have left it far too late and you’ll have to look forward to an even better crop next year – which will mean spending money on chemicals.
• Try to keep chemical weed control to a minimum, as there’s increasing evidence around the worlds of more chemical resistance being found in plants.
• Be careful when feeding out silage – especially in big bales that are hard to handle. Silage laid out in large lumps will burn the pasture, leaving bare patches for weeds to grow.
• Don’t lay out more silage than stock can clean up at any one time. Hay doesn’t cause this problem, though it may leave behind weed seeds if they were present. So before you buy hay – check what’s in it.
• Make sure all silage bales are well protected from stock, rats and inquisitive birds like magpies and pukekos. Even the tiniest hole will let in enough air for mould to grow over a large area – and that’s money wasted.
• Before the autumn rains, check that your hay storage is waterproof, as leaking shed roofs and spouts filled with leaves can let in water which will rot hay, and you may not find it till feeding out time. Mouldy hay should never be fed to stock – and don’t breathe in the dust either as it’s a health hazard.
• A lot of pastures may need renewal. This can be an expensive business so get some independent advice – and not necessarily from those selling the seed!
• There’s always a lot of seed (called hard seed) in the pasture which has accumulated over years, and it will eventually germinate, but there’s no guarantee what you may end up with – or if weeds will beat the long dormant grass and clover seeds.
• It’s a good time to do some tree pruning to feed to stock. Poplars and Willows are rich in minerals. But be careful as stock relish prunings (especially when wilted) and thrown over the fence from the garden, so check our website for a list of plants that can be poisonous if enough are eaten.

Sheep

• Have a good tidy up of the flock and get rid of everything that will not earn their keep next season, or grow into replacement stock.
• Check especially for good teeth that meet the gum properly and are all present. If teeth are worn down evenly, as they often are in ewes older than 5 years of age, they will be good enough to keep for another lamb provided you can provide plenty of long feed over winter.
• Checking udders can be a bit more difficult, as there won’t be much to feel by this time of year. Just make sure each teat looks normal, with no shearing cuts, and that there are no really hard lumps in the body of each gland.
• In the North Island, for early lamb, the rams will have been out in February, but most will go out around mid March. There’s not much point in lambing too early unless you are aiming for the premium early lamb market before Christmas.
• The best plan is to work out a ram joining date to lamb when you have enough spring pasture to feed lactating ewes well, so they don’t have to milk off their backs.
• The way the wool market now only wants wool around 10mm long, shear ewes before the rams go out, and shear the rams too, as you don’t want them to be put off their work by overheating!
• When rams are out keep an eye on them to make sure they’re doing the job properly. This is especially the case if you are using ram lambs, which is a good idea, as the young fellows are bursting with libido but may lack a bit of technique.
• When using more than on ram in a mating mob, watch especially for continual fighting causing shoulder injuries. Lameness through footrot or abscesses is the other major hazard for rams at mating time.
• A mature ram will easily cover 50 ewes and a good big ram lamb 20.
• The old advice was to use an old experienced ram on young sheep and a ram lamb on old ewes. But this is not all that important as long as they are working well.
• Fitting a harness and crayon on a ram will show which ewes have been mated and have not returned. Best to do this after the ram has been out for one cycle of 17 days (range of 14 -21) so if there are no ewes marked, you have time to check the ram and change him if necessary.
• Use red or green crayon to start with for clarity, and learn to distinguish between a proper service mark, and a rape mark which will be lighter.
• Make sure the harness fits well, and keep checking it for chafing. An active ram loses weight fast and the harness will need regular adjustment.
• Also check that the crayon has not got covered with trash or soil which won’t rub off and leave a good mark.
• Rams can be racists, where they’ll mate ewes of their own breed first, and leave contrasting coloured ewes to last.
• Don’t dip ewes or rams for a month before mating and for 6 weeks after mating, as there have been cases of poor embryo survival, which may have been the dip chemicals.
• If you want to put hoggets to the ram, they must be at least 45kg to be able to keep on growing and produce a decent lamb.
• If young sheep (hoggets) start to scour, don’t assume it’s worms and drench before you’ve checked with your vet using a Faecal Egg Count to diagnose the cause, so the correct product is used. Internal parasites showing resistance to the different types of drench chemicals is a growing problem.
• Mature ewes should not need drenching despite all the advertising hype and marketing promotions to persuade you otherwise. If they are in good body condition and thriving, don’t be scared by high FECs.
• Facial eczema is still a risk so maintain prevention right into April. If you have been using the zinc boluses, be wary of using a third one as this may risk zinc toxicity. Talk to your vet about this.
• Watch for ryegrass staggers too and cull all sheep that have chronic footrot.

Cattle

• Get rid of all stock that will not contribute to future income.
• Cows that have lost condition will need building up again which means feeding supplements if you have enough.
• It takes 280kg of Dry Matter to replace one condition score on a cow, over and above its daily maintenance requirement.
• Getting condition back on a cow can take much longer than you think.
• So that’s a lot of feed needed each day and if you don’t have it on the farm, you will have to face the cost of providing it or quitting stock.
• Dairy weaner calves are a major concern after a dry summer when the farm has been cleaned out of feed.
• Weaners should be growing well, and not less than of 0.5kg /day if you have plenty of green feed, but this may not be achievable after a drought so you may have to accept a period when they just maintain weight.
• If things are serious, and you can’t afford to buy supplement, then quit some.
• If young stock are scouring, don’t drench them without checking first with your vet as to the cause and the best treatment. It may not be worms.
• Older cattle should not need a drench as if they are scouring, the cause is most likely something else. They will certainly produce loose dung when the new lush autumn green feed starts to grow.
• Keep up Facial Eczema precautions – and don’t be talked into stopping because spore counts may be dropping. Young stock are a special priority.
• Spores can rise quickly at any time to trigger risks, and watch also for ryegrass staggers in cattle (and horses).
• If you send any cull cows to the works, arrange through your vet to have liver samples taken to check for mineral and trace element status. This is the most accurate way to check for mineral deficiencies rather than being persuaded to buy all sorts of mineral licks and supplements from advertising and promotions.
• Pregnancy test any cows you are not sure of their status – you can’t afford to keep empty ones.

Management

• Get a soil test done this month to see what fertiliser is needed.
• Be wary of products on the market where there’s little real information. Find a local farmer on the same soil type and check what they use and get their advice.
• Be especially careful to avoid spreading any fertiliser near drains, dams, creeks or wetlands.
• Keep checking the water supply – especially for leaks, as ground water will need building up over winter.
• Do a feed budget to see how you are placed for winter feed, and if you need to get rid of some stock. If you are not sure how to do this, then get some help.
• Check financial budgets and cash flows and pay accounts monthly.
• Keep checking your home and farm security – thieves never sleep and rustling of small mobs of stock on lifestyle blocks is on the rise.
• Always keep your gate shut, even when you are at home as you could be out on the block or in the shed and not hear an unwelcome visitor. Thieves don’t like closed gates.
• Thieves also steal gates, so always reverse the top gudgeon.
• Be highly suspicious of farm equipment at super low give-away prices. It is guaranteed to be ‘hot’ so take the vendor’s details and inform the police.