Every season there seems to be variations in growth and cow performance that make spring so interesting. I thought that the amount of feed I had going into winter and up to calving would stand me in good stead through spring. Not so! Calving was the fastest it has ever been, and feed demand ramped […]

The month of September rolling around always gives me such a feeling of relief. I guess it’s owing to the fact that this is it, spring is here, the rush is over, and with daylight saving looming it will mean that those long evenings will once again reappear enabling all sorts of outdoor activity. Oh, […]

As I write this on the 30/7/19 I have just over half the herd in. The girls certainly have been keen to go as I had 25% of the herd in by due start date! This has convinced me to push back my start date to the 25th July. This is particularly relevant when it […]

I was aiming to write this blog on the shortest day, but that was on the 22nd of June, and it came and went before I knew it. We are now two weeks past that already! Wow, two weeks past the shortest day, which means only 84 days to go until daylight saving kicks in. […]

The season ended early for me with drying off on the 26th April. The dry summer/autumn encouraged this decision, and I feel it was the right one, with covers now over 2500 two thirds of the way through May. For the record, final figures were 28,759 kg solids, 368 kg per cow, and 1027 kg […]

It’s been a long time coming but finally the rain has arrived, hopefully not too late as we are very short of grass. With a bit of luck we can still see a pretty good finish to this season – we do need some good growing conditions over the next two months to set up […]

My calendar seems in a bit of disarray at the moment as we work ourselves through 2 weeks of days on, days off, days on, days off, causing me to struggle a bit trying to remember what day it is. I do know that it’s ANZAC day today as this is such a well-advertised and […]

I feel in rather a buoyant mood today for several reasons including, but not limited to: autumn rain, maize, bacon, craft beer and boys…..Often we put ourselves under pressure by having a list of things we need to do, but can’t find time to do, or maybe don’t want to do; or things we want […]

February has brought plenty of heat to our operation, and any areas with a stone or sand base are now dead. Even my lucerne block is wilting and with growth rates at 4 kg/day silage has become the order of the day. With a 36 day round, I still have a little deferred grass, but […]