Isn’t it ironic that one of my previous blog’s headlines says, “There’s more to life than the back end of a cow”. Then here’s me milking 900 cows TAD for my milking job right now. Funny how sometimes things work out. But I feel ten years younger with less stress, more sleep ins and more […]
It has been quite the roller-coaster this season, especially in the upper North Island. It was a pretty tough winter by all accounts, plenty of rain to be had. Shame it wasn’t shared around a bit more because, wow, did we cop it during the early part of calving. But that was 6 to 7 […]
Woow what a start to the season this has been. The heifers returned home at an average liveweight of 484 kg and condition scored at a 5.5 and going into calving our cows were at a 5 average. This season’s start has really tested our management skills as farmers, not only financially, with a drop […]
Spring Part 1. Well, this has been a start to spring that will go down in the farm diary for years to come. Winter in comparison was quite mild, according to our own rain collection data June, July and August were on par with previous years. I guess it’s all about the timing of it […]
Well, we got through winter, but it was a push. I used a bit of PKE to keep the cows topped up just prior to calving. Calving was quick, with a start date of the 20/7 and all over by 28/8. No cows lost and only two still born calves which I felt was a […]
Looking out my lounge window this morning I can hardly see the farm for the trees. I am not unhappy about that. Climate change has certainly brought more heat and wind to the farm. The shade has already benefitted the cows, but I do admit that the trees have suffered from the wind. Even the […]
Spring has sprung and not before time. Calving has been over for a week, 3/9/21, as I write this. Bringing calving forward five days has given me a good head start on last season but has put pressure on feed available. Growth rates of 11 kg DM/ha through late winter, July / August contrasted with […]
Strange how life can be thrown a curve ball by a bug. We went from planning a holiday to hunkering down on the farm and making face masks! The Waikato Times ran an article from the French Embassy about travellers stranded in NZ. We replied to their request for help and then received a large […]
The way things are going it is going to be a long summer. Feels like it started last November! My rainfall records show last year as the third driest on record, with annual rain 300 mm below the average. Going back to 1992 my records show a year like this about every 10 years on […]
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. […]