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 […]
I should not have put off writing this blog, because Cyclone Gabrielle has overtaken the farm and it is not pretty. But more of that later. Production is holding around 0.9 kgMS/cow/day. With all this pasture cover I thought it may have held a bit higher, but I guess summer grasses will always be low […]
I feel like a lot has changed since my last blog back in November. Not so much on farm related but off farm in the dairy industry. The milk payout setting new records, but at the same time costs have reached new highs too (fuel, grain, PKE and fertiliser). Also, the supply chain of farming […]
Every season is different and so farming is always a moving feast of jobs and planning. It never fails to keep me interested and motivated to anticipate the next required moves. With three cuts of silage in the pit, followed by some baleage before it got too dry, I feel reasonably secure against the vagaries […]
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 […]
It’s Good Friday, the start of the Easter break. The sun’s still shining, the grass is still growing, and the cows are still milking. Pretty exciting huh? That part is great. I am a bit concerned, though, about one thing. The Easter Bunny and his mates had been living in the maize paddock not too […]
Once again it’s time to reflect on what’s happened in the last couple of months. Age must be catching up with me as time seems to go by so quickly it becomes hard to think back on what has happened. While we were down south we took the opportunity to bike the Roxborough trail. A […]
It feels like all we talk about each month is the rain, but the reality is it has been extremely detrimental to our farm this year. We so need the sunshine, the wet weather has continued to keep coming back to hurt our farm, and has been compounded by the extreme lack of R&M done […]
Howdy all, This is my first attempt to produce a blog on schedule. So, what’s been happening? Well, it seems to be the same old. The routine continues. I have managed to sneak out for one fishing trip, having decided one evening that the weather the next day was just too good to pass up […]
The new year is in full swing. We were able to have a few days away at the end of January, which was great when the summer weather finally arrived. The household is getting back into the routine of school, uni, and working, but to mix things up we are also on the move. We […]