Woow, what a season it has been. Rain, wind, sunshine, and for once we aren’t being driven back indoors due to the heat. The spring was a precursor to what I believe had to be the wettest start to the summer in a decade. Our own records show that this was the case, by the […]
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 […]
It’s a great relief to finally have made the decision and be able to talk about it now. YES, my parents and I are putting on a 50/50 sharemilker for next season 2023-2024. Has it been a hard decision to make…… NO. To be honest, there’s a combination of reasons but we feel this is […]
In my last blog I was talking about getting a third cut of silage. Well, the weather was good, so I started filling the second pit. I then managed a fourth cut, which I baled as it was off half the saved area. I saved the rest as standing silage and am just grazing the […]
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 […]
Mating this year has been a little better than in the past due to the great weather. Submission would be classed on the low side, at 85% after three weeks. I put nine cows on once a day and that certainly got them cycling. I have one cow not cycling now, so in all I […]
Although the cows are milking well not all things are going to plan. The submission rate was 85%, close but no cigar. I still have two cows that are reluctant to cycle and as I do not intervene, I will just have to be patient. The girls are holding at 1.8 to 1.9 kg MS […]
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 […]
For those who thought I had disappeared off the face of the earth I am still here, just turned into a bit of a hermit. I thought I had better update you on what’s been happening. Things have been plodding along since I last wrote. Seems like all I’ve done is the basic things that […]
It’s the end of November already and we have welcomed some stretches of sunshine – a fabulous change from what felt like constant rain (much to the kids’ frustration, wanting to get the boat out for skiing). The cows have certainly needed the sun and the great lift in the GDT has also been a […]