The end of another weekend is nearing, and I am home from open homes and theatre practice. Too early to relax in the chair as Sam is still milking and I get the guilts if I’m relaxing and he is working. I can’t admit to those same guilts affecting me if Bev is working around […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Waitangi Day, 2018. Yet another day off! Yay! The long, lazy, hot days of January have been and gone, along with the bliss of social holiday gatherings with food and drink, day trips and holidays with food and drink, unstructured and unplanned days around the pool with food and drink, family gatherings with…… And so […]
December 21st, it’s the longest day of the year as far as my limited knowledge on this subject goes. And I must say, I’m really pleased that it is because it means that I finally get a chance to sit at my computer and type a few bloggy words. Kinda makes sense doesn’t it? These […]
Generally every year something in our farming system is new – “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” as they say. Whether it’s been OAD milking, feeding veggies, putting in Protrack or moving off the farm – nothing stays the same. Last year we bought the runoff; this year we have new managers starting and we have also […]
The sound of rain falling on the dairy shed roof as I milked this morning was a welcome tonic and one which gave me a much needed boost as mid-summer slowly but steadily approaches along with the prospect of El Nino conditions. To be fair, the weather during the last month or so has been […]
Spring is here or is it not, sometimes cold and sometimes hot. Grass is growing, open the round, next bloody minute it’s slowing down! Fickle spring weather here again, a mix of sunshine, wind and rain. Have to monitor what’s going on; eye off the ball and it all goes wrong! Regular farm walks are […]
The new run off Well, Frostie finally got his dream run off for the farm. We have been looking for a support block since we moved back to the North Island in 1999 as Brian loves to be able to have control of all the stock. We have had some success with grazing stock out, but also […]