Alliance Group has no
intention of altering its policy of
accepting ram and cryptorchid lambs up to
twelve months old. Results of the farmer
owned co-operative's study during the past
year confirm there is no difference in the
eating quality of the meat from 17kg-19.5 kg
carcaseweight (CW) entire, cryptorchid or
wether (castrated males) lambs.
To read
the article please click on the link below.
Alliance is working with AbacusBio to develop a carbon and energy audit,
and bench-marking system, to help sheep, beef and deer farmers assess their emissions.
To read
the article please click on the link below.
Peter O'Neill is part of
the County-Wide 2009 review. In his February
2009 article he is urging
dairy farmers to stick to their original
budgets and either bank the increase in
payout or use it to pay off debt.
To read
the article please refer to page 6 of the
January 2010 Country-Wide Southern Edition.
Joanne
Kerslake is
currently finishing her PhD from Massey
University, where she investigated ways for
New Zealand farmers to improve multiple lamb
survival.
To read
the report please click on the link below
and go to page 17.
AbacusBio
managed a research programme for The
Alliance Group Ltd on genetics in a number
of meat quality traits. Meat samples where
sourced from the Meat & Wool New Zealand
Central Progeny Test animals. Meat quality
traits included meat colour, meat pH, and
some taste panel assessment.
To read
the report please click on the link below.
Trials
show technologies deliver real on-farm gains
Farmers are being
bombarded with new pasture and livestock
management tools, and it is difficult to
know which tools can make a real cost
effective difference.
AbacusBio has been
managing a two-year Farmgate Project to test
how various technologies can be integrated
on-farm and determine what value they add to
farming businesses.
In the project,
partially funded by New Zealand Trade and
Enterprise, six different technologies were
tested at James and Charles Reid’s 5300
effective hectare Otago farm, Traquair
(pictured). The Reids run 22,000 ewes, 850
cows and 600 hinds on the Lee Stream
property. They finish all their own stock
and cattle.
In their final report,
AbacusBio consultants Neville Jopson, Simon
Glennie, Jack Cocks and Tim Byrne said there
have been significant benefits from the
integration and use of the tested
technologies
‘There are measurable
benefits in improved drafting of livestock
for processing, faster and more informed
decisions are made on feed allocation, and
the understanding of breeding stock and
overall performance has improved.’
The technologies had
also helped with communication on the farm
between farm owners and staff. This helped
in making decisions more quickly and
accurately.
‘We estimate the return
on investment to steadily increase over time
as the use and integration of these
technologies into the management system of a
farm are further refined.’
When combined, the six
technologies returned 18 to 36 percent of
their investment each year.
Savvy Pasture Management
The Reids tested farm
management software Farmax to plan and
budget feed in conjunction with soil
moisture and temperature data collection
system Aquaflex.
Based on soil moisture
and temperature data, the Reids had accurate
data on current and future pasture coverage,
which meant they could better control stock
on hand and determine what stock they were
capable of raising.
With a highly variable
climate, and rapid changes between seasons
from a hot dry climate to cold, wet climate,
the Reids walk a feed tightrope through the
drier months.
James Reid says
Aquaflex helped them realise the intensity
of the 2007 drought, and make more informed
decisions.
“(We were) skimming
along the 15 kilo carcass weight,” James
said.
Using the data from
Aquaflex and inputting it into the Farmax
software the Reids “never considered growing
lambs to 18 kilos because there was never
going to be enough pasture growth to get
them to those weights”.
With an added value of
50 cents per lamb, but at a cost of only 12
cents per lamb, the consultants and the
Reids found Aquaflex an incredibly valuable
and cost effective tool. Using modelling,
AbacusBio consultants estimate it would add
about $1 per lamb in a wet season.
Farmax showed
the Reids would not have enough pasture for
Spring.
Farmax is a management
system for tracking how a farm is operating,
and modelling scenarios from a feed and
animal growth perspective. Farmers normally
use the tool with the assistance of a
consultant. Farmax allowed the Reids to ask
what changes would add value to the farm,
and what cut-backs should be made.
James Reid says that
the good thing about Farmax is that it “will
tell you in various scenarios and stocking
rates what the average farm should be
growing. That is then modelled in and with
your regular monthly pasture cover, compiled
with the stock on hand (and stock that are
left) you’ll get a reasonably accurate
picture of what grass is being grown.”
Using the tool, farmers
build up data over the years so they can
view trends and variations which allow them
to plan. With Farmax, farmers can also
benchmark the different enterprises they
have on farm to determine where they are
making the most profit. They can also
benchmark against other farms in the Farmax
database to see where their strengths and
weaknesses lie. By comparing their data with
other deer producers, the Reids could see
there were issues with their policies.
The Reids said although
Farmax had not led to any dramatic policy
changes, it had stimulated good discussion
on policy matters. It was a valuable tool
for making tactical long-term decisions,
based on a greater understanding of pasture
growth on the farm.
Farmax and Aquaflex are
“tools to help you in a non-drought year as
much as in a dry year” and allowed them to
record the “history of what the place is
capable of growing”. The strength of
Aquaflex in a dryland system is that it
helps you understand what the farm
limitations are and to predict the likely
effects on production of various livestock
management scenarios.
Charles Reid said these
technologies make better all round
management possible, and can help improve
and drive future business growth.
Healthier and more profitable
livestock
Four livestock
management technologies were evaluated as
part of the project: Allflex electronic id (EID)
tags, Tru-test scales, Racewell drafting
system and Pfizer DNA testing. The Reids
found using these technologies together
allowed them to assess their livestock more
accurately and improve their value.
By using the Allflex
EID tags in conjunction with Racewell
drafting system, farmers can automatically
draft stock using various selection criteria
such as ID number. Farmers could also draft
animals based on weight at the same time by
placing Tru-test scales in the race.
‘The reason we went to
the Tru-test monitor was you can get far
more information out of the unit than we had
been able to receive before, as in the
liveweight gains of animals,’ said James.
The main benefit of
using the Tru-test and Racewell systems
together was “reliability and accuracy”
compared to drafting by eye. The systems
were user friendly and fast. They were able
to weed out poor performers, split ewes by
weight and feeding requirements and monitor
weights of replacement females and of
breeding ewes. However, traditional methods
are still needed, “taking the animal’s
condition and its potential into account”.
An added advantage of
the drafting system for farm manager Brendon
Wilson was “they did not have to risk injury
putting their arms among the stock”.
The system allowed them
to review both historic information and make
predictions to determine how many days it
would take for animals to reach a preset
carcass weight, making it easier to book
space at the meat company at the right time.
AbacusBio consultants
Simon Glennie and Neville Jopson found
automated weighing and drafting based on
liveweights, results in an increase of 75
cents per lamb at a $63 lamb price and $7.75
per steer at $900 steer price.
The Reids found the EID
tags were reliable and were a good size for
visibility. However, in sheep, they found
the tags to be impractical and expensive,
because they allowed only animals in single
file through the race and their cost per tag
could not be recouped. The tags would need
to cost $1 or less to be worthwhile. The
Reids will not be using them in the future.
Neville said the EID
tags came into their own in cattle and
proved highly valuable in a trading
situation. The Reids purchased 1,000 steer
calves, 50 each from 20 different vendors.
Using EID the Reids identify the bottom 10%
vendors and replaced them with two vendors
supplying ‘average’ cattle, resulting in
$11.40 extra for each steer sold, at a cost
of $5 per steer.
Pfizer DNA testing to
establish parenting in rams, in conjunction
with other breeding technologies, found
surprising results. Three of the eight rams
did not produce offspring, with huge
variations in the index of the other five.
More trials are needed, and this would
likely be best achieved through a national
integrated database like SILACE.
Farmax benchmarking
effective: by comparing against other farms
the Reids learnt they could get better
performance out of their deer pen.
Sheep and beef farmers are conspicuously
quiet as the promised improvement in lamb
prices have come to fruition. Combined with
a good growing season in many areas, farmers
appear more at ease. In stark comparison
dairy farmers are looking once again at
shaving cost out of their operations as they
grapple with a sharply fluctuating commodity
price. The sheep operators who have sown
more winter feed crop with the intention of
diversification into winter grazing dairy
animals will no doubt be concerned as dairy
farmers wait the price down
Feeding
dairy stock
There is a degree of trust involved in
assigning responsibility for capital
livestock to a stranger. In most
situations, the grazier realizes the
responsibility and puts in place a feeding
regimen that meets the needs of the stock
class at hand. In some situations, the
graziers, either through lack of knowledge
or appreciation of the nutritional needs of
a dry dairy cow, fail to meet expectations.
In most cases, the feeding system can be
discussed between the parties along with any
potential issues. There is a peace of mind
for dairy farmers where a grazier can
describe the area and yield of crop, along
with supplements on hand and how this
relates to feed intake they expect to
deliver to the cows.
Graziers are also exposed where cows arrive
in very light condition. Light condition
cows require more feed to maintain and are
most likely to be the root of issues later
in winter. Some contracts set out the
initial condition of cows and allow for
graziers to return very poor condition cows
prior to embarking on the contract. There
should be a consensus between parties at the
outset as to the condition of the cows and
if needed involve a third party as
insurance.
Brassica
Club root
There have been reports that club root has
affected many brassica crops in Otago and
Southland. One of the issues with club root
is that it can go largely unnoticed until it
is too late to effectively replace the feed
lost. Badly affected crops offer greatly
reduced yields and can be very disruptive to
winter plans, particularly with heavy
reliance on brassica as a base feed.
Rape scald
There have been reports of animals suffering
from rape scald after grazing on rape crops
after the recommended period of ripening.
Rape scald is often wrongly blamed on high
Nitrogen content in crops. Nitrate toxicity
is most often associated with sudden death
whereas rape scald describes the damage
caused usually to ears and backs of shorn
animals. The skin becomes photosensitive
due to plant compounds in the animals blood
stream. Blisters and cracks provide an
environment for maggots to flourish and
animal performance declines. Usual practice
to avoid rape scald is to wait until leaves
mature which has been 90 days. As we know,
maturity dates differ in different
environments and a strict adherence to the
calendar may see crops grazed prior to being
sufficiently mature.
Pasture sowing
The
unsettled Autumn period has made harvesting
cereal crops difficult, with damp soil
conditions and heavy dews reducing the
harvesting window. There is a drive to
utilize the crop area by sowing to pasture,
however the late sowing date affects the
ability of clover to establish and thrive.
Short rotation grasses offer the benefit of
establishing and providing an active pasture
in early spring, expanding the pasture
platform at lambing time. Short rotation
pastures can provide a high quality pasture
to kick start finishing cattle in spring so
that finishing dates can match with peak
schedule periods. Another quick fix option
is to stitch in a cereal to provide feed in
late winter and spring. The downside is the
need to return to the paddock in Spring in
order to establish a permanent pasture.
Key Points
Within dairy grazing
arrangements, keep open and honest
communication lines and ensure
expectations are discussed at the outset
Keep an eye on
brassica crops for the presence of
disease such as club root and plan for
the effects on available feed.
At this
time of the season, those of you who are
keen hunters may be focusing on shooting a
trophy stag, or getting a bag of ducks on
opening weekend, but the
Autumn period is a good time for people to
sit back and examine their businesses and
set budgets, both financial and physical,
for next season.
Having a business plan in place can make
this job easier.
A
business plan should:
1.State your goals and objectives in
the short term (<2yrs), medium term (3-10
years) and long term (> 10 years).
2.Include a historical analysis of the
business both financial and physical.
3.A SWOT analysis of the business i.e.
Strengths and Weaknesses, which are internal
factors that attributes of the business
itself; and Opportunities and Threats, which
are factors expected to be present in the
environment in which the business operates.
4.A strategic plan which sets out the
overall direction of the business and the
primary targets and objectives.
5.Operational plan; which explains how
you intend to deliver on the plan and the
key monitoring you need to do.
I
think it is important for all business to
have a plan as it gives you a frame work to
go by.
Remember the business plan must be updated
regularly as you achieve the goals set, and
your circumstances change over time.
All
your budgets should be geared towards
achieving the goals and targets set in this
plan.
Finally good luck to those keen duck
shooters, and don’t forget when you get home
to sit down and examine your business.
