February 12th 2009

North Canterbury farmer has found answer to dry conditions

Despite experiencing the driest 2 years on his North Canterbury hill country farm, Dave Hyde is still smiling and will be for some time.  And why wouldn't he be?  This season passed he had a record number of lambs born with over half of them off to the works before Christmas and finishers offering strong prices to take the rest.

David found his answer 5 years ago when he began looking for a breed which could reach early maturity in the face of dry conditions.  "I had farmed Corriedales for some years but I lost faith in the wool industry and was struggling to find finishers," says David.  "Initially I was skeptical about what I would find having believed Corriedales were the best at handling our dry conditions but I was convinced I needed to switch to a breed which would maximize my lamb return.

David took his time to make his decision to switch.  "I did my homework, went to field days, asked about the breeding programmes and ensured the selection pressure was up to scratch.  The Finn component appealed to me because of our unreliable autumns but my mind was made up when I saw a Highlander® ewe running 3 lambs on tussock at a Rissington Breedline field day.  I was pretty sure then that the breed would stack up."

For the last 5 years David has put Highlander® and Primera® rams over his ewe flock and with his Corriedales all but weeded out, he will switch to an all terminal system this coming season, buying in Highlander® 2-TH replacements.

"I noticed the difference Rissington Breedline rams made straight away and quickly dispelled the myth that only Corriedales could handle the dry.  Sure they challenge me but I am prepared to fill the feed gap when I need to because I am confident I will get the return."

"A ram is the cheapest investment a farmer can make.  If you don't have the money, you have to find it because the rewards are there for money spent on a good ram."

David Hyde farms Inverloch with his son James, a 1,220 ha predominantly hard hill country property at Scargill, North Canterbury.  The operation hosts 8,500 stock units including 5,000 ewes (predominantly Highlander®), 1,100 replacements, 500-800 carry-over lambs, 150 Stabilizer® cows, 130 Stabilizer® rising 2-year olds and 135 Stabilizer® yearlings.

 

How to ensure the efficiency of your cow herd

Profitable beef production is a balancing act of inputs. Profitable cattle producers are the ones who are able to maximise output while simultaneously minimising inputs.

Each cow in your herd must have a calf, lactate, rebreed within 90 days of calving and wean her calf at an acceptable weight every year in order to earn her keep. This is your foundation to an efficient cow herd in any profitable cattle operation, regardless of what market you are aiming to supply.

The 3 key traits to select for are:

1.     Reproduction efficiency.  This is the most important trait to aim for in a profitable cow herd because commercial farmers simply can't afford to run an empty cow through for another year.

The tools or EBV's that highlight this vitally important aspect of breeding are the Self Replacing Index in Angus or the Profit Index in Stabilizer.  Always check this out and compare with the breed average. 

Because many stud operations don't see it like this, it is critical you choose a partner who supports your selection criteria.

2.     Yearling heifer fertility.  Heifers that will cycle and conceive early are paramount to any profitable operation.

The use of scrotal EBV's have now been surpassed by heifer pregnancy which is incorporated in the SRI$ and the Profit Index. By using just scrotal circumference you may end up inadvertently selecting for larger framed animals. The bottom line is heifers need to get bred and calve around their second birthday.

3.     Stayability or longevity.  Research in the US has shown that a cow must produce at least five calves to pay for the costs of development and maintenance of that productive female.  Nutrition of course plays a key role in all of this, but it is important to make breeding decisions that will yield low maintenance females for the foundation of your cowherd.

Condition scoring and weighing at weaning of cows helps with the all important Maintenance Energy (ME) along with the milk EBV as generally the high milking cows have a higher maintenance energy.  Feed and pasture costs account for over 60% of total annual cow costs so provided the growth and carcass traits are similar between bulls it makes good sense to use the ME EBV as help in your final decision. Environments differ markedly as do seasons and the big framed high milk producer doesn't work in harsh conditions. She may produce a top calf one year but then fail to get in calf the next.

The only way to ensure the long term profitability of the beef industry is selection for economically relevant traits.  The simple way is to use the Self Replacing Index or Profit Index as your guide.

 

Phosphorous is not cost-effective on hill farms at presen

Article supplied by Steve Taylor, Summit Quinphos

The message from Summit Quinphos this summer is brutally honest, at $500/tonne ex plant, or $100-$120/ha applied just for maintenance, the cost of superphosphate will be not justifiable to most hill country operations.

The risk of withholding phosphate will only cause the Olsen P level to drop by two points a year, which may cause pasture production to fall by 200kg/ha.  Expressed another way, the relative yield of that pasture could be expected to slip over four years of nil phosphate from 93% to 88%, which would not be production limiting.

What would be production limiting is Sulphur, and Summit Quinphos strongly recommend that in the absence of capital fertilizer or even maintenance phosphate this year, hill country farmers continue to apply Sulphur. 

Witholding sulphur however would drop the relative yield from 93% to 80% in one year, followed by a more gradual decline to 77%.  In drymatter terms that could be 1.3 to 1.5 tonnes/ha loss of pasture production in the first year and that certainly would be limiting the meat and wool production.

Sulphur is very difficult to raise to optimum levels in the soil and pasture production could drop substantially in one year if sulphur is withheld.  Based on current product prices, sheep and beef farmers need their additional feed at 20-30c/kg DM grown.

Summit Quinphos suggests if money were a restricting factor, a safe method of applying sulphur by air is necessary and for that reason it is mixed with phosphorus or N.  Safe and economical sulphur application technology has moved forward considerably and technologies can now be used to apply annual sulphur requirements for less than $8 per stock unit in most situations to drive pasture production in this current challenging financial environment.

For further information or a sulphur impact interpretation specific to your farm, please contact Steve Taylor, Summit Quinphos on 021 970 371.

 

What is the average age of your ram battery?

When times get tough we can all be guilty of dodging some of the simple questions we know we have to face, especially when cash could be involved.  More often than not if we stopped and faced up to it, it would be clear that we were defying our own logic.

Despite knowing that genetic gain is the foundation to a productive and profitable farm, it is apparent that many farmers in New Zealand are taking a major sidestep on facing up to the average age of their ram battery.  Delaying the replacement of rams is dangerous thinking.  Here's why:

Based on the genetic trends for Rissington Breedline's breeds alone, we calculate that you could be losing $826 per ram* in lost productivity.

The loss in productivity is so big because the improvements breeders can make year on year is significant.  Take Highlander®, it's genetic merit has increased by an average of 42% every year* since 2003. This means every year you choose not to replace a ram, the value of your genetics slips 42% behind where it could be.  Can you afford for your ewe flock to be this far behind? 

Until now the most common barrier to replacing rams has been cash flow.  You know you have to outlay cash and wait months before the return comes in.  Think again - our rams are going for nothing until 2010!  You've read right, we have put together a package for you so you don't have to pay anything until January 2010.

*Over $800 is based on the difference between a 2008 and a 2005 Highlander® ram mating 260 ewes in its lifetime.

 

Toxoplasma and Campylobacter a reality for all farmers

Article supplied by Mike Stephens, Intervet/Schering-Plough

If you think your farm is free of Toxoplasma or Campylobacter then think again.  A recent nationwide survey found Toxoplasma was present on all farms tested, with Campylobacter on 90%. 

Whether it's the small, unrecognised losses that continually undermine lambing performance, the birth of weak lambs that fail to thrive, or sudden abortion storms - these diseases can significantly affect your productivity.

Mike Stephens, Intervet/Schering-Plough, says ‘Toxoplasma and Campylobacter are the two major causes of losses due to abortion.  It would be remiss of any farmer to compromise their lambing programme by not having a plan in place to avoid it."

He recommends implementing an effective vaccination programme and says that every 1st time breeding ewe should receive 1-shot of Toxovax® and a 2-shot programme of Campyvax4® prior to mating.  More information on both these vaccines can be found at http://www.intervet.co.nz/ and http://www.spah.co.nz/, along with other helpful tools concerning sheep performance.

More news from Intervet/Schering-Plough:

 

See us at Farmarama, South Island Field Days and Central Districts Field Days

Southerners, we will be at Farmarama on February 26 and 27.

Cantabrians, we will be at the South Island Field Days on March 25 to 27.

North Islanders, we will be at the Central Districts Field Days on Stand H18 (near the Swazi and Ballance tents) March 12 - 14.

This is a great opportunity to see our latest Primera® rams and Highlander® ewe lambs for yourself.  We look forward to catching up with you there.  

North Canterbury farmer has found answer to dry conditions