Well December and January has just raced away and we have lots to catch up as to what we have been doing. Hopefully we will get there eventually.
School started today, so a bit more 'our' time to spend in the office in catchup mode.
Currently we are having a run of what townies would call great weather ... no rain, not too much wind, and plenty of sunshine. Yesterday was no exception with not even a cloud in the sky. Temperatures reaching plenty close to 30 degrees. In farmers terms, things are getting dry! The place has certainly browned off in the last fortnight when we have had no rain. For January we are sitting at 34.5 mls with 140 mls being the average since being on the property. For many, this would be the return to normal late summer conditions.
We have carried a bit of extra feed through, so have plenty of cattle feed to fill them up, but no so good for putting on weight. All the weaners are due to be weighed next week, with all the lambs drenched and weighed also, so that will give us an indication of how well or not so well things are going. The mixed age ewes and 2-tooths have been through the yards the last couple of days. The majority appear to be in good condition 3.5 - 4.0 condition score. Whilst not rolling fat, it is now of high importance to not drop any weight ideally, with tupping being a month away.
The stock aren't particularly liking the hot weather, so there is some early starts and late finishes with some siestas during the day to make stock work a bit easier on us and the animals.
We had a pretty quiet Xmas/NYs as we were in the middle of shearing and lamb drafts. We have managed to escape for a week to the seaside, with the animals left on ample feed and a neighbour to look after the dogs, chooks and cat.
Now back to the grindstone, it is timely to review budgets. Sheep prices haven't been what most people had budgeted for, thanks to the meat industry reclaiming their losses from last year after paying us too much! Some of that expenditure such as fertiliser, might have to be capped unfortunately.
Over the next couple of weeks we will try and update you with summer happenings - generally a busy time for us down on the farm.
