Thistles galore

With the drought leaving open pastures and the days being warm (till just recently), it has been optune thistle growing environment.  Our troublesome thistles include nodding, scotch and california predominantly.

We have a policy here to spray (when able) in the winter when the thistle plants are small on a biennial basis.  We do this with a helicopter  (http://www.heliworxwaikato.co.nz/index.html) and today happens to be that day. 

This mornings regime consisted of a stroll outside before 5am to see if there is any wind and await the pilots call at 5am.  This morning there was no breeze about the house so set the wheels in motion.  Then at 6am, another call from the pilot to check the tops, so off I headed decked out in warm clothing to the top yards on the ATV where a slight SE wind was detected, but we decided to give it a go.

7am the ground crew arrived, whilst the pilot had to wait for daylight to set off and arrived just after 7.30am.  First off we got to have a joy-ride, which is hardly that for someone who doesn't like heights.  With map in hand, we flew around all the main thistle areas targeting stock access ways, key grazing areas with high thistle populations.  I took my camera but was so encrossed in the blocks and pointing out the key areas that for a large part I forgot to use it!

Back at paddock site, the chopper was filled, and set off for his spraying run (8 ha at a time). We had completed 32 ha when the wind started to get up, so we temporarily called it quits. Managed a second flight up with a focus on taking more photos and Mal got to come this time, whilst the tanks were washed. 


Heliworx filling up with first load

Heliworx chopper heading off with first load

View from Woodleigh Road north

View from back country looking south-east

 


Te Herehere Falls

 The thistle germinates in autumn and forms a rosette during winter, which bodes well for a plant to produce flowers (which we don't want).  The open pastures formed by the drought are key areas for the thistle to make themselves at home, with nodding thistles germinating within the two months after a drought (which broke mid-April, meaning most should have germinated by now).  Therefore, spraying after the drought should have an economic benefit.

The reason we focus on removing the key thistle patches is that when thick, especially in key grazing areas they can reduce the growth rate of stock by the lack of pasture able to be consumed and in some instances can cause scabby mouth.  The other main reason is for stock movement which can be limited especially around tracks and gateways.

Spraying now when the thistle plants are small, also coincides with clover not being active, causing less damage.

If you want further information on weeds, check out the PestWebNZ (http://www.pestweb.co.nz/index.php). You can register to get regular updates. 

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Post Drought Management

Just thought it was worth sharing some information that we found useful coming out of the drought. 

It was unfortunate really that this information was not available through NZ websites and industry and that we had to access this information from an Australian site.  Much of the information written up during and at the end of the drought was written largely around dairy farming, although some principles have parallels in both drystock and dairy.

Beef + Lamb NZ does offer the Dry Management Toolkit, which by in large talks about what is happening during the drought with little content about 'after' the drought. 

Factors that are talked about are:

• Stress - the need to talk about the situation with those close to you and also outsiders and to get off farm to realise that you are not alone and others are suffering too.  One of the most frustrating and upsetting thing for a farmer is the inability to feed their stock.  Most of us are farmers because we enjoy working outdoors and with animals, with that in mind and the fact that the animals are the source of our income, it can become quite distressing. 
• Making decisions early - having information and planning is key in a drought year, knowing what your feed profile is, what supplement you need and what stock need to go so that you can survive is key to the farming operation.  There are many operations with good records and information, but there are many without, and sitting and hoping and praying in a bad year will not pay dividends.
• Financial Support - whilst the government declared a drought in many areas of NZ this year, it does not relate to direct financial assistance.  It does provide assistance through the Rural Support and consultant support if required.   Most of the subsidies available do not 'fit' the new farming families, therefore these are not taken up readily.  This year, the IRD has allowed a review of the Income Equalisation account to assist farmers that had profits last year and are looking at losses this year.
• Feeding - the need to maintain intakes during the drought as much as possible, and following immediate rain to continue to do this to allow covers to grow and to give the plant a chance to grow.  There is plenty of information around feed allowances and different types of feed available and at what rates.
• Animal Health - there is some discussion around animal health, in relation to feed intake, worms etc but felt there was less specifics about some of the things to look out for.

The types of information that were lacking in NZ publications was the emphasis and understanding of what happens when the drought has broken and how vulnerable stock can be especially if they are under condition and the wet brings cold as well.  Animals will generally have a lower immunity, especially if under conditioned.  They will have to adjust to changing feed whether it be supplement or changes in the pasture itself and they may be suffering from vitamin and/or mineral deficiences.

Following the drought period, whilst grass growth has been pneominal this year, there has been low  nutrient and high moisture levels in the pastures and many animals have suffered.  Stock at this time exert more energy to get a mouthful and can loose weight.  Some things to watch for include:

• nitrate poisoning - fast growing plants, especially in an overcast environment will have a build up of nitrate levels and if hungry animals are moved they can gorge themselves, which can lead to nitrate poisoning.
• handling stock in poor condition can put stress on their systems and can collapse or even die.
• metabolic diseases in pregnant animals.
• increased access to poisonous plants that might seem appealing to hungry animals.

Things that you can do:

• make sure the animals are up to date with all their animal health treatments for both internal and external parasites.
• ensure additional vitamins and minerals are given if necessary (may be an idea to take bloods and/or samples at works) to ensure what these levels are.
• provide alternative feed and be prepared for stock to loose weight as they adjust to any new feed, including the new pastures post drought.

It is possibly too late now for this drought, but there are still some things for us to work on.  With cull ewes off to the works this week, we will be evaluating bloods to make sure all are acceptable.  All the animals have been on a higher than usual anthelmentic programme with the increase in worm population, especially Barbers Pole.  Most of our stock, whilst in good condition early April, lost condition following the rain for a 2 - 4 week period as the pastures have grown and the stock have adjusted to the change.

Scanning Update

A wet Sunday afternoon, a quick update on our sheep scanning that we did on 29th May.  We managed to get all our sheep shorn, thanks to the covered yards (now a year old!).  We did things a bit different this year, shearing Mixed Age (MA) and 2-tooths from the home block first on 21 - 22nd May and then shore the Terminals from the other block on 26th May.  Shearing went without a hitch, except for the ability to get the wool out of the shed.  With two bikes and two trailers, shifting 4 bales at a time, we managed to load out the 22 bales with relative ease.

Things certainly turned in May, from the dry in the proceeding months (157 mls Jan - March) to 145 mmls in April and 280 mls in May (110 mls more than we had in any other May in the last 5 years).  Another 40mls to add to the June rain chart things are starting to get soggey underfoot.

29th May we scanned all the ewes in one day rather than two separate days as we had done in the past.  The general wider talk is that scanning percentages will be back based on the drought experienced.  We were grateful that our scanning faired well, with the Terminals and MA ewes scanning the same as last year and our 2-tooths were up 18%. 

Taratahi Students and others helping out at scanning

The ewes got a dose of Cypercare as they went up the race.



The ewes were in good condition going into tupping at around 64kg and 3.5 BCS, only a tad back on previous years.  During tupping they largely held condition through the two and half cycles to 12th April when the rams came out.  The drought broke mid-April and with the rapid growth of the pastures, stock have struggled since then, so at scanning some of the ewes were back on condition. 

We have taken the skinny 2-tooths, with a focus on the twinners and treating them a bit better.  We have added grain to their diet to boost them along.  Not always an easy  thing to get sheep initially interested to grain and as a result we have lost 2 sheep, out of 200.  And to keep numbers up in our terminals we have taken some MA singles down to the terminal mob.

Twin bearing 2-tooth ewes eating barley out of the feeder and hay off the ground following scanning.

So why were the 2-tooths up?  It wasn't to do with their condition, as on the whole they were probably lighter than last year as we had a higher number in lamb as hoggets last year.  We did put teaser rams out for the first time, as we had high dries last year.  So pleasing that we dropped that from 7% to 3%.

Whilst grass has grown, feed on the farm is still tight.  Currently in the process of getting rid of the last of our lambs, before sorting out all  of the cattle before hunkering down for the winter, which so far has been wet and mild.