Country-Wide October 2021

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October 2021

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October 2021

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Country-Wide

October 2021

EDITOR’S NOTE Opinion

Care with changes

W

ILL WOOL MAKE A COMEBACK or not? That’s the question many farmers may be asking after seeing a brief rally in the price only for it to drop again.

A lot of the blame is being put on Covid-19 for choking demand and supply. The thinking seems to be that once Covid is overcome then buying and manufacturing will resume. That will happen when most of the world is vaccinated and variants of the virus are controlled.

Yet again initiatives and products have been launched to turn the ship around, but for some farmers the boat has sailed and they have turned to alternatives.

Options include treating wool as an animal health cost and at $9/kg, focus on meat. Produce more meat, lower the costs and improve the margins. It may be more lambs killed from the weaning draft, heavier lambs earlier.

Going finer or woolless may bring other problems such as lower fertility or lamb growth and animal health problems (see p135).

Or a farmer could do nothing and carry on as usual.

A woolless breed like Wiltshires seems best for hills or extensive operations where it is an easy-care sheep.

For intensive areas, higher-performing breeds justify the extra work and cost.

A friend’s Wiltshires behave like goats, flighty and hard to handle. They are hands-off sheep until they need to be handled.

However, unlike goats they are more resilient to worms and are undrenched except for the odd light one.

I was also reminded that Wiltshires are a maternal, not terminal breed.

Whatever the option, one issue which affects many farmers is drench resistance. Low faecal egg count sheep are available and maybe they will be the saviour, like facial eczema-resistant sheep. There are other ways to lower the worm burden and resistance such as upping the beef herd to hoover up the worms. That takes more management and a change in the system.

Perhaps growing pastures other than ryegrass and

clover rather than feed crops.

Whatever the policy, the farming operation needs to make a lot of money to withstand the threats like carbon forestry and the avalanche of Government legislation.

The successful farmers and agribusinesses I’ve observed tend to make incremental changes and gains over decades. They haven’t gone for wholesale changes.

I recall a bank farmer programme where farmer participants had to play a game of quoits. One point was earned for throwing a ring over the closest peg.

The further away the pegs the more points. Those who went for the close one-pointers beat those going for the big hits.

Successful farmers have tended to stick to the true and tried principles. They based their decisions on science.

Don’t forsake the scientifically proven for fads like regenerative ag (RA). RA is an insult to scientists living and past, upon whose great science New Zealand farming’s success is based.

Proven science has been ignored by the regenerative ag promoters.

Regenerative ag farming is degenerative farming.

The ones who can afford to practice it are those with little debt, are farming normally but call themselves regenerative or have off-farm income.

It is certainly not for the farmer servicing a high debt. A farmer would be better to use reflective farming (p18).

Anyway, there’s a lot of good oil in this issue, enjoy the read.

Terry Brosnahan Got any feedback?

Contact the editor: terry.brosnahan@nzfarmlife.co.nz or call 03 471 5272 @CountryWideEd

Next issue: November 2021

• Futuristic: What should the sheep of the future be?

• Benchmarking: A look at what makes the difference for top performers in the industry.

• Pressure off: A farming operation has become easier and more profitable.

Country-Wide

October 2021

• Hanging up the boots: After 30 years of

work on controlling a disease in sheep, the stalwart is retiring.

• Global warming: Why methane is not the problem.

• E-technologies: How they can be gamechangers for sheep and cattle farmers.

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166

Contents

FEWER BUT BETTER SHEEP NEEDED

120

EYEING-UP OPPORTUNITIES

A farming operation in the Rangitikei is focusing on meat with a little wool on the side.

82

TOUGHEST SHEEP IN NZ A Northland farmer reckons his are the toughest sheep in the country.

8 BOUNDARIES 11 HOME BLOCK

18

REFLECTIVE FARMING REGENERATES

A Canterbury station has scrutinised its business with outstanding results.

BUSINESS 18 22 25 26 28 31

Inverary Station scrutinises its business A niche sheep of the future Sheep dairy full on Succession: Clear vision, robust plan needed Testing time for new wool particle products Super star status beckons for strong wool

102

GET YOUR KNIVES OUT

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MARKETS 32 36 38 41

Lamb prices hit record levels India and Middle East: Good things take time High hopes for UK Christmas lamb Strong demand from China

MANAGEMENT 42 Focus on timeless principles 46 Early bird catches the worms

LIVESTOCK 50 63 64 70 82 90

Onfarm: Overcoming triple drench resistance Progeny testing: Resistant rams top performers Hill country: A good future in stores Tararua: Growing the business Northland: Toughest sheep in NZ Resistant, resilient lambs make similar gains

Country-Wide

October 2021

ANALYSIS

2021

92 More weight, more profit Country-Wide Sheep is published

by NZ Farm Life Media PO Box 218, Feilding 4740

96 What will the sheep of tomorrow be?

98 Exciting future for farming

ANIMAL HEALTH

General enquiries: Toll free 0800 2AG SUB (0800 224 782) www.nzfarmlife.co.nz

102 Post mortems: Get your knives out 105 To B12 or not B12 at tailing 108 Mixing it with sheep and cattle 111 Pre-weaning treatments can be crucial

Editor Terry Brosnahan 03 471 5272 | 027 249 0200 terry.brosnahan@nzfarmlife.co.nz

115 Drenching: Achieving balance 116 Shedding sheep: Reducing the workload 117 Reversing triple drench resistance 119 Plus equals assurance

EFFICIENCY 120 Eyeing-up Ezicare opportunities

32

LAMB PRICES HIT RECORD LEVELS

Publisher Tony Leggett 06 280 3162 | 0274 746 093 tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz

As restaurants start reopening lamb prices have recovered to reach record levels.

Sub editor Andy Maciver 06 280 3166 andy.maciver@nzfarmlife.co.nz

129 Condition major profit driver

GENETICS 134 What is wool’s future in NZ?

Design and production Lead design: Emily Rees 06 280 3167 emily.rees@nzfarmlife.co.nz

138 Breeding low-methane sheep 141 Ram selection: Value in taking your time 142 Breeding for worm resistance

Jo Hannam 06 280 3168

146 Obituary: Holmes Warren

Writers Anne Hardie 03 540 3635 Lynda Gray 027 465 3726 Robert Pattison 027 889 8444 Sandra Taylor 021 151 8685 James Hoban 027 251 1986 Russell Priest 06 328 9852 Jo Cuttance 03 976 5599 Joanna Grigg 027 275 4031

YOUNG COUNTRY 148 Finding the winners

WOOL 152 Profile: Wool’s colour and future is bright 157 Capturing the swing to natural fibres

CROP & FORAGE 158 Long grass farming a winner 164 What is an Agronomist?

ENVIRONMENT 166 Fewer but better sheep needed 171 And now, Freshwater Farm Plans 172 Calculator works out the numbers

EXTRAS

Partnership Managers Janine Aish | Auckland, Waikato, BOP 027 890 0015 janine.aish@nzfarmlife.co.nz

152

Angus Kebbell South Island, Lower North Island, Livestock 022 052 3268 angus.kebbell@nzfarmlife.co.nz

WOOL’S COLOUR AND FUTURE IS BRIGHT

Dan and Barbara Ramsden are moving on from the family’s farms.

Subscriptions nzfarmlife.co.nz/shop | 0800 224 782 subs@nzfarmlife.co.nz

174 Breeding: So you wanna be a stud?

178 Profile: Counting the beat

180 SOLUTIONS

So you wanna be a stud?

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NO

@CountryWideNZ

A BALANCING ACT Making your farm profitable and sustainable.

OCTOBER 2021

$12.00 incl gst

COVER BY: EMILY REES

186 FARMING

IN FOCUS

Tony Leggett | International 027 474 6093 tony.leggett@nzfarmlife.co.nz

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174

October 2021

Geneticist and farmer Nicola Dennis reflects on the breeding of valuable sheep.

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BOUNDARIES

WHERE’S THAT WOOL? As a Corriedale breeder it will come as no surprise that contributor James Hoban sees our ideal future sheep offering a profitable wool clip. His logic for this is wider than breed loyalty though.

Taking wool off sheep without a handpiece is extremely fashionable at present but how will that approach work when the lamb price crashes?

There is no immediate warning that a price crash is imminent but if it doesn’t happen at some stage that

would be unprecedented.

No matter how fast we grow lambs or how many we have, a pure meat breed is a one-trick pony. We need dual purpose sheep which can offer income from wool as well as meat to spread our risk, he says. We also need improved longevity, ease of handling and feed conversion efficiency.

• Next issue: What should the sheep of the future be?

Offsetting sheep and beef THE MOST SIGNIFICANT THREAT TO THE future of sheep and beef farming is rapidly becoming the emissions trading scheme (ETS), a Governmentestablished market for pricing carbon units generated by foresters and sold to emitters to offset their emissions.

At an auction early in September one NZ Unit, equivalent to one tonne of carbon, fetched $53.85, underpinned by demand from speculators.

The futures market subsequently hit $62.25/NZU, a price that will encourage a reduction in carbon emissions but also accelerate land use change to forestry.

Carbon income is a bonus for forest companies, but the community loses through fewer services, full time jobs and lower council rates.

Forests farmed solely to generate carbon credits are another level, socially and environmentally disastrous.

But they are economically viable and competitive at a time when sheep and beef farmers are enjoying a buoyant period of profitability.

It seems preposterous the Government has created a system where a carbon emitter can plant trees to offset their emissions and claim carbon neutrality.

There are many unanswered questions from this growing industry: the merits of a landscape blighted by pine plantations, the loss of food-producing land, the community and environmental impact of carbon farms?

Surely these issues warrant a debate?

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THE WAY WE WERE

Wagon-loads of bales of wool from Barbara Ramsden’s family farm, Moanaroa, near Dannevirke, are drawn by bullock team to the coast to be carried by whaleboat to a waiting coastal steam ship.

Dan and Barbara Ramsden tell their story to Country-Wide editor Terry Brosnahan as they retire from farming life.

• Page 152

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October 2021

DID YOU

KNOW ?

WINNER ANNOUNCED Retailer Big Save Furniture is proud to have been working with New Zealand farmers to produce this fantastic NZ wool sofa range.

Country-Wide teamed up with Big Save to celebrate their move by giving away a new Akitio chaise lounge valued at $4299 to one lucky new subscriber.

Congratulations to our winner, Arohiwi Station, Hawke’s Bay.

HILL COUNTRY AFFORESTATION TIP OF ICEBERG Analysts at global poverty prevention powerhouse, Oxfam, could be forgiven for saying “I told you so” after September’s NZ ETS carbon credit auction.

The NZX-run exchange saw the price soar beyond the Government’s target ceiling of $50/unit, with nearly 12 million sold at an average $53.85 each. It points to a surge in demand for credits as companies and Governments seek to offset, rather than actually reduce, emissions.

In August an Oxfam report* slammed such net zero strategies as greenwashing and warned the land-use change required would lead to mass hunger and displacement of people across the world.

Seems afforestation of NZ’s hill country is just the tip of an immense international iceberg. *Tightening the net: the implications of net zero climate targets for land and food equity.

MUD GLORIOUS MUD

THOSE HARDER SHOTS According to vets, the health consequences of animals in mud are surprisingly minor, except for cows calving in it. There is probably an increase in the incidence of hoof ailments but that is tiny. In grazing systems based on 48-hour or less shifts, often mud is a feature because of the stock concentration. There is no evidence of health problems in those.

It is with winter crops that stock end up standing in mud for long periods. But most of the negative aspects of this are perception.

Perhaps farming should spin it as a beauty treatment as it supposedly works for women.

JACINDA’S DRIVER The Prime Minister and her chauffeur were cruising along a country road one evening when an elderly cow loomed in front of the car.

The driver tried to avoid it but couldn’t – the elderly bovine was struck and killed.

Jacinda told her driver to go up to the farmhouse and explain to the owners what had happened. She stayed in the car making phone calls organising another lockdown.

About an hour later the driver staggered back to the car with his clothes in disarray.

He was holding a half-empty bottle of

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October 2021

The oldest recorded dog was an Australian cattle dog named Bluey from Victoria. Bluey worked cattle and sheep for nearly twenty years and was eventually put to sleep at the age of 29 in 1939. Bluey was clearly a trooper, but the record for the most unkillable dog goes to “Dosha” who was shot in the head by California police officers after she was run over by a car. According to Guinness’ book of records, Dosha’s body was sealed in a bag and placed in a freezer at a local animal centre. Some two hours later, Dosha was awake and upright to greet the next person who opened the freezer door.

expensive wine in one hand, a rare huge Cuban cigar in the other, smeared with lipstick and smiling happily.

“What happened to you?” asked Jacinda.

“Well,” the driver replied. “The farmer gave me the cigar, his wife gave me the wine and their beautiful twin daughters made mad passionate love to me.”

“My God! What did you tell them?”

The driver replied: “I just stepped inside the door and said: ’I’m the Prime Minister’s driver and I’ve just run over the cow’. The rest happened so fast I couldn’t stop it.”

A mob of deer close to home proved irresistible for one Canterbury family during lockdown. After a short stalk (by car) and extensive effort to keep fizzing children still and quiet, their father proceeded to miss a stag. He mentioned the howling wind, fading light, distance and even the scope in fairly quick succession.

Within a week another opportunity arose and his wife took the shot. From a similar distance, with the same rifle and without any prior adjustments she pulled off a perfect shot to shoot a smaller deer.

Previous excuses were undermined considerably. Fortunately, the youngest in the family piped up in support of his father, “deer never sit still like that for Dad, he has to take much harder shots.”

Family members are all still talking to each other but the father’s pride suffered a considerable dent.

9

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October 2021

HOME BLOCK Matata

Keeping sheep out of the sunset With more than 30 years of sheep farming behind him, Paul Burt hopes to see a halt in the decline of the industry.

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HEN YOU STICK AT SOMETHING long enough you witness a world of change. In 1988 farms were relatively cheap (ridiculously so in hindsight) but with interest rates at 20% my brother and I didn’t have enough capital to make the risk worth taking.

Lamb prices were depressed but we saw an opportunity in a big lease block and tendered for it on the basis of an all-wool, low-input policy.

Shearing costs were 10% of the value of a full fleece.

We made the shortlist but eventually missed out. The ROR was potentially very good but it’s crystal ball gazing to guess where a successful bid might have taken us.

It wasn’t too many years after that I attended a presentation about the economic potential for keratin powder made by reducing wool fibre to it’s base components. It was a surprise to see in last weeks’ press, the process being reclaimed as a breakthrough.

An optimist would say “Ah, but this time it’s different, the messages are changing and presently there is an appetite for a new SUSTAINABLE direction”.

To some extent this is true as the “green credentials” of nearly all activities are now part of the conversation. My hope is that the opportunities that arise from this redemptive approach will this time transpire into real cash for the industries involved.

It comes down to the quality of the decision making and the last word on this goes to Dr Thomas Sowell, a United States economist: “It’s hard to imagine a more stupid and dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong”.

Thirty three years later we are still farming sheep but they are much more productive sheep than those we started with. This change has been in response to economic, climatic and biological challenges that we have had to adapt to in order to

Country-Wide

October 2021

“It’s hard to imagine a more stupid and dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong”.

– Dr Thomas Sowell

keep sheep farming a viable part of the business.

Genetics has enabled us to overcome one of the biggest limiters to sheep production in coastal Bay of Plenty, facial eczema. The Coopworth Breeders Association were some of the first to selectively breed for FE resistance so that’s the way we went and now, despite the challenge getting worse our flock is 99% protected.

In parallel with animal health and fertility improvements we’ve learned to feed sheep to their potential. Our main performance indicator for the sheep flock is to maximise weight of weaned lamb per ewe. To get well on the way to a ewe’s body weight of weaned lambs means only replacements are carried over summer.

Simplicity dictates an all-grass system and keeping ewe BCS above 3.5 all year round and selling lambs store when prudence builds the necessary buffer into the system. A 50/50 sheep/cattle ratio is very beneficial for parasite and pasture management.

Sheep are a better stock class on steep slopes with light soils and around waterways that are impractical to fence. The higher intakes of breeding animals and their offspring allow much greater utilisation of rampant spring growth. The more of this that goes down the throat of an animal wintered the less risky and more efficient is the stock policy.

Because we are good at it and because so much of New Zealand hill country is ideal for sheep farming it will be a tragedy if the decline in the national flock is not halted. There will be no dramatic production gains to shield us this time.

The situation seems to rest precariously on the position of the Chinese in the sheep meat market. If this underpinning disappears and wool’s salvation is not timely, we could indeed be a sunset industry.

If the unthinkable happens and we fade into obscurity with distress and disappointment rife in the workplace, there will be one last thing to do. Feign hurt and indignation and demand a full apology with compensation.

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HOME BLOCK Oxford

Spreading the legs Sister act: Amy Hoogenboom clears up some column confusion.

D “...the only ‘significant’ man in my life has four legs along with an uncanny ability for eating money and turning it to shit.”

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ON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU read...as if you do, some of you may have been left to believe I have been leading a double life for many years. However, while Canterbury's winter may have seemed as wet as Southland's this season, there is no person I would trust less for Agri-nutrient advice for a farm than myself and the only 'significant' man in my life has four legs along with an uncanny ability for eating money and turning it to shit.

Thank you to all those that alerted me to the fact that my identity had been stolen. Well done to you clever cookies who worked out there was a minor misprint in the September County-Wide and that the column was written by my sister, Rachael Hoogenboom.

So just in case there is still any confusion Rachael is living in Gore (actually Lumsden since three weeks ago), works for Ballance Agri-nutrients and dates 'southern lad', Cameron. Amy is living in North Canterbury, works for Zoetis Genetics, yet to find a southern lad.

Now, what have I actually been up to? Well, not as much as I would have liked to have been this time of year, but lockdown has given me very little option to work anywhere else but from the home office.

It has been a great chance to tidy away a few bits of paperwork before the new DNA testing season begins but has presented some challenges in discussing results with clients in which I would most often have an onfarm meeting. Luckily, the farming folk of New Zealand are now just as accustomed to a chat over a Zoom call as they are to one over a cuppa tea at the table, which has enabled many of my onfarm visits to be shifted to online without too many hiccups.

Lockdown hasn’t been all bad though, on the days where it has been fine, sunny, and the old nor’west wind is not swirling clouds of dust down the farm track and tossing the trees about violently I have been enjoying the opportunity to get out ‘spread my legs’ as per the Hon Chris Hipkins’ advice by taking the horse for a hack around the farm.

September saw the expansion of Amy’s bubble to include two rather glamorous yet gluttonous and often clumsy ‘locals’.

The reduction in alert levels to Level 3 in early September also saw the expansion of my bubble to include two rather glamorous yet gluttonous and often clumsy ‘locals’. I have had two kereru take up residence in the trees outside my office where each morning they enjoy gorging themselves on the new tree shoots, after which they spend the afternoon snoozing in the sun before flying home in the evening.

Pre-lockdown I had an awesome couple of days chauffeuring our new South Island Sheep Area Manager, also called Amy, and our North Island/ Sheep technical lead, Dayanne, around the North Canterbury region.

By golly, what an amazing team I’ve got to work with! I hope our clients enjoy us visiting and the conversations and ideas as much as we do!

While each of our farming clients are using DNA technologies to achieve different goals on their farms, they all very much share the same passion for understanding how we can help them reach these goals.

Looks like the old nor’west wind has dropped away for the afternoon, so I’m off to climb up some hills from the comfort of a saddle.

And remember, as William Shakespeare once said, “Don’t believe everything you read in the newspapers or on the internet”. Now read that last sentence again…

• Apologies, Amy. Hope we haven't fuelled any strained relations. You'd love Southland. – Editor.

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October 2021

HOME BLOCK Hill of Fearn, Scotland

Trees pressure land market Life is starting to return to something resembling normal in Scotland following the most recent Covid-19 lockdown, John Scott writes.

E

VERY TIME I SIT DOWN TO WRITE for this wonderful publication I scan my previous offering to see what I said, first to avoid repeating myself (seeing as I am losing memory as well as hair) and secondly to see if there are any common themes I can pick up on to keep you up to date on what’s happening.

Covid-19, for example, has been mentioned fairly often but I didn’t think for one minute as we ease nervously out of lockdown in the United Kingdom that New Zealand would be in lockdown with all the joy that that brings to a nation.

I say nervously because for us life has more or less returned to normal with the exception of foreign holidays, not a huge impact on me, although I do like a jaunt to Rome in the spring for the rugby and I like to find an excuse to visit your country once in a while.

Hang in there you will get through it, I dare say Jacinda will eventually extract the digit and get you all jabbed and back to normal.

Trade for sheep has remained between buoyant and “on fire” throughout our summer, I don’t think anyone predicted it but my word it’s been most welcome and shows little sign of easing.

With that in mind we haven’t pulled the ewe numbers back as drastically as we considered but have tweaked lambing dates to spread the workload.

I hadn’t really planned to lamb ewes again indoors in February but we have the setup for it and it will take the pressure off the main April lambing.

Anything older or with a broken mouth will be lambed early to a terminal sire with the view to cashing everything, lambs and ewes before the end of June.

Son James has produced the mating plan for this flock which I will follow as he skips off back to college in Edinburgh. With his younger sister Izzy heading even further south to do Agribusiness, it’s going to be a little quieter around the house.

It’s great that two of our kids are studying agriculture, there’s so much opportunity for their generation, hopefully they will continue to be

Country-Wide

October 2021

“We tried and failed to buy the neighbouring block which made £400/ ha more than anyone thought.”

inspired and will find fulfilling careers following further education and a bit of travel.

Not sure what the younger two Lexie and Archie will do yet, they have different interests and hobbies which may lead them to careers outside the industry. It’s really hard to tell at this stage but we may brainwash them yet now that the older two have jumped ship!

Our small area known as Easter Ross has recently seen not one but two farms on the market with another two allegedly available at the right price. We tried and failed to buy the neighbouring block which made £400/ ha ($NZ776) more than anyone thought. It sold for $NZ4656/ha.

It’s hard to compete with non-farming money and with forestry money now creeping down the hillside on to decent arable farms we find ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. Thankfully we have a bit of scale at the moment but with our lease due to finish on a hill block nearby I am a little concerned about the future and whether we can maintain what we are doing.

For me it’s about balance, surely at some stage our governments will realise that we need a balance between agriculture and forestry, there are plenty of areas suitable for trees without utilising good farms which have supported families for decades whilst producing food to feed the world.

Unfortunately, just like NZ, we seem to have a government in the UK which is becoming increasingly detached from rural industry. It’s great to share this common problem. If you find a solution please let us know.

Thankfully the Lions tour is over, as a passionate Scotsman I dared to dream that the rugby gods’ cunning plan whereby Finn Russell would come on to save the day by playing stylish creative rugby would come to fruition. Alas it was not to be and the series was another Warrenball fest where dull rugby was the theme, at least last time Sonny Bill helped even things up a bit.

I think we have now had our share of Gatland, please keep him busy especially in four years’ time, if you’re going to send us anyone send us Scott Robertson - we could use his creativity especially if Gregor Townsend were to move on.

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HOME BLOCK Owaka

Life is mud and a masseuse With a mild but very wet winter there’s been a lot of mud and massage for Suzie Corboy in the Catlins.

A “It was very pleasant to see a few days of sunshine in the first week of September to dry up the mud, get the lawns mowed before the normal rush of spring, calving and lambing etc...”

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All the speckles look like gold to Suzie Corboy.

UGUST 26, MY DAD’S BIRTHDAY, was the first day in two months I drove on the mud, not in it in the grazed swede paddocks. It was the day that the ”he who knows it all” husband admitted twice in 24 hours that he was wrong. All significant days this winter.

It has been a very wet winter here in Owaka, or at least a winter with lots of rainy days. More than one Owaka native has told us it is the muddiest winter they can remember.

Thankfully we started winter with very good swede crops so we have had 2000 ewes and 450 cattle on swedes so we did not pug up grass paddocks. The paddocks ex swedes are possibly going to need a bit more cultivation than normal to get them to a good, fine seedbed for sowing grass.

It was very pleasant to see a few days of sunshine in the first week of September to dry up the mud, get the lawns mowed before the normal rush of spring, calving and lambing etc, and to play with my new petrol pole pruner in the garden.

As readers of my last column might remember, we had a dry autumn so ewe body condition was not as good as we hoped at mating. This resulted in a drop of 10% from last year in our ewe scanning, and a large drop in hogget scanning rate, so this year is not going to be the year we are going to achieve our long-term target of 100% weaning from our hoggets.

This winter we have only managed to do minimal farm maintenance. A combination of break fencing on the swedes on the hill seemed to take forever, and us being rather slow getting out and about in the morning, and having longer

lunches than we used to. We don’t seem to have the energy or drive of our younger days, and the bank manager no longer keeps us on our toes like he used to.

As of early September we still have 125 in-calf heifers grazing swedes, their last week, and we are nearly finished transitioning the 325 yearlings and finishing cattle from swedes onto fodder beet. That paddock should feed these younger cattle into October.

I have been buying a few Speckle Park calves for the past three years, mainly just because I like to look at them, and have six due to calve this year. I will be eagerly waiting to see what their calves look like, and whether the Speckle markings are dominant, so we get some more heifers to mate in two years’ time.

With the daily job of feeding sheep and cattle, and Covid lockdown getting in the way, we have hardly left the farm all winter. Paul had a busy few days booked for the week that lockdown suddenly arrived. He was supposed to be out for dinner every night that week, but we all know why he only managed a couple of dinners.

I decided with all the stresses of winter, and a new lady who does massage moving to be very local to us, that I would have my first ever massage. I thought this would be relaxing, lying down, enjoying the pleasure of my problems being massaged away. Holy cow, I obviously didn’t read the small print.

Massage hurts. She did say my muscles were very tight, especially my left shoulder blade, but it was painful getting those tensions released and the next day wasn’t much better. I spent all day feeling the effects of that massage, but I will go back, maybe even before you read this.

Country-Wide

October 2021

HOME BLOCK Greytown

Great pasture production Good pricing

After the dry the deluge Fickle weather has been a challenge for Roger Barton setting up for the new season.

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HE WEATHER IS BEING CONTRARY and so is this farmer. Having had a dry autumn, we then ended up having 470mm over an eight-week period through the thick of winter. We don’t make much mud on our rocks but the gateways were getting smelly and we certainly would have been contravening the new pugging guidelines if it hadn’t been for my greywacke friends just beneath the surface.

Fast forward a month or so and I’m looking for moisture - 14mm later it can stop. We are lambing and fine is good!

It’s been a tight start to spring. A shabby autumn followed by the highest incidence of grass grub and porina caterpillar that we have seen for years has cost us some carrying capacity that’s for sure.

A paddock that had wonderful feed for weaning young cattle into, back in March, now has 25 single two-tooths in it versus a long-term stocking rate of 45 twinning two-tooths. Nature wields the levelling blow. In a season where prices are looking very positive, productivity is definitely compromised.

It’s hard to find the perfect three-legged stool.

Good pricing, charmed climate and great pasture production.

While we have been working hard inside the farmgate to set up the season I’m becoming less enchanted about things outside the farmgate.

Covid19 has just changed to level 2 as I write this, for that we can be thankful that we are classified as an essential service. Spare a thought for all other businesses with capital at stake and no income to keep the wolf from the door.

At a national level there is an increasing focus on issues such as climate change. I’m no climate change denier. I see it on this property with the rise of two weed species, Ink Weed and Cape Daisy that have really shown their power of establishment in the last few years.

But my intrigue with climate change goes further.

One Rod Carr is the “Climate change commissioner.”

He was recently in print lamenting his family’s monthly power bill of $800 per month. He has installed solar panels and moved to an electric

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“We either set the menu or end up on the menu.”

Charmed climate

vehicle (not a Hybrid Hilux I’m sure of that). I have no idea how someone who you might think would be thinking “energy efficiency” could burn $800 of electricity running a family home, apparently with kids having fled the nest.

Last month our power bill was $356, this month $317. In addition to the “family” aspect of the house this includes three electric fence units, two dog tucker freezers, water pumped into the house and septic pumped out to drainage lines plus of course intermittent use of the woolshed.

As my family will attest, I am prone to turning off light switches. We also recently perked a spa pool from a friend who was downsizing. This is the only frivolous piece of electrical equipment we run. Heat pump, installed for the needs of grandchildren (she insisted) runs irregularly and might clock up $16 a month from what I can figure. So how the hell does the one person who should be leading the pack on energy efficiency use $800 per month? Someone help me please.

The other off-farm activity I could have participated in recently was the Groundswell protest action focused on the plethora of government regulations bombarding us at the moment.

I’m not unsympathetic to the cause but back in 1986 TV One followed yours truly through the farmers’ march on parliament. A protest largely targeting the Lange/Douglas Government at the time that dealt quite a blow to farming with the very sudden withdrawal of subsidies.

I have a number of distinct memories of that day but there were two very deliberate acts by the media to hijack a particular comment I made and also a totally orchestrated piece of filming which in retrospect was blatant and misleading. My trust of the media has always been a snip tarnished because of this.

Some Groundswell participants were idiots and ruined a very salient message to central Government.

Has it made a difference? Will it need to strike again?

Time will tell but change isn’t going to go away and we either set the menu or end up on the menu. My paymasters live largely overseas and I’m listening to them.

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HOME BLOCK Hertfordshire, England

Niche operator Robert Hodgkins has found a niche on his Hertfordshire farm in England selling the Romneys to arable farmers as a means to control blackgrass and increase soil fertility.

S “We have sold a fantastic number of ewe lambs for breeding and have got a number of return customers so we must be doing something right.”

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Robert Hodgkins is finding a ready market for his Romneys with arable farmers wanting to clean up their paddocks.

HEEP FARMING IN THE UNITED Kingdom has been steady these last few months - lamb prices have never been better with fat lambs about £100 vs usual £84 average ($NZ195 vs $NZ164) and store lamb (trading lambs) prices hovering at £75-£80.

It has been an incredibly wet, dull summer and while the arable side has suffered with one of the longest harvests on records, it has meant grass growth has been incredible. We usually go very summer dry and lamb growth suffers. This year lamb growth has been much more consistent and we should have a large ruck of ewe lambs for tupping.

We have sold a fantastic number of ewe lambs for breeding and have got a number of return customers so we must be doing something right. We have found a niche selling the Romneys to arable farmers as a means to control blackgrass and increase soil fertility.

The Romneys are ideal in being a low-hassle sheep that will pretty much eat anything and survive with minimal shepherding - handy with arable farmers who don’t want to get off the quadtrac!

We DNA-recorded 500 ewes this year and sent the samples across to NZ again. Dayanne Almeida from Zoetis Genetics has been awesome in helping us sort that out, all our rams are now carrying at least a single copy of Myomax and we have 10-15 that are above 2200 SIL NZMW points. Still pretty poor by your standards but we are pretty new at this game and only been recording for three years or so.

We started with most rams at about 1500 points so we are making progress, I would love to congratulate myself but as usual there is a Kiwi actually doing the work. Big thanks to Jo Scott at Targeted Breeding, she is helping us steer the breeding programme and get us up to where we need to be.

Our targets for this year will be to drop out quite a few of the average-scoring recorded ewes and replace them with ewe lambs or shearlings. Jo has set us a target to ensure the average SIL score will be 1800 points. We are about 1300 points. I don’t think we

are going to quite make it this year but we will get close.

The target with Jo will be to start producing rams at the 2800-3200 range as quickly as we can. We don’t really sell rams but we have teamed up with the national sheep association and now give away five rams a year to young farmers just starting out.

We had a lot of help when we first started so it is nice to be able to give something back.

We have had a big challenge this year in the recorded flock. We had a bad dog attack where several were let loose chasing the sheep until they managed to bring down a couple of ewes that were butchered in the field then dragged back to the road.

Comparing scanning results to the number of dead lambs we picked up and how many we DNA tagged showed we were about 100 lambs short which we suspect were aborted after the attack.

As well as the obvious financial cost it has also hit our lamb survival EBV and skewed those results.

We plan to compensate by doing a few more 5K DNA tests. We have 30 free with the Zoetis package but I think we will try and do a few more which will hopefully level up some of the survival EBVs by basing them on genomic data as well as what was recorded. I will have to talk nicely to Dayanne and use all of my (limited) English charm!

The arable side is finally starting to fire on all cylinders. We are investing a lot in subsoiling most of the farm to get it in much better condition. It certainly needed doing as there are parts where a three-metre, seven leg subsoiler brought a 350HP Cat Challenger to its knees. This is all in preparation for our new strip-tilling system via a Mzuri pro-till drill.

Our farm manager Monty brought one of the first Mzuri drills to New Zealand a few years ago and raved about it so now he is in the UK it was one of the first things on his shopping list. Time will tell how successful it will be but we are very hopeful over the medium term we will see a reduction in cultivation costs without any yield penalties.

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IT’S TIME TO STEP UP FROM 5 IN 1 TO COGLAVAX8 VACCINE The health and welfare of our animals is really important to us, so we use products that achieve results Hayden Ashby

Livestock Operations Manager, Brownrigg Agriculture

STEP UP TO 8 IN 1 PROTECTION When you’re running big numbers of sheep and cattle… there’s one number you want to keep really low. And that’s unnecessary losses from Clostridial disease.

That’s why Brownrigg Agriculture have stepped up from 5 in 1 to Coglavax8 vaccine to protect against 8 Clostridial diseases present in New Zealand.

CEV0001 CW FP

O N LY AVA I L A B L E F R O M Y O U R V E T

coglavax8.co.nz Ceva Animal Health (NZ) Limited. P: 09 972 2853 ACVM No. 7528 References: 1. JS Munday, H Bentall, D Aberdein, M Navarro, FA Uzal &S Brown, Death of a neonatal lamb due to Clostridium perfringens type B in New Zealand, New Zealand Veterinary Journal 2020. 2. West, Dave M., Bruere, A. Neil and Ridley, Anne L. The Sheep, Health, Disease and Production. Auckland: Massey University Press, 4th ed., 2018. Print.

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BUSINESS

REFLECTIVE FARMING

REGENERATES Canterbury’s Inverary Station has scrutinised its beef and sheep business with outstanding results. Sandra Taylor reports.

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ohn Chapman calls it reflective farming.

The process examines every aspect of his hill country farming business, pulling it apart bit-by-bit to find the key to enabling the farm to reach its productive potential.

“If we look at our farms carefully enough, they have a lot that they are willing to tell us.”

John and his wife Anne farm Inverary Station, a 4250ha sheep and beef hill country property behind Mt Somers. Farm managers Bert and Kate Oliver are soon to join them in an equity partnership.

The farm, which runs to 1500 metres above sea level, carries 5500 ewes and 1600 hoggets, 800 breeding cows and 450 yearlings wintered.

Inverary is part of Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Hill Country Future’s programme which looks at future-proofing the profitability, sustainability and well-being of NZ’s hill country farmers, farm systems, environment and rural communities.

Several years ago, an irrigated flat land farm which had been used for wintering and finishing stock bred on Inverary, was sold and while this allowed further investment in Inverary, it also meant the hill country farm had to take over the role of finishing and wintering.

Not being a fine-wool property, income is entirely dependent on maximising the production of saleable meat.

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Selling light weaned store lambs in mid-summer was never going to be a viable alternative, John says, but lifting the productivity of the ewe flock was proving difficult with a relatively limited area of improved pasture.

There was debate about reducing ewe numbers, but the decision was made to retain existing ewe numbers and press ahead with an accelerated pasture development programme. “It seemed that our problem was not about having enough feed, but more about not having the right type of feed at the right time.”

“Reducing ewes was unlikely to improve that, in fact it could compound the issue.”

They decided to undertake an in-depth review of the property and livestock, looking at ways to drive productivity and profitability by taking a step-back and casting a critical eye on every aspect of the business.

John admits he was fortunate to be able to take the time to do this in-depth analysis with Bert taking care of the day-to-day management.

SWOT analysis He started with a SWOT analysis on every facet of the business, examining stock policies, tenure, fertiliser, finances, pastures and forages and other variables.

“We really examined the property from the bottom up.”

As long-term members of the StockCare

livestock monitoring programme, which includes condition scoring breeding stock eight times a year, they had good knowledge of livestock performance.

But their understanding of pasture production was nowhere near complete.

Because they wanted to use Farmax in their decision-making, they needed reliable pasture growth figures and that meant measuring it themselves.

About half of the property is extensive steep, low fertility, limited production high country, the balance includes cultivated river flats, glacial terraces and a mixture of improved and unimproved hill country.

John put out 35 pasture cages in representative areas of all these land classes and different pasture types. Over three years, pasture cuts were taken every six weeks, except over winter. These were weighed and dried at Lincoln University.

This information allowed John to develop a pasture growth profile across the entire property.

A seasonal balancing act For most NZ hill country, balancing feed supply with stock demand is a challenge, but particularly so in moist, cold South Island hill country and high-country environments.

John says the pasture recording programme highlighted the stark contrast between browntop-dominant hill country pastures and high fertility paddock areas in

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Above: John Chapman (left) and Bert Oliver aim to have 85% of their ewes at a BCS of 3 throughout the year. Left: Bert Oliver has been instrumental in implementing change on Inverary Station.

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spring and between grass and legume species.

“Every year we have too little feed in spring when we really need it and too much in summer when we don’t need it.

“By autumn and winter the surplus feed carried over is so unattractive and indigestible that stock can’t really use it.”

Farmax modelling showed that only about 50% of the feed grown on the hill was being utilised.

Pasture records showed that in spring, growth rates on the extensive pastures was only 10% that of the growth rates of developed pastures.

This highlighted how little feed there was for ewes in spring.

While they try and delay set stocking as long as possible, they simply don’t have enough feed elsewhere to hold ewes, John says.

“While in theory, there is adequate feed being grown, in reality, this is spread thinly across such large areas and often in amongst the old thatch.

“Heavily pregnant or lactating ewes can’t graze a big enough area to sustain themselves and their bodyweight, lactation and lamb growth rates all suffer.”

Supply and demand are briefly in balance in late spring before the blocks go to seed and with limited livestock available, grow uncontrollably.

Surpluses build up rapidly, pastures decline in quality and depress the availability of any subsequent growth.

Opportunity costs Reflecting this, the StockCare programme shows an ongoing pattern of ewe body weight fluctuations.

John says body weight is gained on the paddock areas in preparation for mating or lambing and lost again when stock return to

John examined every aspect of his business to find the key to maximising Inverary’s productive potential.

“The satellite areas are now growing 16,600kg DM/ha compared to the 4000kg DM/ha they were growing before the development programme.”

the hill country blocks.

Using the best pastures for recovery feeding represents a substantial opportunity cost. The same feed required to lift a ewe one condition score in the summer (8kg body weight) could have generated 12kg of lamb growth worth around $40-$50 While subdivision is important, John says it doesn’t address the root causes. While they mob stock to clean up pasture after weaning, there is just too much poor-quality feed.

Concentrating the cleanup in one area, does little to change the overall result.

Cattle can only be asked to do so much.

Forcing in-calf breeding cows to eat rank pastures leads to unsustainable weight loss, light calves at birth and weaning and difficulty getting cows back in calf.

Preventing surpluses

By developing small areas, they can better manage feed quality and prevent reversion.

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The pasture growth profiles of the hill blocks confirmed that the only practical option to control summer surpluses was to prevent them happening in the first place, John says.

“It’s not about having enough stock to clean up massive surpluses in the winter and punishing them while you do it, it is having enough stock around in the late spring and summer to prevent it happening.”

Oversowing and topdressing does

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The property has pioneered a “spray and delay” technique on steeper hill faces using residual sprays to ensure complete removal of the existing pasture and subsequent weed seed strikes.

While the blocks are out of production for 12 to 18 months, the extended fallow period generates an open seed bed and reliable soil moisture levels for the aerial establishment of red, white and caucasian clovers.

The resulting built up of soil nitrogen then allows for the establishment of high fertility grass species in subsequent years After early trials were successful, John and Bert are transferring the technique to their unimproved hill country by carrying out the satellite development of 20ha for every 100ha of their hill country to provide that early spring feed.

Growing a sustainable business

Where cultivation has not been feasible, legumes have not been able to be established into the tight browntop swards on the hill country. Browntop, John says, is just too dominant.

“There are no shortcuts, you have to get rid of it entirely.”

Ten years ago, Inverary’s ewes were scanning 152%, they are now scanning 175%. After a successful trial last year, more than half the ewe hoggets were mated last autumn at an average of 52kg LW Over the same time period, lamb wastage has reduced from 26% to 15% (losses between scanning and sale), while lamb sales have increased from 31.7 to 44.8kg per ewe mated.

Last year Inverary lambs grew an average 184g/day post weaning. The top quartile of more than 100 Stockcare properties averaged 125g/day.

This increase in productivity and profitability has given both families quality of life and has allowed John and Anne to deal with farm succession.

Both families contribute significantly to their community and welcome people on to the farm with between 600-1000 people visiting annually.

For John, this detailed analysis of his farm and farming system, coupled with the utilisation of legumes has been an exciting time in his farming career and it has only really just begun.

“It feels like we’re on the cusp of a new dawn on Inverary.”

include early lambing and or early weaning.

• Hill country poses a lot of challenges but don’t underestimate the opportunity of using different plants for different places.

• Question conventional wisdom and

accepted practice • Begin to understand the place of legumes in a changing climate eg fast finishing in drier summers.

• Legumes provide opportunities to wean early which offers huge flexibility within the farm system.

Using cows and calves to clean up rank pastures resulted in unsustainable weight loss.

nothing to address the slow growth in spring due to the chronic lack of nitrogen and reluctance of browntop to grow at low soil temperatures. Rather it perpetuates the problem by growing in summer when they already have too much feed.

The answer lies in legumes Records on Inverary consistently show the spring production of legume-based pastures to be double that of high-quality grass paddocks (with urea).

Not only was it twice as much, but they came substantially earlier in the season, John says.

“For this property, the early spring is a real crunch time around set stocking.

“Using legumes is like doubling the size of your farm in the spring.

“How could you turn that down?”

The substantial area now in legumes – lucerne or clovers, has allowed half of the ewe flock to be lambed three weeks earlier.

The lambs are growing faster and able to be weaned much earlier, John says.

It was the outstanding spring production of the legume systems on the easier country that hinted to the possibility that legumes might be a possible solution to the feed supply challenges in the hill country.

Being able to grow additional early feed anywhere on the property creates opportunities to delay set stocking the hill blocks until as late as possible.

It also increases their ability to carry more ewes or cows elsewhere, sending them out to the back country as growth accelerates.

Early lambing on the front country on legumes, also provides the opportunity to wean early and send the ewes back out to the hill country for clean-up duties.

Satellite development

KEY MESSAGES • Legumes are going to play a part in everyone’s farm system, but farmers need to be clear about what that needs to be.

• Work with your natural advantages • Maximise the early spring opportunity that legumes provide. This could

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BUSINESS Sheep milking

Milk’s Zealandia. These genetics are in the form of leased rams or frozen semen for artificial insemination.

In the South Island there are Canterburybased groups with specialised sheep dairy genetics and producer structures are developing. An innovative mobile milking plant concept designed by pioneer sheep milking enthusiast Ian MacDonald is gaining traction. Associated is a truck and trailer unit with refrigerated milk tanks.

A niche sheep of the future BY: KEN GEENTY

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heep are unique among farmed ruminants, potentially having meat, wool and milk to their credit. All three products have varying profits with dairy milk topping the list by some margin.

Sheep dairying, though, needs a milking setup, specialised genetics, plentiful pasture and secure milk supply outlets.

The ‘sheep of the future’ concept outlined here covers limited niche opportunities in the growing sheep milking industry, with synergistic opportunities on the back of mainstream dual-purpose meat and wool production.

Dairy sheep. Estimated numbers of dairy sheep in New Zealand are in the vicinity 25,000 with most suppliers linked to larger corporates like Spring Sheep and Maui Milk. Flock sizes vary from smaller boutique operations with 500-800 milking ewes to larger commercial units of 1000 or more ewes.

A specialist sheep dairy farm will be restricted to easier-contour areas with good pasture growth and proximity to sheep milk collection points. There are similarities

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to cow dairying with good feeding of milking ewes a must. However, a plus for sheep is they are more environmentally friendly than cattle with lower soil nitrogen loadings and positive pasture fertilising impacts from efficiently spread faeces and urine.

Sheep milking genetics. Local sheep dairy crossbreds based on northern hemisphere specialist breeds such as Lacaune, East Friesian and Awassi, crossed with local breeds like the Coopworth, yield about 250-350 litres per lactation. At ewe milk prices up to $3 per litre economics soar with gross annual incomes in the vicinity of $1000 per ewe.

Surprisingly when this author began NZ sheep dairy research in the mid-1970s the French Lacaune was reported as having similar annual milk yield to that from our Poll Dorsets of about 150 litres per lactation. After several decades of sophisticated genetic selection in France the Lacaune now pumps out over 600 litres per lactation!

Ready-made specialised sheep dairy genetics are available from the largest North Island sheep milking operatives including Spring Sheep’s Southern Cross and Maui

Sheep milking flocks. Development of a new sheep milking flock should be in conjunction with one of the above industry organisations and associated consultants.

Options for inclusion of a local breed suited to your particular environment in the gene mix should be flexible.

Remembering sheep already with good milking potential such as Coopworth or Poll Dorset should be favoured if upgrading with the specialist sheep milking genetics. Progeny growth rates and meat characteristics will also be a consideration.

Emphasis is not only on milk volume as characteristics such as milking speed are important as is milk composition.

Udder shape of the best producers will have a cleavage meaning a strong centre ligament and with teats pointing more to the ground than sideways. Udder size does not generally have a good correlation with dairy milk production.

With inclusion of local breeds in milking ewes it’s unlikely expensive sheep barns will be needed. Pasture-fed sheep milk from our natural grazing systems is considered a promotional benefit for the wide range of sheep dairy products developed.

Lamb rearing. Additional income from lambs could be considered a bonus but usually means more work. One option is to remove lambs from milking ewes soon after birth and artificially rear them either onfarm or by contracted-out lamb rearing.

Another is to leave the lambs on ewes, either fully or on a sharemilking basis, and early weaning them at 12-15kg liveweight, at about five weeks old, followed by continued milking of ewes.

However, leaving lambs on ewes initially can mean reduced dairy milk yield of 50-75 litres per ewe partially or fully suckling on average 1.5 lambs for the five weeks. Hence a large opportunity cost of more than $150 in dairy milk income results.

An effective and low-cost way of artificially rearing lambs from dairy ewes is use of cold ewe milk replacer. Lambs are

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offered cold ewe milk replacer in feeders in the paddock, preferably with high quality ryegrass-clover pastures. The objectives with chilled milk being to limit intake at each feed to avoid digestive upsets and at the same time promote early intake of pasture for rumen development.

This innovative lamb rearing system has worked well with lambs successfully weaned at four-five weeks of age at 12-15kg on average. After removal of milk-replacer or suckled ewe milk the lambs grew at a similar rate to those later weaned from ewes. Total amount of milk replacer used per lamb was 6-7kg, or about 35 litres of milk, at a cost on today’s prices of about $50 per lamb.

If there had been no colostrum to kick the lamb’s immune system into action an artificial form would need to be given at about $14 per lamb.

Labour. An important consideration for a sheep dairy enterprise is labour which is estimated at about one labour unit per 400 ewes milked. A means of reducing

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A plus for sheep is they are more environmentally friendly than cattle with lower soil nitrogen loadings and positive pasture fertilising impacts from efficiently spread faeces and urine. milk-shed labour is to milk once daily from mid-lactation onwards as early research has shown the reduction in yield decreases from 30% in early lactation to near zero in late lactation. In addition, taking advantage of simplified or contracted out lamb rearing is less labour intensive.

Animal health. Some of the observed problems to be wary of with dairy sheep are feet difficulties, susceptibility to facial eczema and undesirable udder structure.

With such a high income enterprise animal health measures should be top priority.

Genetic selection where possible both for disease resistance and against structural defects is imperative.

Shearing of dairy ewes is often considered

another form of animal health and improved welfare as income from wool will not generally show a profit after shearing costs.

General information on sheep dairy production can be found at www.facebook.com/sheepmilknz/ Canterbury sheep milking industry update can be found at: • www.agribusinessgroup.com/ news/sheep-milking-update • mauimilk.co.nz/become-a-supplier/ dairy-sheep-genetics/ ) • springsheepmilkco.com/ zealandia-genetics)

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Stud ewes are run on true hill country and managed commercially, all fully performance recorded using EBVs since the inception of the stud.

Invitation sales held in January & February. Contact us to book your place.

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BUSINESS Sheep milking

SHEEP DAIRY FULL ON BY: LYNDA GRAY THE SHEEP MILKING INDUSTRY HAS jumped the hump from fringe to full-on over the last couple of years.

“We’re going through a strong growth phase and there are interesting things set to happen,” Craig Prichard, SheepMilkNZ says.

Over the past two years the number of farms has doubled to 36, milking an estimated 20,000 ewes. Milk flow over the same period has more than tripled to 5.3 million litres, reflecting the continual development of milking genetics, feeding and management.

The 2021-22 season kicked off with 13 new conversions established by either Spring Sheep Milk Co or Maui Milk, the two big players in the industry.

Spring Sheep is a joint venture between marketing and investment company SLC and Pamu.

Maui Milk is a 60/40 joint venture between Super Organic Milk Co, a Chinese investment and marketing company, and Maori trust Waituhi Kuratau.

The industry is predominantly based in the greater Waikato region, although some farms are being developed further south which has led Spring Sheep Co to expand its collection run into Wairarapa.

In the South Island, Canterbury is the main growth hub. There are five sheepdairying farmers but another five are making the switch for the 2022 season.

Most sheep dairies are seasonal producers, milking for 210-250 days, although there are now year-round operations supplying milk for yoghurt and cheese makers.

“That’s a significant step in the development of the industry,” Prichard says.

Processing capacity is growing. Spring Sheep and Maui process all milk at the Food Waikato drier facility near Hamilton.

Capacity doubled in time for the start of the new season with installation of a new drier.

Canterbury sheep dairy owners and entrepreneurs Matt and Tracey Jones are progressing plans for a milk drier plant in Ashburton.

The average farm gate price is about $2.75-$3.00/litre ($15kg/milksolids), the variation dependent on the market supplied and transport costs, if deducted.

At an overview presented at this year’s sheep milking industry conference in May, Prichard said returns to date from sheep milk conversions across the Waikato were encouraging, despite the hefty costs of establishing sheep milking sheds and infrastructure.

Based on the Maui farmgate figure of $17kg/MS, sheep dairy farmers milking 600-1000 ewes, averaging 300 litres per

After 4-5 years farmers milking 600-1000 ewes, averaging 300 litres/ewe could make an operating profit of $8000/hectare versus $2000 for dairy cows.

animal, could expect an operating profit of about $8000/hectare by the fourth or fifth year of operation. That compared to the average dairy cow operating profit across the Waikato of about $2000/ha.

The sheep milking story will get better, Prichard says, with big developments expected by year-end.

“It’s a good story. The industry has moved to a new level, and we’ve had some great farmers join the crew.”

SWEET SPOT FOR MILKING FLOCKS A FLOCK OF ABOUT 600 TO 1500 milking ewes and hoggets is the ideal size for a smaller scale Waikato-based owneroperator on highly productive Waikato country.

“There’s an optimal size or sweet spot just as there is for cow dairying. If you get to the point where you don’t recognise the animals as individuals, you’re probably losing attention to detail and the benefits of economies of scale,” Maui Milk’s breeding and genetics manager Peter Gatley says.

“I think we’ve learned from the very early days of the industry that bigger isn’t necessarily better and that many of the larger-scale operations bit off more than

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they could handle.”

Maui’s eight new-season suppliers are all starting off with flocks within the 500 to 900 ewe and hogget range. They’ll increase flock size and also fine-tune feeding and management to maximise the genetic potential of Maui’s specially bred Southern Cross ewes.

Gatley, formerly of dairy-owned genetics company LIC, says improved sheep milking genetics has been critical in growing the production and efficiency of Maui.

“We started with a tiny pool of East Friesian genetics… if we’d stuck with that it would have been like driving with a handbrake on.”

Maui imported French genetics and crossbred those with the best New Zealand milking genetics to produce the Southern Cross sheep. At the outset, seasonal per ewe production of 150 litres was regarded as good but that had steadily increased, and 300 litres was now regarded as an attainable figure.

“That’s a good and realistic target for an across-mob average and beyond that to 350 litres. There are significant production gains to be made before it flattens off.”

He says the industry needs to keep focused on free-range and pastoral-based production, rather than the intensive barnbased systems of overseas producers.

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BUSINESS Succession

Clear vision and robust plan needed If you haven’t got a strong business when you are looking at succession, you are not going to have many options to make it work, Peter Flannery writes.

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here are four pillars to building a successful succession plan.

They are: 1. Build a strong business first.

2. Communication with family.

3. Fair comes before equal.

4. Transfer of ownership and control.

The first of those pillars. If you haven’t got a strong business when you are looking at succession, you are not going to have many options to make it work.

So what does a strong business look like? First, it has to have scale. A business generating $1.5 million of income is going to have more options than one half that size. Every business has fixed overheads, regardless of size. The biggest fixed cost is personal drawings. Your drawings are not a function of the size of your business. They are a function of your lifestyle and your own family’s size, stage and age.

Table 1: Costs Higher scale

Lower scale

Income

$1,500,000

$750,000

Farm working costs at 55% of income

$825,000

$412,500

Interest at 15% of Income

$225,000

$112,500

Tax assuming a partnership

$90,740

$29,690

Drawings

$95,000

$95,000

Plant and machinery replacement

$43,750

$31,250

Principal repayment

$112,500

$56,250

Surplus for reinvestment

$108,010

$12,810

Higher scale

Lower scale

Land Value (Income x 7.5)

$11,250,000

$5,625,000

Stock Value (Income/140*200)

$2,142,857

$1,071,429

Plant and Machinery

$350,000

$250,000

Total Assets

$13,742,857

$6,946,429

Debt (Debt servicing/5%)

$4,500,000

$2,250,000

Equity

$9,242,857

$4,696,429

Equity Ratio

67%

68%

Debt Ratio

33%

32%

Return on Equity (Before principal repayments)

2.4%

1.5%

Table 2 Assets and Liability

26

Table 1 shows two businesses, one with twice the scale and both drawing $95,000 for personal expenditure. If we assume farm costs and debt servicing are in similar proportion to income, then after tax, plant and machinery replacement and principal repayments, there is a stark difference in the cash available for investment.

In this simplistic example, the business with twice the scale generates $100,000 or nearly 10 times more available cash surplus for investment, thereby providing more options for succession.

So the amount of free cash generated within the business is key, however we should also look at the balance sheet.

This is also impacted by scale. The larger the scale, the more borrowing power a business will have. If we extrapolate out the above and make some assumptions, the respective balance sheets may look like Table 2.

Not surprisingly in this example the equity is nearly double in the larger scale business, both with similar debt and equity ratios.

However, the harsh reality is that the larger scale business has a lot more borrowing power. To be “bankable” a business needs to be strong enough to generate enough “free cash” to repay its debt over 20 years. At current interest rates, this equates to around 2.5% of total debt borrowed. Bear with me while I get a little bit technical. To be able to achieve this, the business needs to have a debt to EBIT ratio better than 11. This is a reasonably “modern” measure, and at least one bank uses this as their criteria to assess credit risk (Table 3).

Given the profit and loss of the two businesses in this example the lower scale business is pretty much fully lent whilst the larger scale business can most likely increase its debt ratio to 43% meaning it could potentially borrow another $1.4m.

The harsh reality therefore is in this example the lower scale business has very few options. With $4.7m of equity, at 68% of total assets, what would appear to be a bankable business in its current state has very few options to remove capital

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October 2021

The harsh reality is that the larger scale business has a lot more borrowing power. To be ‘bankable’ a business needs to be strong enough to generate enough ‘free cash’ to repay its debt over 20 years. from the business to allow for succession.

Scale on its own though is no cure-all.

A business will not succeed or fail just because of scale or lack of it. It is what you do with your scale that is the key. The above example assumes that other than scale all things remain the same. Which generally is not the case. Management and governance remain the key.

As the business grows governance becomes increasingly important. In boxing parlance, a good big man will always beat a good smaller man. But size without skill is a weak and possibly overconfident combination and is unlikely to succeed.

Other than scale, a strong business needs to be managed and governed at a high level. Scale, particularly significantly large scale can lead to a loss of attention to detail and an increase in waste. So if your income is say $3.0m, and farm working costs sit at 65% and debt servicing at 25% then 90% of your income has been spent, before drawings, tax, plant and machinery replacement. A business in that situation should be focusing on survival rather than worrying about succession.

As the scale of a business increases and as the number of staff employed increases, the greater the need for the owners to have strong employment skills. The ability to employ the right people, develop, train and retain them becomes just as, if not more

Table 3: Debt Serving Capability Higher Scale

Lower Scale

Income

$1,500,000

$750,000

Farm Costs

$825,000

$412,500

Drawings

$95,000

$95,000

Plant and Machinery

$43,750

$31,250

EBIT

$536,250

$211,250

Multiply the EBIT x 11

$5,898,750

$2,323,750

important, than day-to-day farm Existing Debt as $4,500,000 $2,250,000 management skills. per example I often get asked, should we be Further "borrowing $1,398,750 $73,750 building off-farm assets? My answer power" has always been, will it help build a Maximum Debt 43% 33% stronger business? If the business is Ratio based on debt generating “free cash”, what should servicing capability you do with it? Most banks will require you to be repaying some principal but what should you do with the rest? succession arrives you will have assets The trap is to lift your lifestyle, and see that can be sold or transferred without your drawings lift accordingly. If you are impacting on the existing farming business. disciplined though, you have two choices.

However the two critical considerations Increase the rate of debt repayment or for this strategy to be successful are: invest elsewhere. Developing the farm • Understand and be very interested in to its optimal level will generally always whatever it is you are investing into, and provide a return better than the cost of secondly it should not put at risk your interest. However, if the farm is already core farming business. well developed, what next?

• Building strong businesses generally Buying adjoining land or land that doesn’t happen by accident. You need adds balance or strength to your existing a clear vision, a robust plan to achieve business has always been a good move, it and a strong desire to be the best you particularly if you are growing from a can be. Know where your strengths and position of strength. However, buying land passions lie and invest accordingly. “just because you can” is not necessarily the right thing to do. Always understand your “why”. What is your long-term plan?

• Peter Flannery is a Southland and Otagobased agribusiness consultant who has 20 So, what to do? years’ rural banking experience. He started Buy more farming assets or off-farm his own company Farm Plan 10 years ago assets? The advantage of investing away facilitating families and their businesses from farming is that when the time for through a business succession process.

The remaining three pillars will be covered in future issues of Country-Wide.

Country-Wide

October 2021

27

BUSINESS Alternative uses

TESTING TIME FOR NEW WOOL PARTICLE PRODUCTS BY: TONY LEGGETT A SET OF RADICAL NEW PRODUCTS created from deconstructed strong wool is ready for market testing after six years of research at the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand (WRONZ).

A pilot plant built at WRONZ’s Lincoln facility will test if the wool particles, pigments and powders can be produced at scale and profitably.

A new WRONZ commercial subsidiary called Wool Source has been established to test market demand for the products and look for suitable partners across a range of industries, from cosmetics to printing, luxury goods and personal care.

Wool Source chief executive Tom Hooper says the science behind the new products is “brilliantly done” and unique in global terms.

“Wool Source is reimagining the future of NZ wool. Our new pigment, particle and powder products are produced from allnatural, sustainable, strong wool particles and provide the base ingredient for a new generation of high-performance materials, free from chemicals, metals, and toxins.”

His immediate focus is on proving the commercial viability of the products and establishing demand, predominantly with international markets.

“To do this, we need to demonstrate we can produce at scale, with a unit production cost and price point that enables margins that create long term value-added opportunities for the New Zealand wool sector.”

Wool Source will operate the pilot plant to run production trials, develop market samples and engage with partners interested in new product development aimed at high volume premium markets.

“Wool fleece is the perfect sustainable, biodegradable, cruelty-free and traceable natural product – with intrinsic positive

28

Biodegradable wool particles turned into pigments for use in a wide range of highvalue products.

characteristics that enable use against the skin.

“From skincare to luxury fibres, the opportunities for new products are endless.

Ultimately, we’d like to see the future development of a large-scale manufacturing operation in New Zealand solely using New Zealand strong wool.”

The market engagement work will be led

by Hooper and is jointly funded by WRONZ and the Strong Wool Action Group (SWAG).

The emphasis is on an initial, short term project focused on market demand and product development that leads to viable commercial opportunities.

Hooper says the research is tightly protected by patents and it will only use New Zealand grown strong wool as the raw material. Depending on feedback from the market and discussions with partners, he sees opportunity for WRONZ to licence its use to third parties with strict protocols in place to protect the intellectual property.

“We haven’t made any calls yet on what the overall business structure could be in the future. We’re keeping an open mind,” Hooper says.

“WRONZ will not be the long-term developer of the range of products from the ingredients that are produced from the deconstructed strong wool.”

“We’re targeting partners that operate in niches and markets we know can pay good money for the products this process creates. That will ultimately lead to better

prices at the farm gate.”

Hooper says it was too soon to predict the impact likely at the farm gate for wool growers. He says that will become clear by the completion of the market engagement stage over the coming 12-18 months.

“We know strong wool farmers are hurting now and have been for some time.

We need this to be an added lift in demand for strong wool alongside the traditional channels like carpets,” he says.

Hooper has been chief executive at Wool Source since mid-2021 after a 30-plus year business career in commercialisation of new products and market development.

WRONZ unveiled the innovative wool products at an event in July this year to celebrate the achievements from its sevenyear, $21-million New Uses for Strong Wool programme. The programme has less than two years to run.

At the same event, WRONZ chairman Andy Fox announced a new research investment jointly funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries and WRONZ to develop and test further product lines as part of the wider New Uses for Strong Wool programme.

MPI is contributing $1.95 million from its Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures (SFF Futures) fund alongside a further $2.92 million from WRONZ over three years.

• For more information see www.woolsource. co.nz

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October 2021

Paparata PaparataMeeting Meetingthe theFE FEChallenge Challenge “The liver damage associated with FEFE results in in production losses that are much greater than “The liver damage associated with results production losses that are much greater than may first appear. when nono symptoms are visible FEFE can reduce lifetime productivity byby upup may first appear.Even Even when symptoms are visible can reduce lifetime productivity toto 2525 percent. forfor increased tolerance toto FEFE should bebe your first line ofof defence.” percent.Breeding Breeding increased tolerance should your first line defence.”

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October 2021

BUSINESS Industry

SUPERSTAR STATUS BECKONS FOR STRONG WOOL BY: TONY LEGGETT

S

trong wool urgently needs a transformational strategy to reposition it as a global superstar fibre.

That’s the view of Tom O’Sullivan, chairman of the New Zealand branch of the Campaign for Wool (NZCFW).

He is a fresh face in the wool industry, coming from business development roles in the meat industry and consumer food products, real estate sales and farming sheep and cattle in Hawke’s Bay. He took on the part-time chairman’s role 18 months ago but has spent the past eight months nearly full time on what he describes as “sector development”.

When it was clear a gap existed in dealing with the immediate challenge of weak farm gate prices and capitalising on the surge in consumer demand for natural and sustainable products, O’Sullivan got to work on a short-term plan to promote wool and its many uses in a modern world.

But at the same time, the NZCFW is working on the framework for an industry strategy to create the transformational change desperately needed for strong wool.

It is consulting with successful brand strategist Brian Richards, responsible for the Cervena appellation strategy developed for NZ venison in several key markets.

“We (NZCFW) can’t sit on our hands

and do nothing. Our new strategy is short term and aimed at reviving awareness of wool’s amazing qualities, firstly among New Zealanders and later, with further funding, to global markets,” he says.

“But my personal view is that wool needs an overarching and transformational strategy that repositions (strong) wool totally in the minds of consumers and the industry.”

“We’re hopeful that our new NZCFW strategy will become part of that. We’re not saying we’ve got all the answers, but we want to contribute in the best way we can.”

O’Sullivan holds a directorship on the Strong Wool Action Group (SWAG) board which gives him a useful oversight on how the two organisations could collaborate to avoid duplication of effort and investment.

“We are looking to engage with SWAG in the hope we can get agreement on where to from here with an industry-wide strategy.

The NZCFW could potentially morph into a marketing role within an overarching industry strategy,” he says.

Being a not-for-profit organisation and impartial, NZCFW is not viewed as a threat by commercial companies operating the sector. That means it can engage openly to push for change.

“If it were up to us, we’d have a full transformational strategy in place now. But it is a frustratingly slow process.

“We’ve created the basis of the long-term

strategy already and have been actively presenting it across the wool sector. It requires buy-in up to government level and requires much stronger funding to implement it.”

“This is why the NZCFW saw the need to create a shorter-term strategy to gain some momentum now while we continue to jump through hoops,” O’Sullivan says.

O’Sullivan is frank is his assessment of the future without a change in direction, embraced by everyone in the sector.

“If nothing changes, then nothing changes. Strong wool doesn’t have a lot of time.”

“That’s why we believe so strongly in the need for a fresh approach, but it has to be strategy before structure and any tactical plans. And the whole industry, from growers to retailers have to be on board.”

He knows wool growers are tired of words, reports and promises.

“Growers have been grappling with lowering wool prices for years, and many are considering other more lucrative options like increasing their meat production or changing to shedding breeds or selling out to forestry,” he says.

“They deserve action, accountability and honesty.”

He is also encouraging growers to ‘walk the talk’ and buy wool products themselves and promote the benefits of wool whenever possible.

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31

MARKETS

Lamb prices hit record levels As restaurants start reopening in export markets, lamb prices have recovered to reach record levels. Mel Croad reports.

T

Lamb is considered a niche product, it continues to move in tandem with other red meat proteins.

32

he lamb market has witnessed a phenomenal turnaround in demand and pricing in the second half of 2021.

This has flowed through to strong upside at the farmgate with prices already at record levels.

Much of this improvement stems from key markets rolling out Covid-19 vaccination programmes. Almost overnight restaurants started reopening and with that, tourists gained freedom to travel, throwing the foodservice sector a lifeline.

Competition with the already strong retail sector to secure and rebuild supplies of red meat protein has been replicated through numerous key markets, leading to strong pricing upside for our exports.

Regardless that lamb is considered a niche product, it continues to move in tandem with other red meat proteins and benefit from the strength of consumer demand.

With little competition in the global lamb space, New Zealand exporters have noted rapid upside in asking prices as demand outpaced supplies. Key indicator prices are breaking new ground or at the very least pushing well ahead of year-ago levels as markets re-awaken and look for product.

At a farmgate level, prices for lamb have soared.

Expectations were formed back in March when supply contracts started to be released by meat companies to secure the supplies they needed.

Having traded sideways for the first quarter of this year at $6.30-$6.50/kg, the release of these contacts gave the market an injection of confidence it was so desperately lacking.

AgriHQ reports prices have lifted by $2.55/ kg since the start of April – this compares with the usual $1.05/kg. The strength of the overseas market and a slowdown in the supply of lambs to processing plants has enabled farmgate prices to lift to record levels.

As more and more supply contracts were released for early winter, it became apparent the market was shifting towards a new level. As a result, the flow of lambs into processing plants diminished as farmers opted to wait for the higher prices further down the line.

This scenario possibly wasn’t anticipated and resulted in greater procurement pressure early on to entice a more even flow of lambs into the processing plants. However, as the estimated

Country-Wide

October 2021

North Island lamb slaughter price ($/kgCW) Source: AgriHQ

9.5 8.5 7.5 6.5 5.5 Jan

Mar

May

Jul

Sept

Nov

South Island lamb slaughter price ($/kgCW)

Source: AgriHQ

9.5 8.5 7.5

As more and more supply contracts were released for early winter, it became apparent the market was shifting towards a new level.

6.5 5.5 Jan

Mar

May

Jul

5-year ave.

Sept

Nov

Last year

This year

NZ lamb export (thousand tonnes)

Source: B+LNZ

50 40 30 20 10 0 Oct

Dec

Feb

5-year ave.

Apr

Jun

2019-20

Aug 2020-21

NZ average lamb export value (NZ$/kg)

Source: StatsNZ

13 12 11 10 9 8 Oct

Dec 5-year ave.

Country-Wide

October 2021

Feb

Apr 2019-20

Jun

Aug 2020-21

slaughter stats show – the higher prices through July still weren’t enough of an incentive.

Meat Board data shows weekly lamb slaughter rates in May were averaging 154,000 head/week in the North Island and 204,000 in the South Island. By July the weekly average had fallen to 102,000 and 28,000 head in the North and South Island respectively. It is usual for slaughter rates to drop between May and July, but this year’s July kill is 18% lower than normal in the North Island and 42% down on normal in the South Island.

Instead of increased slaughter rates through July – more activity was noted in the sale yards.

The release of a $10/kg contract, by one meat company for late September created an immediate scramble for store lambs as plenty looked to cash in on this eye-watering high price.

Despite this contract being filled almost instantly, it sparked plenty of demand for lambs, drawing store prices higher than many had anticipated. As store lambs rallied to $200/ hd and above, more lambs were recycled through the saleyards to capitalise on these heated prices.

The high prices paid to secure these lambs means for many the need to take them to heavier finishing weights to extract a reasonable margin. This is also adding to the slowdown in slaughter throughput and increasing the risk of a very congested lamb kill through September.

Surprisingly the tighter slaughter rates over winter haven’t impacted export volumes. NZ has shipped 79,000 tonnes of lamb between May and July. This is higher than for the corresponding period over the last two years.

Based on the high prices received for lamb into key markets, exporters will have drawn on stocks of lamb in storage to complement the supply. The average export value for NZ lamb into export markets has soared in the second and third quarter of 2021. Since bottoming out in March at $9.61/kg, strong overseas demand has propelled export values to record high levels.

July values averaged $11.51/kg. This is $1.90/ kg above year-ago levels and $1.83/kg higher than the five-year average – a clear indication of the strength of global demand. 52% or 41,000t

33

NZ lamb slaughter (‘000 head)

Source: NZ Meat Board

700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Oct

Dec

Feb 5-year ave.

Apr 2019-20

of NZ lamb exports were shipped to China over this three-month period.

Demand from the United States has also recovered with prices spiking and exports lifting. About 10% or 8000t were shipped to this lucrative market, where key indicator cuts such as Frenched racks are pushing back towards pre-Covid-19 levels. Demand from the United Kingdom and Europe has been mixed, with shipments to France remaining on par with historical levels however the UK and German markets have been quieter than normal.

Robust finish predicted for season While the market traverses the winter slowdown in production, the outlook is for these strong conditions to flow into the new season.

Early indications point to Average Export Values for lamb climbing even higher between August and early October. This aligns with the usual peak in farmgate prices around late September/early October as markets gather supplies for the Christmas chilled trade period. From late

34

Jun

Aug

Oct

2020-21

October increased buying from China will commence as they look to secure increased volumes to service Chinese New Year celebrations in early February 2022.

The recently released Stock Survey report from Beef+Lamb NZ encouragingly points to the expectation of a larger lamb crop this season. Most of this is derived from easier weather conditions through early lambing and better scanning results compared to last season rather than greater breeding ewe retention.

These numbers will be revised in November once docking/tailing is generally complete. Any upside in lamb numbers shouldn’t be viewed negatively given the strength of overseas demand, with markets in a position to absorb larger numbers.

If anything, the upside in lamb numbers may be confined to more lambs prior to Christmas.

Early lambing mobs are still finding favour with farmers, however hill country breeding properties – often key suppliers of later-born lambs – are falling victim to changing land use patterns, especially from the spread of forestry or carbon farming

in some regions. This could pose a further challenge through mid-2022, if kill rates are skewed to earlier in the season.

Despite the encouraging signals from key markets, there are also several external factors worth flagging that could take some of the shine off what will be a record start to the new season. Staffing at processing plants and shipping have been two issues plaguing the industry since last year and neither appear to have made any concrete improvement. Therein lies a potential worry about processing ability leading into Christmas and what that could mean for farmgate returns despite favourable export markets.

The last thing the industry needs is the inability to process livestock in a timely manner, especially heading into summer.

While new season lamb prices will benefit from strong global demand there will still be the usual seasonal pricing downside into the new season as lamb supplies ramp up and export demand reverts to a greater proportion of frozen cuts. However, with farmgate lamb prices set to peak at the mid$9/kg level, any ensuing downside will still result in a much higher price for new season lambs than last year.

Several supply contracts released by meat companies covering early spring through to Christmas provide a glimpse at where prices may track, however AgriHQ forecasts point to a more robust finish to the remainder of 2021 with farmgate lamb prices remaining above $8/kg in December.

Ewes with lambs at foot all counted are already selling well in the early regions with prices ranging from $100-$125 depending on the ewe condition and number of lambs. Interestingly this market was firmer in August 2020, despite farmgate prices for lambs being softer then. This possibly indicates some of the feed pressures farmers are under in certain regions.

A stronger pricing start to the new season is positive for those who can get lambs away early, and it will also underpin a firmer store market for those early trading lambs.

While store prices are partly connected to weather and feed conditions, they will also reflect the strength of farmgate slaughter prices. While the store market will start strong it will inevitably reflect increasing store numbers for sale and the downside in farmgate slaughter prices into December and ease accordingly. However, if spring feed conditions keep competition strong for store lambs, the downside in pricing may be softer than usual, reflecting a level of confidence in the longer-term prospects for the market.

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October 2021

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MARKETS Emerging

Halal is becoming the processing norm as non-traditional Muslim countries become more culturally diversified.

Challenging but not a dead horse Is it Groundhog Day or just that good things take a long time? Penny Clark-Hall investigates the latest on New Zealand’s trade in the Middle East and India.

T

he needle appears to have barely moved since Country-Wide’s last update on New Zealand’s trade with Iran and India in October, 2020. Processors and the Meat Industry Association attribute trade sanctions, politics, tariffs and logistics as the main culprits of why little has changed over two years. However they refute the query of whether they are flogging a dead horse.

Nearly half of NZ $9.2 billion menu of red meat exports are halal-certified now (2020) and 90% of the animals processed are done so in the halal manner. It is becoming the processing norm as non-traditional

36

“So, in terms of our strategy, it offers us the opportunity to reach more markets and diversify.”

There is clear consensus from all that halal processing is a huge advantage to NZ trade. Alliance’s Head of Sales, Shane Kingston, says the perception and level of confidence consumers have in halal as a more ethical way of processing, regardless of their religion is keeping our options open. It is also accommodating consumers’ desire for peace of mind. Serving the needs of a diverse range of consumers through the halal regulatory framework has proved critical during the Covid-19 pandemic. Meat processing and exporting companies were able to redirect exports from traditional markets under pressure and weather the worst of the global disruption.

Ironically, trade with India is partly stifled by NZ halal processing as its Hindu population (79.8%) can’t eat halal.

However, the exporting company Quality New Zealand, of which Alliance owns 10.8%, is focusing on its Muslim population (14.2%) which represents nearly 200 million people and a trade of $2.5 million (2019) in red meat.

While trade stopped in 2020 (likely due to Covid-19) it is expected to be a significant market to NZ in 10 years’ time, Kingston says.

“We’ve seen significant growth in the kind of elite and affluent population over the past few years.”

Kingston says there is a real opportunity to provide higher quality and imported product.

Alliance is starting to build meaningful distribution across both hotels and restaurants, in partnership with Quality New Zealand, which is allowing them to meet the needs of premium consumers.

High tariffs Muslim countries become more culturally diversified.

The Meat Industry Association’s senior strategy, trade policy and advocacy manager Esther Guy-Meakin says halal processing is a cornerstone of the industry’s strategy because it gives the industry flexibility and opportunity.

“We export to 110 different countries globally and some of our biggest (halal) markets are actually non-traditional Muslim markets.”

She says Canada, for example, is quite a large consumer (of halal) as is China, France and the US.

Since beef is off the menu in India, it is NZ sheep meat (mostly frozen lamb) that has been a relatively valuable trade, albeit a small one. India’s potential though is in its size and growth. It is the fifth largest and fastest growing economy in the world ($2.6 trillion growing at a rate of 6%). The population is growing faster than China’s with projections of continued increases to its socio-economic wealth, with a rapidly expanding middle class. However, without a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the high tariffs (38%), prescriptive animal health requirements, differing rules for each of its 32 provinces and immature infrastructure (mainly chilled transport) makes exporting

Country-Wide

October 2021

lamb to India challenging. The tariffs are protectionist measures to support local farmers.

Covid-19 hasn’t helped either, but it is a long game for Alliance. They are banking on India, with investment into infrastructure, the supply chain, partnerships and their product portfolio, which will set them up to better meet India’s needs over time.

“We’re in for the long run. This will be something that will be a slower burn for a number of reasons. But fundamentally, we believe that India is very attractive longterm,” Kingston says.

The next China It seems it’s not only India that could be the “next China” in terms of a significant trading partner. Taylor Preston’s chief executive, Simon Gatenby says he believes Iran has the potential to surpass India, matching China very quickly in terms of volume, price and demand.

While their population is smaller than India’s (82.9 million) and their economy slighter, ($454 billion growing at 3.7%) their GDP per capita is higher ($5,628 compared to India’s $1,980) and the Muslim community is also dominant.

“Iran is the only country I’ve visited where sheep meat is the preferred protein.”

Gatenby says the demand is there, they have the spending power to buy at good levels and the infrastructure is in place.

“In my opinion they have a 10-to-20-year head start over India.”

Guy-Meakin agrees Iran makes a good trading partner as a natural consumer of NZ products in their local cuisine.

In the past they have been crucial to NZ’s

Ironically, trade with India is partly stifled by NZ halal processing as its Hindu population (79.8%) can’t eat halal.

‘We export to 110 different countries globally and some of our biggest (halal) markets are actually non-traditional Muslim markets.’

INDUSTRY CONCERN FOR HALAL BUTCHER SHORTAGE The meat industry is concerned about a significant shortage of halal butchers.

Meat processors require 250 halal slaughterers. The sector employs about 207 halal butchers -- about 109 of those workers are either New Zealand residents or on open work visas, and a further 98 workers are migrant halal slaughterers.

MIA has sought to encourage more New Zealanders to become halal slaughters and has a programme of work to retain and source both NZ-based and migrant halal slaughterers – but is constrained by the relatively small Muslim population in NZ. Recent visa extensions for the 109 halal

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butchers on work visas buys the industry about 24 months before these people would need to leave NZ. That means there is uncertainty about NZ’s ability to recruit a new intake to fill what is essentially 50% of our halal butcher workforce.

With the peak processing season just around the corner MIA says it is critical they and the Government come up with a solution. They are working on one which recognises that part of the “qualifications” halal butchers need to have is a religious affiliation, which of course cannot be trained for.

trade. It is where we ‘cut our teeth’ in halal processing and it was Iran who took up our surplus (25%) in the 1980s as the sector grappled with an influx of livestock due to subsidies. However, it was dormant for some 25 years until 2017, when MPI successfully negotiated access for NZ meat exports to recommence. Exporters were cautiously optimistic about the future of this market with the first small shipments successfully being sent in the middle of that year (2017: 91 tonnes worth $728,000 of chilled lamb).

The following year that more than doubled to $2.2 million of frozen lamb (90%) and chilled lamb (10%).

So, what happened? United States sanctions have again closed down trade with banks refusing to facilitate any business with Iran. In 2020, the US announced additional sanctions on 17 major Iranian banks. This means Iran’s entire financial sector is now under US sanctions making it near impossible to do business with the nation.

While it might feel like Groundhog Day in the process of obtaining market access and surety, Esther reiterates Shane’s view that good things do take time and in trade you have to take a long view of things.

Whether it be Free Trade Agreements, Infrastructure or politics you have to chip away at it but she adds that it’s also important to encourage different conversations about how else we might be able to unlock the potential of these markets.

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MARKETS Sheep meat

High hopes for UK Christmas lamb BY: GLENYS CHRISTIAN

L

arger lamb exporters are hopeful they’re putting shipping disruptions caused by Covid-19 behind them.

They credit this to supply chain teamwork with minimising impacts worldwide. They are now looking to send their usual volumes to the important United Kingdom Christmas chilled market.

But for smaller meat companies lack of shipping space meaning high prices and container availability issues look likely to continue for a number of months yet.

A Silver Fern Farms (SFF) spokesperson says the company is facing disruption across all of its shipping routes. Managing this had required significant effort.

Its relationship with Kotahi (a jointventure company with Fonterra), whose partnership with the Port of Tauranga and shipping company, Maersk, gave it improved access to space on export vessels and containers. It had allowed SFF to keep processing and moving product.

While there hadn’t been an impact on deliveries, some disrupted timing of

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arrivals is being managed on a customerby-customer basis. It expects the situation to continue for the foreseeable future and so will retain shipping flexibility to best manage the situation.

For example, in the Middle Eastern lamb markets usually most countries would have been serviced from New Zealand with a one-port transition point. But shipping companies are using services that require two or three transition points, adding time and the risk of further delays at each.

Some transit times have almost doubled, with an impact on perishable chilled products’ shelf life which adds unacceptable risks to consignments.

However, UK shipping delays have been less than those in other regions, and with the lesser risk of supply chain disruption it will target typical volumes for the Christmas seafreight supply.

Alliance’s general manager of sales Shane

Kingston is upbeat about shipping returning to a more normal level.

“We believe we’re through the worst of it,” he says.

“We’ve worked together with our customers to minimise the disruption elements.”

In the North American market, where there has been shipping congestion problems causing delays in unloading at West Coast ports, there is more movement of product and less disruption. But it could be from 12 to 18 months before things return to a pre-Covid situation.

Susan Kilsby, ANZ agriculture economist, says shipping problems are likely to continue for the next six months if not longer.

“With ships sitting around at ports that means up to 20% capacity out of action,” she says.

“Shipping companies are doing what they can, and that has meant missing out ports where there are big delays. But the bigger concern is for short shelf-life product where it’s been hard to consistently deliver product to the market.”

Higher shipping costs have had to be absorbed along the supply chain with lower returns to producers than they might have received and higher prices for consumers.

While more ships are now being built and containers added the situation won’t be rectified suddenly.

Andrew Burtt, Beef + Lamb’s chief economist, says shipping companies raising their rates to and from NZ in order to continue servicing United States customers would continue to put pressure on meat exporters.

“Behind the scenes they’re doing a great job of paddling very fast and satisfying customers.”

Sirma Karapeeva, chief executive of the Meat Industry Association (MIA), says larger meat companies have managed the situation better than smaller players due to their long-standing shipping company relationships and their size. But small companies have had to contend with sketchy container availability which one week was fine and the next wasn’t. In late August for example there was a twoweek delay in unloading at Long Beach in California.

“It’s not a pretty picture,” she says.

‘We’ve worked together with our customers to minimise the disruption elements.’

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“But there hasn’t been any feedback about meat left in freezers or on wharves.”

While exporters are doing the best they can she felt there could be problems for the next 12 months or so. While 2020/21 lamb export volumes were up on last year at just over 267,500 tonnes in the October to July period, the value had dropped by 3%, to almost $10,500/tonne FOB due to the large increase in shipping costs which were a real concern.

“That significant cost increase is going to be with us until shipping disruption ends.”

Meanwhile, mutton volumes and

prices have both increased with exports totalling almost 660,000t at an average of $7673/t.

Another issue for meat companies is the shortage of Halal-trained butchers due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

About 250 Halal butchers are required but there’s a shortage of 150, as those who are correctly trained need to come from overseas, but spots in managed isolation can’t be found.

“We’re pushing the Government to look at a more permanent solution,” she says.

“The crisis is not right upon us but if we don’t have enough of them it will be very challenging.”

OFFALS IN GROWING DEMAND Sheepmeat offals are in growing demand both domestically and in overseas markets as consumers not only seek out new sources of protein for themselves but also indulge their often newly acquired pets.

Meat Industry Association (MIA) chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says 80% of sheepmeat offals are exported, which in the year to June 2021 totaled 20,661 tonnes worth $82 million. The main markets are China, the United Kingdom, the United States and Saudi Arabia with an average value of almost $4 per kilogram.

“That’s partly due to very wealthy consumers pampering their fur babies,” she says.

She says it improves the overall value of the carcase.

But without sufficient labour at present, some meat companies might choose to process to fewer specifications, deciding not to save a wider range of products, including offals.

A Silver Fern Farms spokesperson says offal returns from China are generally higher priced than most markets, but NZ has limited access due to processing plants requiring specific China approvals.

Red offal, such as kidneys, can reach a slight premium over other markets there, but processing plants with access for meat can’t automatically export these products. A further specific approval is needed for exporting white offal, such as brains, which consistently earn a premium in China over other markets.

IN THE IMPORTANT EUROPEAN Union and United Kingdom markets it’s business as usual as meat exporters wait on the announcement of free trade agreements (FTA).

Karapeeva says the MIA is very focused on the UK agreement in order to obtain a credible and commercially meaningful deal for both sheep and beef farmers.

“We’re into the nitty-gritty now,” she says.

Progress with the European Union FTA progress is expected after the Northern Hemisphere summer break.

“We would love to see these agreements done sooner rather than later so exporters have some certainty,” she says.

“But we don’t want speed to dictate quality.”

While there might be some potential upsides for the lamb trade in these deals, Kilsby says they will likely be rolled out over a number of years.

There is a lot of tension due to the UK not having easy access to the EU and trying to protect its own market, but she can’t see any downside for NZ lamb exports in any FTA announced.

Kingston says Alliance is still very focused on the UK food service market where it is developing more relationships. It is now supplying home delivery programmes both on a seasonal and year-round basis to create

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a presence for lamb in an area it hasn’t been part of.

“There’s a lot of work to do for it to be a highly picked up product so that’s why we’re using different channels,” he says.

SFF found Brexit caused some issues around managing the flow of a small amount of its product into Northern Ireland. But demand for Christmas chilled lamb has been close to traditional volumes, with the only downturn being the amount air freighted because of rising costs.

Beef + Lamb’s senior agricultural economist Rachel Agnew says the United States market is a dream scenario for lamb exporters at present “But how long it lasts, who knows?”

The US fiscal policy following Covid-19 had seen buoyant demand and a rise in consumer confidence. As well, major competitor, Australia, has played a limited role over the past 18 months due to the effects of drought.

Previous promotion work by The Lamb Company had driven demand for non-antibiotic NZ lamb, Kingston says.

“Then there’s protein fatigue with people saying, ‘What can I feed my family tonight that they haven’t had before?’”

Whole carcase demand is expected to continue but there is some competition from local producers such as Colorado

Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Business as usual in Europe

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Lamb. Australia is now sending a growing volume of lamb legs and racks and Icelandic, Irish and Welsh lamb all have a toehold in the market in the aftermath of Brexit.

SFF expects retail demand in the US to remain strong despite lamb being a niche product. It also expected to see a continuation of the recovery seen in the food service sector but challenges will remain from Covid-19.

Middle East lamb markets have found it difficult to compete with prices paid by China, especially as NZ lamb numbers have fallen. But Kingston says Alliance is still consolidating and building existing markets and SFF reports Middle Eastern demand for frozen lamb is positive.

All Asian markets have remained solid through 2021, with consumer demand growing, particularly in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, as their populations become more westernised. And with much of the mutton which previously went to the Pacific Islands now destined for China, there’s only a limited lamb trade, mainly to French Polynesia, Fiji and New Caledonia.

Strong demand from China THE CHINESE MARKET FOR New Zealand lamb continues to price competing countries out of contention, even with shipping disruption and the increasing strength of the NZ dollar.

“Throughout the pandemic there’s been strong demand for protein generally,” says Susan Kilsby, ANZ agriculture economist.

Chinese prices had held up from last year when at one stage there had been the lowest difference ever in prices received for lamb and mutton in that country.

From last October to July $1.2 billion of lamb was exported to China at an average price of $8579/tonne along with $542.48 million of mutton at an average price of $7454/t.

“There’s a preference for slightly more flavoured meat which is cooked slowly so it can come from a bigger animal,” she says.

This meant more meat being exported as whole or half carcases. There is also

slow growth in chilled cuts of lamb being served in restaurants targeting Westerners.

Sirma Karapeeva describes the Chinese market as a dragon.

“It’s super competitive and hungry for product.”

Alliance’s sales general manager Shane Kingston says the Chinese market for lamb is “absolutely continuing strongly”.

Consistent demand is seen in the run up to autumn festivals and then the Chinese New Year with the high NZ dollar having little effect on prices paid.

Chinese demand has sucked mutton out of the European market where it has been historically used in institutions.

More recently it’s competed strongly for lamb flaps which can be sold attached to carcases. They were previously shipped to the Pacific Islands, and Middle East market demand has dropped steadily as the prices Chinese buyers are prepared to pay increased.

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MANAGEMENT

Focus on timeless principles Selection towards facial eczema tolerance must be the number one success story of the New Zealand sheep industry, Peter Andrew writes.

After FE-tolerant and no drenching sheep, where could genetics takes us next?

A

few years back, in the Gisborne and Wairoa districts the sheep were pretty much an icon of our hinterland, condemned to the higher and cooler parts of the region. There, they consistently and effortlessly pumped out our district's best docking results.

Meanwhile down in the lowland front country, the presence of facial eczema was a nightmare for many of the farmers of this district, let alone for the poor sheep.

It was an annual curse that eroded not only the liver but also the farmers' attempt to build a great ewe flock.

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Then in the 1980s it all changed, a group of local stud sheep farmers in conjunction with their northern colleagues started the long process for selecting FE-tolerant sheep.

The process ended with the creation of the FE Gold rams, a bullet-proof survivor to take our sheep flocks into the future.

Now our front country farmer can comfortably dock (tail) more than 150% annually with no FE symptoms and no cost of control. In fact, this lowland zone also has great lamb survival, and they will be the first farmers in this district to push through towards the 180% benchmark in the next few years.

No longer will our lowland ewes suffer the embarrassment of half their face peeling off each autumn. A very ugly look just when you are trying to impress a ram who has plenty of choice.

Isn’t it just amazing how impressive and powerful genetic selection can be? Quite a contrast to the textbooks from Lincoln that seemed preoccupied with the family tree of a mouse family.

Everyone was a winner from the process with the annual benefit to the region now being worth many millions of dollars. This selection process towards FE tolerance must be the number one success story of the New

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Zealand sheep industry. A combination of research and farmer persistence providing healthy and sustainable solutions.

Back then the challenge was to build robust sheep that could not only handle a winter storm but a fungal storm. What new storm will our sheep have to survive in future?

The Government wants us to stop the planet from warming up, but this challenge is a little ambitious. History would tell us we are better to pour our effort into challenges inside the farm gate. History would also tell us producing more from less is timeless.

Genetics is a very powerful tool. We just need to continue to aim it in the right direction.

Are we still all committed and passionate about our sheep industry and our future as farmers as we were back in the 80s? A massive, yes. The Groundswell turnout showed we are all on the same waka.

We may be spread for miles all over the motu, but we are all deeply passionate and driven about our industry. What is also encouraging is the large number of young professional people who continue to join our sheep and beef team.

Looking at the way the team of five million is spending right now we are going to need every trick in the book to improve on farm production and efficiency.

Farmers need to get on and drive that change as it is in our best interests. This is where the farmer discussion groups kick in as we also know that nothing is so powerful as pooled experience. It is also a timeless principle.

The recent RMPP Action Network model provided us with a taste of the power of putting motivated farmers in the same room as a passionate scientist. This is where magic happens.

So, what is our next odyssey to produce a bullet proof survivor?

Is it:- Sheep that don’t need drenching?

There is an annual drench cost, lost production and resistance worms will win in the end. Like Covid-19 they will use genetic variation to survive.

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FE-tolerant sheep no longer need to stick to Gisborne’s hills.

Imagine if we could get rid of the need to drench and all associated costs.

Like FE we know you can make genetic progress as it is heritable, and we can make genetic gain.

We also know that we have some futuristic breeders who are well down that track. We all need to champion and support these breeders who are doing the hard yards down a long and sometimes lonely track.

Imagine if every sheep stud in NZ put away their drench gun. So, the survivors were allowed to perform. Like the FE process we would have to buy some less-impressive looking rams knowing they were the survivors.

We know 80% of the flocks’ genetics are contributed by the ram breeders and this is where the real progress will come from.

There are other potentials such as: • What about chasing short tailed sheep

and the need to dock?

• What about chasing clean sheep, so we don’t have to dag?

• What about chasing clean points, so shearing is easier?

Genetics is a very powerful tool. We just need to continue to aim it in the right direction.

In these times of change it is important to focus on those timeless principles: working together, pooling experience, focus inside the farm gate, more from less and having fun.

It has been the adoption of these principles and a make-it-happen attitude that has put the sheep industry in the strong and healthy position it sits in today.

• Peter Andrew is a farm consultant with AgFirst in Gisborne

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MANAGEMENT Methane

Measurement inaccurate GLOBAL LEADERS ARE SOON TO continue negotiations around tackling climate change and Beef + Lamb New Zealand is pushing hard for the adoption of more appropriate metrics to measure greenhouse gas emissions.

The Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will gather in Glasgow to discuss how countries are planning to tackle this global issue. This will be the 26th time they have met-hence the name COP26.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade recently sought feedback on its negotiating mandate from domestic stakeholders and B+LNZ, alongside Federated Farmers and DairyNZ, provided feedback on their mandate. This included a call for the use of GWP as a more accurate metric for measuring emissions, particularly for short-

lived gases such as methane.

B+LNZ Chairman Andrew Morrison says the way of measuring greenhouse gas emissions is global warming potential (GWP100), which compares the warming potential of emissions over a 100-year period.

This measurement is inaccurate for methane, he says, as was highlighted in the recent IPCC 6th report which stated that GWP100 overstates the effect of constant methane emissions on global surface temperature by a factor of three to four over a 20-year horizon. It understates the effect of new (or increasing) methane emissions by a factor of four to five over a 20-year horizon.

Morrison says the Paris Agreement’s primary target is to try to restrict the increase in global temperature to "well below" 2C and to try to limit it to 1.5C.

“It is therefore appropriate that the metrics used accurately measure the warming impact of the various gases.”

Included in the Paris Agreement is a recognition of the need to safeguard food security and end hunger as a fundamental priority.

“More appropriate metrics have to be used otherwise agriculture will shoulder a larger burden of addressing climate change than other sectors, because using GWP100 overstates the impact of methane on warming if it is reducing.”

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MANAGEMENT Parasites

Early bird catches the worms Stomach

Sheep

Cattle

Haemonchus contortus

Ostertagia osteragi

Ostertagia (Teladorsagia) circumcinta

Trichostrongylus axei

Trichostrongylus axei

Geographic variations

Most of the worms listed occur and cause problems in all areas of New Zealand. However, two—Haemonchus and Cooperia—are more of a problem in the warmer areas of the north because they require a higher temperature range for development. Nematodirus causes more problems in the colder south as it is adapted to cool, short summers and its larvae survive cold winters on pasture. Ostertagia and Trichostrongylus occur in all areas.

Worm management strategies help reduce the cost to lambs of parasites, Small Trichostrongylus Cooperia oncophora intestine colubriformis Trichostrongylus vitrinus Tom Wardvitrinus writes.

Trichostrongylus Trichostrongylus

I

ntestinal worms are a significant cost to New Zealand sheep farming.

They reduce productivity, are a cost in terms of control, and there is increasing drench resistance.

If the grazing animal ingests sufficient larvae, production declines, caused by suppressed appetite and changes in grazing behaviour. In addition, the animal’s immune response requires energy and protein.

Major clinical signs are weight loss, scouring and dehydration. Inflammation from physical damage can cause secondary bacterial infection and ulcers. In the case of “Barbers Pole” (Haemonchus) blood loss can result.

Nematodirus filicolllis

colubriformis

Nematodirus spathiger

Cooperia puncata

Once in the gut L3 larvae moult to L4 (immature worms) which finally mature into adult worms

The eggs pass out into the dung

Age affects immunity Young animals are very susceptible because they have no immunity and are actively growing. Most sheep have full immunity by 18-20 months of age and continual exposure to worms is thought to be important for developing this immunity.

Minimising young animals' exposure to worms, and minimising stress is important.

Adult animals generally cope with worms, however periods of stress like lambing could be exceptions.

A variety of worm types affect sheep in NZ with most being roundworms (nematodes) living in the gut (stomach and/or intestine). Lungworms are also roundworms, but live in the lung and are of lesser importance in sheep. Flukes and tapeworms are also common.

The most common roundworms (worms) affecting sheep and living in the gut are Haemonchus Contortus (Barbers Pole), Ostertagia Circumcinta/Teladorsagia, and Trichostrongylus Axei/Colubriformis, all of which live in the stomach; and Trichostrongylus Vitrinus, T Colubriformis, Nematodirus Filicollis and N Spathiger, which live in the small intestine.

The life cycle is basically eggs passing out of the gut into pasture, developing in dung, maturing to infective larvae stage and then

46

Female worms are sexually mature and start laying eggs around 21 days after being eaten

The infective larvae migrate into soil and onto the herbage to be eaten by grazing animals

L3 larvae may survive for long periods; even beyond a year

In the dung pat, larvae hatch from the egg and go through 2 moults to become infective L3 larvae [eggL1L2 L3 = 1–10+ weeks depending on environmental conditions]

8

being ingested by livestock. Their numbers are affected by weather with warm, moist conditions speeding development (generally spring and autumn) which takes 21-28 days from ingestion to eggs appearing in dung.

At the peak there can be 85-95% of total worms in the pasture, the rest in the dung and gut. Most will be in the first two centimetres of grass and 1cm of soil. So intensive (close) grazing promotes greater infection.

Different species generally, but not always, infect either sheep or cattle.

For larvae, 20-25C is optimum in the paddock and below 10C few survive. Some do overwinter, however, creating the start of next season's pasture contamination.

Infective larvae on pasture eventually die; in cooler climes they can survive for eight-12 months, when warmer only two or three months. The longer the grazing spell, the fewer larvae there will be to reinfect animals. More open pasture is less conducive to larvae and dung distribution affects reinfection.

At some points a worm’s development can be stopped (inhibited). Larvae development will not restart until a stimulus is received - for example L3 won’t go to L4 until larvae are eaten by a host.

Another example of inhibited development is a larva in a host sheep may become temporarily ”stalled”, perhaps caused by lowering autumn temps. They

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October 2021

typically resume development after a few months, closer to spring, when the eggs would find conditions on pasture more amenable.

Animals with immunity can also arrest the larvae development, or stress on the animal start up development. Generally, this inhibiting has no effect on the animal as the “waking up” happens sequentially not en-masse, however the farmer may be misled as to what is really happening with worms on his farm.

As stated earlier, it is commonly 21 days from ingestion to eggs appearing in dung.

This is known as the Prepatent period and is important for two reasons: 1. A 28-day drench period is commonly recommended.

2. Worm egg counts are a snapshot of the level of larvae challenge 21 days prior, which may suggest you are free of worms, when the animals could have picked up a considerable burden.

Numbers of eggs in sheep are generally highest in the autumn, reflecting high pasture levels, and most pass through young sheep which don’t have immunity.

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The exception is during periods of stress in adult sheep, i.e. pre lambing/early lactation (peripartum) when their resistance is down and high levels of eggs are passed out in mid lactation. Generally this is sorted by weaning, however by then the larvae are on pastures for lambs to ingest.

Ostertagia is the most common peripartum worm, although it declines in autumn. Peripartum is greater for two-tooth ewes and multiple bearing ewes.

Principles of worm management The purpose of a worm management strategy is to: minimise contamination of pasture, minimise uptake of larvae, and to monitor success of programme. The main focus is on young animals and keeping drench resistance in mind.

There are many options so planning is very important. You must know what is happening with worms onfarm, the key tools being faecal egg counts (FECs) and faecal larval cultures (to identify the species of worm). Continual monitoring is required of production such as liveweight gain (LWG) to gauge the effect of worms. The situation will be dynamic and should be reviewed regularly.

Worm management strategies could include: well-thought drenching strategies, minimising stress on animals, ensuring animals are well fed, manipulation of pasture and stock management to reduce exposure to worms, and breeding resistant/ resilient animals.

“Minimising young animals’ exposure to worms, and minimising stress is important. Adult animals generally cope with worms.”

A group of farmers, including Robert Peacock, at Orari Gorge Station, South Canterbury, have done some excellent work breeding sheep which require low animal health remedies.

A group of lambs, drenched once at weaning, required no more drenching before being processed in May. The experiment involved grazing to different

pasture residuals, and using red clover, which is hard for worms to climb, as lamb feed.

It is important to consider where the worms are, how many there are, what species the worms are, whether they can be removed or reduced (spelling, use of resistant animals), what level of immunity respective animal mobs have, levels of nutrition, and stress.

If possible, utilise longer pastures, use tannin rich species, utilise hay/silage paddocks, fodder crops, and spell pasture for as long as possible (ideally more than three months which is difficult to achieve).

Graze young animals first, alternating grazing between species/class/age, and utilise immune stock. Avoid putting lambs on lambing or weaning blocks. Aim for high growth rates, i.e: minimise the amount of time lambs are onfarm.

Acknowledgement to Wormwise for help preparing this article.

• Tom Ward is an Ashburton-based Farm Management Consultant (027 855 7799) November issue: Drench issues.

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LIVESTOCK

ONFARM

OPEN MIND TO DRENCH RESISTANCE

O

The spectre of triple drench resistance strikes fear in many farmers, but Wairarapa farmers Sam and Sarah Johnston have a positive story to tell, showing it is possible to overcome drench resistance with an open mind and careful management.

Rebecca Greaves spoke to them. Photos: Brad Hanson.

utwardly, Tinui sheep and beef farmers Sam and Sarah Johnston had no indication their farm had a drench resistance issue. Regular drench reduction tests were undertaken as part of best practice, but it was a shock to the couple when the test showed triple drench resistance in 2018.

Through dedication and willingness to tackle the issue head on, Sam worked with his vet, Sara Sutherland, to put a plan in place, as well as seeking outside expertise. He wasn’t afraid to question his practices on drenching stock and made a number of management policy changes. In February this year, another drench reduction test showed the Johnstons had overcome triple drench resistance.

Not only that, but through reducing stock numbers and reducing the cost structure involved with worm management, the Johnstons have sustained stock health and maintained a profitable business.

Sam says what he did is specific to his farm. There are many variables, and what worked for him might not necessarily work for others.

“I started out as a shepherd, then went to Massey.

This drench thing has really stuck with me. I had spent years drenching for people and never questioned it. I

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October 2021

pride myself on stockmanship but you really rely on the technology, the drench gun or scales,” Sam says.

Over 15 years at Reata the Johnstons had undertaken three drench reduction tests.

“I thought it was good information to have, but I couldn’t tell it was going to be a problem, and that’s my question – is it a problem that triple drench resistance is around? I think it is.”

Importantly, the fact they had undertaken regular tests meant they found out about the problem before it was too late, and it was a matter of tweaking policies to get on top of it. Had they not undertaken regular testing and not found out until the wheels fell off, the road back would likely have been longer and more difficult.

“It was about looking at my own farm system, looking at the risks. I said straight away, no more trade lambs bought in. I stopped drenching tail end ewes.”

When faced with the reality of drench resistance Sam says it was fortunate he was in a place where he felt able to cope with tackling the problem. Having completed farm succession and having a young family, and knowing Sarah was at home with the kids, gave him the ability to put all of his energy into finding a solution.

Sarah grew up on a farm and has a background in human resources. While she’s not so involved with day-

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Twin two-tooths at Reata haven’t been drenched since hogget docking.

to-day farm life due to young children, her support and ability to hold the fort at home has allowed Sam to spend time off-farm and take advantage of learning opportunities.

“This hit me at a time when I was able to deal with it, but I can see how this could add to anxiety or stress for other farmers.

I had a young shepherd here I had trained up and we were able to attack this in our everyday life onfarm – it became top priority,” he says.

Sam hadn’t heard a lot about triple drench resistance prior to discovering it on his farm, but by working with vet, Sara Sutherland, they formed an RMPP Action Group. Sam was the lead farmer and Sara acted as facilitator.

“I understood they believed triple drench resistance could not be reversed. We got some expertise in, in a friendly environment to talk to the farmers in the group. We had funding and resources.”

Sam’s approach to tackling drench resistance was pragmatic. “I got put in a place where I had to try and make it better.

Even if the results stayed the same after I

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FARM FACTS • Reata - owned by Sam and Sarah Johnston • Location: Tinui, Wairarapa • 800 hectares (effective) – 155ha flat, 400ha medium hill and 245ha steeper hill • Sheep and beef breeding unit with a trade component.

changed things, I would still be happy, because I tried.”

Knowing his numbers, Sam knew exactly what economic farm surplus (EFS) he needed to break even, and was willing to do so to fix the problem.

“You control the things you can control.

With the support of the action group I committed to every meeting, no excuses. It was all on me and my worker, who I trusted, and the advice we were getting. Sheep eat grass and shit out worms – and you can’t see worms. We are farming worms, whether we like it or not.”

Sam made a number of policy changes at Reata, outlined below.

Policy pre March 2018 (Before drench resistance was discovered) • Lambs: pre-wean drench, then every 28 days after weaning until May • Hoggets: capsule after scanning • Two-tooths: pre-tup drench, triplets capsule, tail end drenched throughout the year • Mixed age: tail end pre-tup drench, triplets capsule, tail end drenched throughout the year • Rams: quarantine triple on arrival, drenched pre and post tup • Trade stock: quarantine triple on arrival, every 28 days after that “I was doing ‘best practice’ and it cost a lot of money. Now I know capsules are a risk, drenching sheep that might not have worms is a risk. Before, everything got drenched and ran on the flats on beautiful grass. They got fed so well it could have hidden the problem.

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October 2021

Regular drench reduction tests helped Sam Johnston identify drench resistance on his farm, early.

“Was I buying in triple drench resistance?

There’s no way to know.

“By doing routine drench reduction tests I found it, and it wasn’t too late.”

“So I blamed myself, and I said ‘you can fix this yourself, it’s your farm, there are things you are doing that have created this’.

But what worked for me might not work for others.”

Sam says there are many variables and no hard and fast formula to fix triple drench resistance.

What changed?

Policy post-2018 until now.

• Lambs: no pre-wean drench, drenched every 28 days to stop contamination, not many left after March. Ewe lambs drenched every 28 days until March • Hoggets: only drenched when required • Two-tooths: no drench • Mixed age: no drench • Rams: Zolvix on arrival, then no drench • Trade stock: Zolvix on arrival, look to sell before they get too many drenches.

These days it’s all about growing young

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October 2021

‘I started out as a shepherd, then went to Massey. This drench thing has really stuck with me. I had spent years drenching for people and never questioned it. I pride myself on stockmanship but you really rely on the technology, the drench gun or scales.’ stock fast and getting them out of the danger zone when it comes to worms. The philosophy is to drench as little as possible.

Now, 70% of the kilograms of liveweight on the farm does not get drenched.

All stock are mixed through the flats, medium and steep hill country to help control contamination.

“With lower inputs, animal health costs have gone down. From what I’ve learned, why do you need to drench adult sheep?”

Throughout the process Sam says he has learned a lot from AgResearch’s Dave Leathwick, and remembers his mantra – you won’t fix this problem with a drench gun.

“My ewe lambs now get seven drenches in their lifetime, and I’m only keeping them if they get in lamb. They’ve got to rear a

lamb without a capsule.”

Since implementing the new policy of not drenching two-tooths, scanning has still been between 165-180%.

“It ties in with body condition score (BCS) as well, but we haven’t seen a drop in performance. We don’t capsule 3000 ewes now either, that’s a $9000 saving, and less workload. We’re still following all the same farming principles as before, just without drench.

“We need animals that we can put under pressure and still come through. At tupping, any ewe that I know is not going to make it, which I would previously have drenched to lift it up, I kill. Hopefully over time that should weed itself out. I would say my ewe deaths have gone up through what I’ve

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STOP BEFORE YOU CHOP

REMEMBER THE NEW DOCKING STANDARDS THIS SPRING Animal welfare obligations for painful husbandry procedures in sheep From May 2021 these are the Government’s new MINIMUM STANDARDS (The section in white at the bottom of the page is recommended best practice)

No painful procedures to be performed on animals under 12 hours old

CASTRATION AND SCROTUM SHORTENING

Pain relief MUST be used if animals are over six months old.

CASTRATION Use correct size of rubber ring - Ring ABOVE testes and below teats - If using high tension band then anaesthetic must be used (any age)

SCROTUM SHORTENING (CRYPTORCHID)

DOCKING

Tail docking over six months old will be a vet only procedure

Must ONLY be undertaken if necessary

Rubber rings and searing irons will be the only methods permitted

The tail MUST be no shorter than the distal end of the caudal fold

- Ring below testes - Testes pushed up into cavity or held against abdomen

RECOMMENDED BEST PRACTICE Always use pain relief for any age

Work Hygienically

Seek veterinary advice on best methods

RECOMMENDED BEST PRACTICE Dock lambs within six weeks of birth

GENERAL INFORMATION Use rubber rings and avoid surgery

Treat animals when a few weeks old

If in doubt, seek veterinary advice on best methods

Use pain relief

This is a summary of the Code of Welfare: Painful Husbandry Procedures published by MPI. For more detailed information on minimum standards and best practice guidelines please refer to Animal Welfare (Painful Husbandry Procedures) Code of Welfare available from MPI Tel: 0800 008 333 or www.mpi.govt.nz/protection-and-response/animal-welfare/codes-of-welfare/ 54

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October 2021

done though, maybe a percent or two.”

Sam does get rid of more lambs, earlier, selling 27-28kg lambs in October. Previously, he would have put in a crop and aimed to put another $20 on them. Now, he sows a clean crop with no worm burden.

“We’re following the feed curve. I take out a lot of area in spring on the flats to get crops in for when it goes dry. With the new (drench reduction) test I could go back to my old way of doing things, but I don’t know if I want to – I could create the same problem again.”

On the ram front, Sam wonders if there is an opportunity for breeders to look at a parasite resistant ram.

When it comes to trade stock, trade lambs are gone and the only stock bought in, occasionally, are in-lamb ewes and some cattle.

His advice to other farmers is to do a drench reduction test and know where you stand.

The goal at Reata now is to have good condition mixed-age ewes or cows that need low input. “I’m keeping my sheep in very similar condition (as before) without drenching them, by keeping the stocking rate lower and feeding them better. Often people hold on to lambs to try to make more money, but put their ewes under pressure, and that’s a double whammy.”

Since 2008 they have moved from 3500 ewes down to 2900, due to a range of policy changes over that time. Reata now runs about 550kg LW/ha in winter, and has gone from 12 SU/ha to sit at about 8 SU/ha today. Sam says the effect is a better lambing percentage, and higher killing carcase weight ewes and lambs, creating a more efficient system overall.

Sarah and Sam Johnston with Geordie, 4, and Patcho the dog. Thomas, 8, and Jack, 6, were attending the local Tinui School when we visited.

A vet’s perspective Sheep and beef vet with Vet Services Wairarapa, Sara Sutherland, worked with Sam on his drench reduction tests and was instrumental in helping put a plan in place when resistance was discovered.

She would encourage other farmers to undertake testing, saying it is better to know and be able to do something than to bury your head in the sand.

“I think the big thing it’s important for people to understand is Sam didn’t know he had a problem. People often don’t know they have an issue until the wheels fall off.

The other thing is, he wasn’t afraid to let people know. I think there have been other high profile farmers who have been open about their status now, and people don’t need to be afraid to test.”

Sara says it occurs when the worm has a

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October 2021

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gene that allows it to survive the drench.

Over the whole population of worms, some have a gene that allows them to survive.

Those worms then mate, the offspring survive and, over time, the resistant population builds up.

Management factors that can contribute to that include over-drenching, using long acting products and not giving a high enough dose.

“If you drench and then move stock to a clean pasture the only worms that will be there are the ones that have survived the drench, and they can build up very quickly.”

The other common way farmers can get a resistant population of worms is by buying them in, for example trade lambs.

A full faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) is the only way to tell which worm species are resistant to which drenches on your farm. Because these are expensive and take a bit of work to organise, the recommendation is to do these every three to five years.

In between, farmers should do ‘drench checks’. A drench check is a worm egg count taken 10 days after drenching. Zero counts at this time indicate the drench is effective.

Sara recommends farmers do these routinely once or twice a year, and whenever they suspect an issue.

“As drench gets less and less effective, farm production will go down, but you don’t see it, don’t see it until all of a sudden you drench your lambs and it doesn’t work.

It can be there, just under the surface.

How to prevent drench resistance Sara says, in general, vets have moved away from drench plans and now recommend a parasite management plan, to maintain production while stopping drench resistance from developing.

Having outside expertise, like vets, who have training and interest in worms, look at your whole farm management and what steps you can take to minimise the risk has value. “I think it’s really important to sit down and make a plan.”

She also highly recommends attending a Wormwise workshop. Wormwise is the national worm management strategy.

It is aimed at helping farmers and their advisors manage worms, not just for today but sustainably for the future. See www. wormwise.co.nz “They have a good website and the workshops are free through Beef + Lamb New Zealand. They give you the basic knowledge about the worm lifecycle and how drenches work. They have the most up-to-date information and you can have confidence in their principles.”

Best practice onfarm includes trying to avoid the use of capsules. If you do use them, make sure they are a targeted treatment. Think about the way you are grazing your farm. Each time a lamb is drenched, ask yourself, what are you using for refugia?

It is still recommended that lambs be drenched every 28 days through summer to avoid a large worm build up come autumn.

The Johnstons were able to overcome triple drench resistance with an open mind, and careful management.

“The more you drench the more times that worm is being exposed to the drench, but at the same time you don’t want to just stop drenching. Each lamb, at some stage, will develop its own immunity to worms at around 12-18 months. Try to avoid drenching adult ewes. Most of the time they can handle the worms.”

Try to have some worms in the system that have not been exposed to your drench, that is your refugia.

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Farmer and vet work together As a vet, whenever Sara does a drench reduction test she always sits down with the farmer and talks through the results.

This involves making a plan of where to go to from there, and the Johnstons were no different.

“We sat down and looked at the risks in Sam’s system that could have led to this developing. Capsules were one, drenching on to crops of clean pasture, drenching adult ewes. What’s important about him is that he looked at his risk factors, changed his policies and still has a profitable business. He has gone back to where triples are working 100% now.”

Having the Action Group also helped,

as it gave them access to experts to talk to farmers in the group.

Sara says the Johnston’s case shows that people don’t need to be afraid of drench resistance, there are things that can be done.

If you get drench resistance it is possible to manage your way out of it.

“I don’t take credit for it all. Sam came up with some forward planning himself, like having crop to put his hoggets on instead of giving a capsule. But I’m happy with this outcome, and to have been part of it.

“Anyone who doesn’t know their status, do tests, talk to your vet. Make a parasite management plan. What worked for Sam might not work for you, but there will be things you can do on your own farm.”

KEY POINTS • Triple drench resistance can be overcome • Get a drench reduction test – early detection is crucial • What works for one farm might not work for others • Be proactive, seek outside help and resources.

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October 2021

LIVESTOCK Progeny testing

Resistant rams top performers BY: LYNDA GRAY

I

nitial results from a low input sheep progeny test indicate that offspring from rams bred for parasite resistance are also above average overall performers.

The test, LISPT is a three-year industryfunded project aimed at identifying the genetic footprint of the sheep which require minimal animal health intervention, are environmentally efficient but also highly productive, and profitable on a hill and high-country farm.

Included in an August 2020 update is an index merit overview based on 2020 lamb data from the low input progeny test flock. It shows that the top four overall performers, measured by the survival, growth, meat, FEC and dag sub-indexes, also ranked in the top six for parasite resistance, measured by the dual purpose internal parasite resistance index (DPF).

Of that top six, four were WormFEC Gold rams.

The news comes as no surprise to Allan Richardson, a member of the progeny test steering group. He is also chairman of WormFEC Gold, a ram breeding group selecting for genetic resistance to internal parasites and above average production performance.

Although the 2020 LISPT index merit summary is based on within-flock data only it vindicates the genetic selection pathway that the WormFEC Gold members have pursued.

“It’s something that all members have been focusing on for a long time, some as long as 30 years,” Richardson says.

The indicative results further proves that resistance to parasites is not at the expense of production and is one of the key messages that WormFEC Gold breeders are keen to get across to farmers. Another important message is how genetics can help

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...the average NZ sheep farmer producing 5000 lambs potentially lost up to $75,000 annually. stem the rise of drench resistance.

“It’s acknowledged across the sheep industry that drench resistance is a serious problem but there’s still not a great understanding among farmers of how to deal with it beyond a drench gun. We want to show how a packaged approach will help reduce the problem.”

The group is seeking funding for both a North and South Island trial on a farm with a drench resistance problem. The objective will be to show how the combination of genetics, management and targeted drenching can control the problem.

The benefits from using parasite-resistant rams accrue over the medium to long term, he says.

“The big thing is convincing farmers to make the change sooner rather than later, given that the obvious signs of a heavy worm burden and drench resistance become obvious only when the problem becomes serious.”

WormFEC Gold was formed in 2018 and has 15 breeders and 16 flocks throughout the country representing the main breeds.

To be eligible members must have eight years of recorded data and the flock must be in the top 50% for maternal worth (NZMW)

and parasite resistance (DPF) indices. Every year at least 30% of annual progeny must be recorded for parasite resistance and a range of productive traits.

An estimated 40% of New Zealand sheep farms could be battling resistance to triple combination drenches, according to sheep parasite management specialists Techion.

The prediction is based on analysis of faecal egg count reduction test data collected from 2005 until mid-year 2020.

In 2005 the resistance to combination drenches was low, but it’s become more common, even to triple combination products.

“Results show double combination drenches are failing on between 20% and 43% of farms, while triple combination drenches are failing on 15% of properties we have tested,” Techion chief executive Greg Mirams says.

While some would say Mirams has a vested interest in the problem he denies being alarmist.

“We’re drawing on a significant body of data collected over 15 years which proves that drench resistance is increasing rapidly.”

The problem is impacting animal welfare and performance, farm productivity and meat exports.

Validating the productivity effect, albeit with slightly dated information, is more Techion research from 2014-2017, funded

by British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s. It estimates that the average NZ sheep farmer producing 5000 lambs potentially lost up to $75,000 annually due to reduced lamb weight gains from ineffective drenching practice.

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LIVESTOCK Hill country

Good future in stores Challenging hills and limited finishing contour means Mahuri Farm, north of Taumarunui is most suited to store production. Story and photos by Mike Bland.

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K

ing Country farmers Nathan Blake and Libby Wood aim to breed ewes that are perfect for producing good store lambs on their new hill-country farm.

Recently engaged, the couple farms the 608-hectare (510ha effective) Mahuri Farm, just north of Taumarunui. They bought the farm this year and are in the process of breeding a Coopworth-Perendale flock that can handle the hills and deliver hardy, fast-growing lambs that are ideal for the store market.

Nathan was raised on a 900ha sheep and beef farm just up the road at Eight Mile Junction. His parents, Tom and Heather, and his uncle and aunty, Jim and Lindsay, bought Mahuri as part of a succession plan in 2014.

Nathan was on a working holiday in Wales at the time and had to rely on their good judgement as he had already committed to managing the farm when he got back.

“They sent over some photos and asked me what I thought.”

The senior Blakes have since sold the Eight Mile Junction farm and retired to Tauranga and Cooks Beach, but they still visit Mahuri on a regular basis. Nathan managed Mahuri for the first few years, then he and Libby bought the stock and leased the land for another three years. With help from family they were able to

buy the farm in July.

Farm ownership had always been a goal for the couple. They also share an interest in livestock breeding. After graduating from Taratahi, Nathan spent almost three years on Wairere Romney Stud in Wairarapa before moving to Seven Hills Angus near Pahiatua for another two.

Working on top stud farms taught him a lot about sheep and cattle breeding and this knowledge has been put to good use on Mahuri.

Mahuri has about 20ha of flat to rolling contour and 490ha of medium to steep (Class 3 – North Island hard hill country), with the remainder mostly in native bush.

Its challenging hills and limited finishing contour means it is most suited to store production and the couple have considerable development work planned. Fencing and soil fertility are key priorities. Mahuri was split into 26 paddocks five years ago, and over the past three years Nathan and Libby have increased this to 36.

Nathan says the largest paddock still totals 120ha and takes several hours to muster.

“We stock it with about 75 steers in winter and forget about them.”

This paddock will eventually be subdivided but for the moment the focus is on improving

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Mahuri Farm (510ha eff.)

2020/21 Ewe numbers 1265

Target 1600

Cow numbers

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100

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110%

130-135%

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29-30kg

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Production – sheep

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65kg/ha

FARM FACTS • Mahuri Enterprises Ltd • Taumarunui • 608ha total (510ha effective) • Class 3 hill country • Running beef herd and breeding ewes • Focusing on store lamb production • Challenging hills and limited finishing contour means it is most suited to store production.

Opposite page: With support from family, Nathan Blake and Libby Wood, both aged 31, bought Mahuri in July this year. Below: About half the ewe flock is mated to terminal rams, the rest goes to Perendale or Coopworth sires.

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the most productive areas of the farm.

Nathan and Libby are also fencing off waterways and native bush.

“One of the first things we did was draw up an environmental plan. We’ve also focused on lifting soil fertility,” Libby says.

Capital fertiliser has been applied to 250ha of the better-contoured and subdivided land.

“Once we’ve got that block humming, we will extend that out to the rest of the farm.”

Stock on Mahuri initially consisted of trading cattle and a breeding flock of various breeds. Bordered by pine trees, the farm is also home to a large number of feral goats.

These can be a major problem as they find holes in fences and consume a considerable amount of pasture.

Nathan musters goats whenever he can and sells them, but they keep reappearing.

He and Libby hope numbers will reduce as the subdivision improves.

Sheep performance in the early years was underwhelming. Nathan says pleurisy and facial eczema were affecting ewe health, and lamb production was poor.

“So we decided to start from scratch to build a flock that would better suit this block and produce lambs that are healthy and well-grown at weaning.”

Getting the right mix This year Mahuri is carrying about 1000 mixed-age ewes, 265 two-tooths and 270 hogget replacements. Next year about 1500 ewes will go to the ram, with the goal of reaching 1600.

The flock includes Romney, Perendale and Romdale ewes but Nathan and Libby are breeding towards the Perendale-Coopworth cross they feel will be a good match for the farm.

Since 2018, Perendale and Suffolk rams have been sourced from the Raupuha Stud, Mahoenui, and this season about half of

the maternal-mated ewes went to Kirikau Coopworth rams from The Poplars Farm, Kirikau.

Libby says these studs are a natural fit for the business “because they are both breeding exactly the characteristics we want”.

The couple take sire selections seriously.

They have to like the look of a ram, but the figures have equal weighting.

“Maternal EBV’s are very important. We are a store property so we want healthy and well-grown lambs at weaning. Survivability and FE tolerance are also crucial, and our aim is to breed sheep with a natural resilience to internal parasites.”

When ewe numbers reach the targeted 1600, about 600-700 will go to Perendale or Coopworth rams and the rest will go to a Suffolk or Beltex.

Nathan says the goal is to breed sheep that are free-moving and easy to muster on the hills. The ‘ideal’ ewe will weigh 65-70kg, have good mothering and milking ability and rear lambs to 30kg at weaning. They will scan at 170-175% and lamb at 130-135%.

“We don’t really want triplets because they are too hard to manage on this type of contour.”

Libby says the original ewe flock was not ideally suited to the farm, and FE and two drought seasons may have had a long-term effect on production. So she and Nathan are working towards improving ewe efficiency by culling out the older, poorer-performing ewes.

Condition scoring (CS) is a key tool and it’s something they are learning to master.

Libby says she was lucky to be taught by good vets. Ewes are condition scored at key times, including scanning, pre-mating, weaning and docking.

“Ideally, we’d like to get ewes to a minimum CS of 3 at mating, so anything below that will get preferential treatment.”

They are always identifying the poor performers and focusing on them, not looking at averages.

“High CS ewes can look after themselves, the biggest payoff comes from adding half a CS to those lighter ewes.”

She says good genetics are a crucial part of the breeding programme.

Potential replacement lambs are tagged at docking using coloured year-tags, but if the lamb shows any undesirable traits, such as poor growth or parasite issues, the tags are removed and the lamb is sold after weaning.

Poorer performing two-tooth and mixedage ewes are also de-tagged and mated to a terminal sire.

“We want to get consistency in the ewes so they all have an equal chance of

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October 2021

producing good lambs.”

Nathan says about 100 ewes will be culled this year, based on factors like condition score, lambing performance, udder and teeth.

The farm has a relatively low stocking rate as stock numbers are still building, and ewes are given plenty of space before lambing.

They are set stocked from late July on 200ha at about 5.1 ewes/ha for the maternalmated twinning ewes, and 5.2 ewes/ha for terminal-mated twinners. Single-bearing ewes are stocked at about 5.7ewes/ha.

Lambing starts on August 10, which is early in the region but suits Nathan’s offfarm casual work.

Libby says while the present lambing date is a good fit for the farm’s pasture growth curve, she and Nathan will use Farmax modelling to see if a change in date will make a difference to sheep performance.

Fertiliser is used strategically to boost feed supplies to meet ewe demand. This year about 30 tonnes of DAP were applied to lambing country at 150kg/ha in late July.

Libby says this generated more feed for lambing while also boosting P levels.

“For every dollar we spend, we get back an extra $1.50 in higher lamb weights and better ewe weights at mating.”

The couple has learnt a lot from the last two drought years. Careful budgeting has been crucial, as has expert help from a good bank manager and a good accountant.

Libby says they now plan for a drought every year and are budgeting 3-5years ahead.

“It’s given us the confidence to pull more levers, and that includes selling cattle early, applying pre-lamb nitrogen and not being afraid to extend the overdraft if we have to.

It’s more risky to do nothing.”

Nathan says wool is still considered when

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October 2021

Most of the farm is steep hill and better suited to store lamb production.

selecting rams, despite low prices.

A recent rise in wool prices has given the couple some confidence.

“It’s not profitable currently, but we believe it will come back.”

Store lambs drive profit A lack of good finishing contour means Mahuri is best suited to store lamb production, and this generates over $100,000 in annual income, Nathan says.

In 2020/21 the farm sold 1150 lambs – 80% of which went store at 28-31kg LW between late November and early December. The remainder were finished at 16-18kg CW. Nathan says terminal-mated ewes go to Suffolk or Beltex rams because their progeny are easy to identify and very marketable, earning a 10-20c/kg premium.

He says lamb weights improved this

season due to better genetics and grass growth. Blackface lambs averaged an extra 2kg and the whiteface lambs were up 3kg. Previously, store lamb weights have ranged from 21 to 31kg, but the aim is to consistently get blackface lambs to 30kg and whiteface lambs to 29kg.

The ability to sell the bulk of the lamb crop at weaning is crucial to the system’s success. Only a small number of finishing lambs are carried through the summer and the aim is to have no lambs on the farm by March when the rams go out.

“We are a good store property and we don’t chase the market.”

Libby says the key to producing good store lambs is to focus on the ewes. This starts from the day their lambs are weaned.

Getting lambs away early gives the ewes a head start for the next season.

Tail-end ewes are drafted at weaning and

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given preferential feeding to get weights up.

Faecal egg levels are monitored carefully and ewes are drenched only if they need it. This, in combination with the selection of worm resistant sires, is part of a plan to reduce the risk of drench resistance. The couple also monitor for FE and Barber’s Pole worms.

Lambs are drenched before weaning, and at docking they get a Multine B12 shot and are vaccinated for scabby mouth.

About 50 handreared calves will be sold at 100kg.

Suck it and see Even though 250 hoggets were mated for the first time this year, hogget mating is not considered a priority on Mahuri in the short term.

Nathan says the hoggets were mated because the farm had good pasture growth after two tough years and was understocked.

They went to Coopworth rams at a minimum of 40kg and were farmed on easier contour with plenty of shelter.

“We had the extra feed, so we thought why not give it a go and see what happens.

They only scanned at 42% but if we get an extra 100 lambs out of it, that’s still a bonus.”

Its unlikely hoggets will be mated next year because Nathan and Libby are aiming to lift the stocking rate.

Libby says they will continue to focus on growing hoggets as much as possible.

“When we’ve got the mixed-age ewes performing at the level we want, that’s a good time to look again at hogget mating.”

Cow numbers rising The farm still runs about 75 trade steers, and about 30 home-bred and reared weaner steers were sold in March at an average of 203kg. Non-replacement heifers are sold as weaners. About 30 heifer replacements were

KEEPING IT SIMPLE Nathan and Libby try to keep management of Mahuri as simple as possible so they can run it with minimal outside labour.

Family members and friends help out when they can.

Nathan met Libby five years ago.

Raised in rural Lincolnshire, England, she moved to New Zealand with her family in 2007 and lived on lifestyle blocks in the Waikato and King Country while her father, Colin, worked as a teacher.

retained this year and Nathan says about 80 cows will be mated next season.

The herd includes a mix of Angus, Anguscross, Hereford and Hereford-cross but the plan is to breed towards an all-Angus herd of about 100 cows.

When cow numbers reach this target and ewe numbers hit 1600, Nathan and Libby conservatively estimate the farm

Libby reared calves or dairy goats with her mother, Alison, and loved working with horses. In 2009 she went to Massey University to study for a degree in agricultural science. Since graduating she has worked in a range of agribusiness roles, most recently as a nutrient specialist for Ballance AgriNutrients.

The job gives her flexibility, allowing her to work on the farm when needed.

Nathan also works off-farm on a casual basis, doing mustering and yard work.

will generate an extra $40,000 in lamb and cattle sales.

This year they are also rearing 50 FriesianHereford and Friesian-Angus calves, which will be sold at 100kg.

Cows and trading steers are used to control pasture quality in late spring, but if feed gets tight the steers are sold to free up feed for the breeding ewes.

ECZEMA TOLERANT ROMNEYS RAMGUARD TESTING SINCE 1985 • 5 star rating • Structurally sound • Robust functional sheep that survive • Minimum input • Selecting for parasite tolerance and less dags • No ewes worm drenched, dipped or vaccinated KEITH ABBOTT, RAGLAN 027 463 9859 | www.waiteikaromneys.co.nz

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you can trust GENETIC TRENDS GE Analysis #38568 23/07/2021

FE Gold Flocks

Not all facial eczema breeding programmes are the same!

Ask the questions. ✔ been testing for a of 10 years

minimum

✔ Dosing at 0.6 (to earn 5 star rating)

the

✔ Shown me their certificate RAMGUARDFACIAL ECZEMA TOLERANCE TESTING SERVICE RAMGUARD-

FACIAL ECZEMA TOLERANCE TESTING SERVICE

FACIAL ECZEMA CERTIFICATE.

FACIAL ECZEMA CERTIFICATE. RAM

FLOCK FA TESTING HISTORY FOR:

FACIAL

GUARD-

ECZEMA TOLE CI RANCE TEST FLOCK HISTORY FOR: ALTESTING RAMG ECZE ING FACIAL ECZE Test season: 2019-2020 UARD SERVICE MA CERT 2019-2020 MA TOLERANC - Test season: FACIA FLOCK E TESTrating: L ECZE Name Anyone SIL flock ***** TEST:ING SERV Name C: Anyone C MA IFICATE. SIL ING flock rating: ***** ICE

HISTORY CERTIFI Years tested: FOR0: SIL : FLOCFlock 0 TEST: ING 37 37 K SIL Years tested: CATE HISTORY .

Address: SILrating: flock rating: (on dose Address: ANY RD111 ANY RDFOR: SIL flock (on dose rate)rate) Nam111 e : Any one R DC2 < 0.2 * 0.5 - 0.59 0.5 - **** 0.59 **** Name RD2 < 0.2 Test * Flock : Anyone seas : C TOWN 1111 0.2**- 0.29Test ** on: >= 0.6 ***** 0 ANY Flock TOWN 1111 0.2 - 0.29 >= 0.6on: ***** 201 seas : 9-2 SIL AddrANY 0 SIL ess: 111 0.3 -flock 0.49 *** 2019020 -2020 g:rating *** SIL Addre ANYss:RD111 0.3 - 0.49 *** SILratin flock ** of ANY Number Number of ramsYea Dosers rates (mg/kg) used for : RD of teste **** Year RYear * D 2 Number sd:teste Year Number of Number of rams Dose rates (mg/kg) used for d: R D 2of tested Number tested rams tested rams tolerant SIL challenge: 37 37 flock ratin ANY TOW tested flockg:rating tested rams tested rams tolerant challenge: SIL (on :dose TOW NANY

by UNTESTED 1 1111 (on 2dose N 1111 Sires to final dose:< 0.2 < 0.2 rate)rate) * * 0.5 20.5 -Sires to final dose: 20 1 1983 by UNTESTED 33 0.10 - 0.59- **** 0.59 **** Year Year 0.2 - 0.29 0.2 - 0.29 ** 1984 er of 57Number of 38 -** 1983 33Numb 20 0.10 0.10 ->= Number of 0.3 0.3 - 0.49 tested - 0.49 *** >= 0.6 0.6 1985 tested 21ramsNumb 16 0.10 -- ***** rams tested er of 1984 57 38 er Numb -- ***** *** tested Numb er of0.10 rams tested of Dose rams rams tested rams 62 46 0.20 rates (mg/kg Dose rates (mg/k 1985 211986 16 0.10 -- for -) used

by UNTE g) tolera 17 tolerant 5 1987 1983 50 0.15 0.24 challenused 33 STED Sires STED ge: for -19861983 62 331984 by UNTE 46 Sires nt to final dose: 0.20 challe0.23 nge: 1988 41 14 -to final dose: 57 1 5 19871984 501989 17 0.24 0.29 8 20 0.15 1 0.24 571985 52 21 1985 1988 411990 14 20 18 38 0.23 0.26 0.10 -- 2-- 2 41 62 211986 0.10 -1986 5 5219911987 51 1989 8 38 36 16 0.24 0.300.10 0.29 ---62 5 50 -0.10 0.10 1987 1988 10 52 41 23 46 0.26 0.35 1990 411992 18 16 -- ---- -501989 0.20 0.10 1988 10 52 10 4 17 0.30 0.35 1991 511993 36 46 -- -- -- -411990 0.200.350.15 10 41 4 2 14 0.35 -17 1989 10 1992 521994 23 -521991 -- -- 0.24 0.15 0.350.23 1995 12 51 6 9 8 199010 1993 10411992 10 4 14 0.35 --0.24 -0.24 18 0.23 1996 12 0 7 0.37 -1991 52 0.26 1994 1051 28 0.35 0.40 -- -- --0.29 1993 10 15 1997 1010 4 0 5 36 0.24 0.30 -1992 1994 1995 1252 918 0.35 0.42 -1998 1010 6 010 4 23 0.29-- -0.26 0.35 1993 1995 1996 12 0 736 0.37 0.44 ---- -1999 12 04 44 10 12 0.30 0.35 -1994 1996 2000 13 06 22 15 1997 10 523 0.40 0.48 ---- - -10 12 010 15 0.35 0.35 1997 1995 12 00 49 0.48 1998 10 44 0.42 ---- - -10 04 122001 0.35 0.35 0.50 1998 199620 2002 15 00 97 1999 12 42 0.44 ---- --10 06 0.37 122003 15 0.35 1999 5 16 00 4 0.55 1997 12 0 2000 132000 29 0.48 --- --0.40 10 0.35 0.55 2004 13 0 74 --1998 7 13 0.42 0 2001 122001 4 0.48 0.60 4 10 -0.37 2005 13 6 00 12 -1999 59 20 200220 152002 0.50 0.44 27 12 2006 13 00 0.60 00 -0.40 15 --2000 44 2003 4 200325 16 0.55 0.48 2007 15 00 12 0.60 00 13 --- -0.42 16 0.48 2001 47 2004 97 2008 0.60 00 2004 13 0.55 0.50 12 20 1314 00 --- - 0.44 2005 44 2002 26 2009 0.60 00 2005 0.60 0.55 1315 0 0 1513 --- - 0.48 2006 7 2003 47 00 2010 11 0.60 2006 0.60 0.55 1316 0 0 25 1613 -- -0.48 2007 610 00 2011 16 0 0 0.60 2004 912 15 0.60 25 2007 15 0.60 132008 7 9 0.50 0 0 30 2012 0.60 2005 47 14 170 0 - 2008 14 0.60 0.60 12 6 132009 - 0.55 0 0 2013 0.60 15 200 0 2006 7 4 - 2009 152014 0.60 0.60 7 14 132010 25 - - - 0 0 0.60 0.55 16 22 2007 6 11 0 0 4 8 2010 162015 0.60 0.60 0 0 152011 - - - 0.60 16 22 30 0.600.60 2008 7 10 11 6 0 2011 162016 0.600.600.60 -- 0 0 142012 17 12 0 0.60 12 9 2009 10 80 2013 0 0 0 30 2012 172016 Nat. 20 200 152014 - 2016 - -Apr 0.60challenge 0.600.60 9 2010201335 7 6 0 0 0 0 9 22 20 202017 162015 - -- 0.600.600.600.60 6 20112014 0 0 4 14 18 0.60 0 0 222018 22 19 162016 30 - -- 14 0.600.600.60 0 20122015 0 11 8 9 0 0 0.60 0.60 222019 12 24 -172016 8 0.600.60 0 10 6 20132016 200 0 35 0.60 12 0 -6 202017 0.60 0.60 20 0 2014 9 0.60 2016 222018 200 80 80 Nat. challenge Apr -2016 0 0.60 Nat. 19 challenge 2015 6 0 35 2017 22201920 0 9 9 0 -Apr 2016 0.60 0.60 24 0.60 14 2016 0 0 2018 12 19 0 18 18 0.60 0.60 -0.60 8 2016 9 0 2019 200 24 0 9 0.60 -35 0.60 0.60 6 2017 20 0.60 80 2018 0 Nat. challe 19 nge 9 2019 0 Apr 2016 24 0.60 18 0 0.60 9 0.60 Flock

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Jenny & Adrian Savannah ARDG Romney 09 427 6393 John & Jan Marchant ARDG Romney 09 232 5613

Bob Steed ARDG Romney 09 433 2616 Kate Broadbent Nikau Coopworth 09 233 3230

William Jackson Piquet Hill Romney/ Maternal Composite 07 825 4480

Alastair Reeves Waimai Romney 07 825 4925

Craig Alexander ARDG Romney 07 888 1703

Keith Abbott Waiteika Romney 027 463 9859 Ken Haywood Puketotara Romney 07 877 8586

Carol & Tony Hodge Pikowai Coopworth 07 322 2067

Russell Proffit Raupuha Perendale/ Romdale 07 877 8977

Brett Teutenberg Hinenui Coopworth/ Romney/Romworth 027 446 3684

Travis Carter Kirikau Coopworth 07 895 3348

Sam & Gemma Hain Hain Romney 06 867 8097

Ross Richards Romani Coopworth 07 895 7144

Hamish Bibby Kelso X 027 777 6619 Paul Crick ARDG Romney 027 450 4085

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James Parsons Ashgrove Coopworth 021 206 3208

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ONFARM

GROWING THE BUSINESS

As a young fellow growing up on a farm at Eketahuna, Ben Morrison had his own flock of sheep. The opportunity for him and his wife, Vibeke, to buy Motu-nui Rams Romney stud from Jason Le Grove this year represents the culmination of a life-long interest in breeding sheep for Ben. By: Rebecca Greaves Photos: Brad Hanson

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S

tarting from scratch, Ben and Vibeke (Vebz) Morrison’s steely determination to have something of their own, willingness to make sacrifices and not taking no for an answer has seen them grow their farming operation to a significant land holding.

Buying Motu-nui Rams is just the latest step in their impressive business growth story.

With almost no outside help, the couple has steadily increased their land holding in the Tararua District over the past 10 years. Their rapid expansion has brought challenges, with blocks spread over a wide area, taking on staff for the first time, and development needed on many of the blocks purchased, but they have taken it all in their stride.

Growing up, Ben always knew he wanted to be a farmer. Any time he could, he was out on the farm with his dad. After leaving school at 16 he headed up-country, spending time shepherding in Taumarunui and Taihape before heading back to the Wairarapa.

He worked for Tinks and Andy Pottinger at Tinui for 11 years. While working there, he found several small lease blocks as a way to build equity, which he ran alongside his fulltime job.

The Pottingers gave him a chance to run some stock at their property.

“They gave me time around what we were doing onfarm, as long as the work got done, to do my own stuff. And I had weekends.”

In the back of his mind, Ben set timeframes. He wanted to have his first decent lease, or own some land, by the time he was 30, something he achieved when he and Vebz secured a 500ha lease at Mauriceville in 2010.

Their advice to others is not to give up.

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“We got laughed at by a lot of banks – we went to three or four banks looking to lease or buy.”

They had built about $200,000 equity in stock, but had no debt with anyone and banks didn’t like that.

They only wanted to borrow $400,000 to stock the bigger lease.

‘It was a huge risk for them (the bank), but within a year we had pretty much paid off our debt and were buying our first block.’

Ben told them he would do it one way or another. Ironically, years later, they had those banks come to them wanting their business.

“BNZ was the bank that took a risk with us, and we have had brilliant bank managers, they have backed us the whole way.”

In the end, they got it over the line with a personal guarantee from Vebz’s father of

$200,000, and the lease was theirs.

“It was a huge risk for them (the bank), but within a year we had pretty much paid off our debt and were buying our first block,” Vebz adds.

Vebz grew up on a cropping farm in Marton. She and Ben met 15 years ago at the infamous Shepherd’s Shemozzle in Hunterville. They now have two boys, Monty, 9, and Harvey, 7.

From the start, Vebz was completely on board with Ben’s quest to find something of their own.

“I was the one always scrolling on the computer looking for farms to buy. He’d come home and I’d say ‘let’s buy this’.”

When they got the lease at Mauriceville, one of the bank’s conditions was that Ben remain in his full time employment with the Pottingers, because of the secure income. Vebz left a job she loved at a jeweller and went to work fulltime on the new lease, alongside Ben’s dad.

When they bought the Mara in 2012, the sort of hard block that would have put many off, they didn’t care about the remote location – it was the only block they could find in their price range. By then Ben had left Pottingers, and they wanted to put the

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Opposite page: Vibeke and Ben Morrison have grown a significant land holding and business with very little outside help. Above: Aerial view of the house and farm buildings, and Akitio River.

Gleniti Romneys are robust easy-care sheep that have high fertility and high growth rate with good style medium wool.

BRED FOR: • Fertility • Survival • Growth Rate Member of: Wairarapa Romney Improvement Group (WRIG)

Contact Bill Hume

Ph 06 307 7847 or 027 407 7557 Email w-hume@xtra.co.nz

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money they were making from the lease into a bit of dirt, rather than just having stock at the end of the lease.

The Mara was 806 hectares of half scrub, virtually a whole paddock, class 6 country, with a run-down house but a nice woolshed. It had no fert history and lots of goats and pigs.

“It was a back block and we got told we were mad,” Ben says.

They were excited but everyone else was saying ‘what the hell have you done’?

“But it was ours, and it’s the most beautiful country, so different, hence why we still have it now,” Vebz says.

The Mara was about building equity, but they fenced it up and got it to a functional point. In 2013 they bought a further 155ha of adjoining land. It might have been theirs, but it wasn’t somewhere they wanted to live with a young family and, with the Mauriceville lease coming to an end in 2016, they started to look for their next farm – one they could call home.

They needed to find a way to get into another farm and it came in the form of Manuka honey, selling 412ha of the Mara to bees.

“We’d had a couple of good seasons out of bees and people were starting to look for bee blocks. It was timing – we got paid more than what we’d bought the whole block

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for. That allowed us to get into this farm, Kaitak.”

They have since added two more blocks of land adjoining Kaitak, and a further fattening block on the Coast Road, Pongaroa.

The rapid expansion was a period of hectic work and Ben being away from home a lot. Vebz was busy with two little boys and says she never really had a chance to reflect on what they had achieved.

“It was constantly all go, and it hasn’t stopped,” Ben says. “It’s full on, trying to do as much as we can on the development side.

We were growing our land holding, then doing development. The last two and-a-half years have been huge on development and getting everything set up properly.

“Most of the properties we’ve bought have been run down. It’s a challenge to run a farm effectively when it’s run down and that’s been a setback in some ways – it can be frustrating.”

Vibeke Morrison with her horse, Dee.

runs smoothly. Both admit the office and bookwork side of things is not their strong point.

For Ben, who had always done everything himself, relying on other people has been a big hurdle to overcome.

“I’d always done things myself. We got to the point where we had too much land and I couldn’t physically do it all. Relying on

Challenges and lessons The biggest challenge has been organisation, hiring staff and getting systems in place to ensure everything

other people, and finding the right people, that’s been hard to change. For me, I’d rather be out there doing it.”

Working out what sort of people they needed to employ, and at what stage of their farming career, was tough and has been trial and error in some ways. Having never employed staff before they didn’t really know if what they needed was a

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junior shepherd, a senior shepherd or a stock manager.

Now, they are happy with the team they have around them, and have started using tools, like Cloud Farmer, to help keep track of day-to-day activities onfarm.

“Everything goes in there, from staff hours to stock tallies. Every time something comes through the yards we enter tallies, drenching etc. All staff have access and record their hours. I can go in there and see exactly what’s been done on the stock side,” Ben explains.

“It’s made a huge difference and simplified everything. I can just look at the app, I don’t need to ring staff and ask what’s in their notebook. It’s all at my fingertips.”

Vebz is candid about what the experience has been like for her.

“It’s been a headache, trying to keep track of things and, at times, bringing up a family on my own. Things are a lot easier now, but it’s been a hard slog. We never saw Ben for two years, but we have been lucky that I’ve managed to stay at home with the kids.”

Ben sees his strengths as stock management and stockmanship.

“I know my stock really well. Being able

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Harvey, 6, Vebz, Monty, 9, and Ben Morrison on the farm.

to push the boundaries and juggle things to get stock to where they need to be, and make an extra dollar here and there.”

Vebz says he’s getting better on the bookwork side, and management of staff.

“The biggest thing for us is bookwork and paperwork, neither of us is good on a computer.”

“It’s all new to me. I hope I’m improving but I still know there’s work to be done,” Ben adds.

In terms of their stock policy, the expansion phase and extensive development has come with significant debt, which meant regular cash flow was needed to keep the bank happy. That has meant a lot of trading stock to keep things ticking over, and no ‘set’ stock policy.

“We had to do a lot of trading, out of necessity. We’re now at the point where we don’t need to do as much of that and can focus more on the breeding side, hence the move to the stud,” Ben says.

“The stud and everything here is being consolidated. It’s about simplifying our whole system, for our team and making it a place where people want to be, and enjoy working.”

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FARM FACTS • Ben and Vibeke Morrison • Sheep and beef – breeding and finishing • Weber, Tararua District Farms: • Kaitak (home farm), Weber, (three different blocks joined together) 1000 hectares • Coast Road, Pongaroa, 195ha – river flats, used for fattening • Mara, Pongaroa, 460ha of farmland owned, including an 80ha bush block, additional 1300ha leased (scrub country, about half grazeable land) used for dry stock.

PAKI-ITI ROMNEY & ROMTEX • • • • •

160 clients last year purchased or leased Paki-iti rams Bred on a 870ha hard hill country property rising up to 637m asl (2090f asl) Breeding for constitution, longevity, structural soundness and then performance Constitution = moderate frame, deep bodied type of sheep Performance = Growth, fertility, survival, meat yield, incorporating FE tolerance and parasite resistance PAKI-ITI SUFFOLK • 11 years of breeding Romtex rams, utilizing a stabilised SIL recorded Romtex flock • Paki-iti maternal Romtex offer faster growth rates and higher meat yields • Romtex rams sold as 22th rams

Succession for Motu-nui As a youngster Ben always had a keen interest in breeding sheep. He’s been a client of Motu-nui for 10 years, and the couple struck up a strong friendship with stud owner, Jason Le Grove.

• 147 “I’ve had Motu-nui rams right fromclients the purchased or leased Paki-iti rams last year word go and have always liked •the stock 97% terminal sale rams fully SIL performance we’ve had, they’ve performed well for us. recorded PAKI-ITI SUFTEX Breeding has always been an interest • 400+ofSuffolk and Suftex rams sold and leased last PAKI-ITI SUFFOLK mine, to produce good stock. Being able year to produce good stock for other• people 5 yearsis of C/T scanning the next level. To take the stock• to nextof wintering ram hoggets on steep hill country 10the years level is pretty exciting,” Ben says.

• 97 years of breeding rams When Ben approached Jason about the possibility of buying the stud, itBUT was BREEDING IS MORE THAN NUMBERS It is fortuitous timing. Jason was thinkingabout about longevity, structural soundness, constitution and then succession, knowing there was no-one in the performance numbers. his family ready to take the stud on, but Visit wanting ensure the family’sPaki-iti effortsrams in last year • 147 clients to purchased or leased building the stud would not be wasted. to view our breeding programs • 97% terminal sale rams fully SIL performance Both parties are excited about what the recorded future holds for the stud, with Jason staying PAKI-ITI SUFTEX • 400+ Suffolk and Suftex rams sold and leased lastMorton 06 328 5772 PAKI-ITI SUFFOLK Stewart • Andrew Morton & 06SUFTEX 328 2856 on in a marketing and genetics capacity, year and Ben taking charge of the stock Rside.

D 54 Kimbolton, Manawatu • pakiroms@farmside.co.nz • 5 years of C/T scanning • Over 500 Suffolk, Suftex rams and ram hoggets sold and leased last season “I wanted a stockman, not a marketer, • 10 years of wintering ram hoggets on steep hill country • Breeding for constitution, longevity, structural soundness and then performance Ben a stockman.

• 97and years of isbreeding rams It’s a beast and • Constitution = moderate frame, deep bodied type of sheep it’s not an easy job. You’ve got to be • Performance = Fast growth, high meat yield, high survival and incorporating BUT BREEDING IS MORE THAN NUMBERS committed, 100%.” meat quality traits (IMF, tenderness and PH) It is about longevity, structural soundness, constitution When approached him, Jason knew it • 13 years of wintering ram hoggets on hard hill country = constitution and then theBen performance numbers. was the right fit, for both parties.

• Suftex rams bred for darkness “IVisit don’t think people realise the work involved and what my dad and I have put to view our breeding programs into Motu-nui for the last 40 years. I was looking at succession – I’m ready. The stud Stewart Morton 06 is328 5772 • Andrew Morton 06 328 2856 industry, in my opinion, taken over with a lot of science. I feel we still need to stick R D 54 Kimbolton, Manawatu • pakiroms@farmside.co.nz to basics, and that’s where I see Ben working Visit to view our breeding programs with myself to do that,” Jason says.

The stud has been Jason’s true passion, Stewart Morton 06 328 5772 / 0274 453 110 and stepping back will be hard.

• Andrew Morton 06 328 2856 Jason’s father John founded Motu-nui in the early 1980s after managing Wairere for R D 54, Kimbolton, Manawatu • pakiroms@farmside.co.nz John Daniell. He was given the opportunity

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Efficiency is the answer

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Productive, long lived, moderate sized ewes that wean their weight are the engine room workhorses to power profits on our farms. Lift your weaning % and weights by getting more lambs on the ground, weaned and onto the truck = less work and cost.

Coopworths are known to be: • Top mothers = reduced lambing losses • Disease tolerant = reduced ewe wastage Help satisfy emission targets with fewer ewes producing more lambs.

With over 50 years of performance recording and selecting for production traits, the Coopworth breed consistently tops NZGE Leader Lists.

Coopworth rams are top performers in the B+LNZ Low Input Progeny test. Traits of the future include reduced dag score, FEC and resilience to parasites without compromising productivity.

Coopworth breeders selecting for health traits feature strongly; half of the FE Gold members are Coopworth breeders and MW + FEC leaders are Coopworth.

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Breeding for profitable sheep production since 1968 78

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to buy some older recorded ewes from Wairere, and it all started from there. Jason came home in the mid-90s when they were running about 1200 recorded ewes. They grew to 3500 recorded ewes.

“As dad slowly took a step back, I took the stud on. It’s been my privilege to work with my dad for the last 25 years to get to where we are now. As the dairy industry kicked in and sheep got squeezed on to the harder hill country it’s been my niche, to grow a ewe that is efficient on the hills.

“Anyone can grow a sheep on the flats.”

The base of the stud is Romney, but they have also branched out into a crossbred composite ewe, based on the Romney breed, and have a terminal flock.

The stock transition period will be over the next 18 months. For now, the stud stock remains at ICA and will lamb there. For this year’s ram selling it will be status quo at ICA, with Ben present to meet clients and share their joint vision for where the stud is heading. Stock will slowly make their way to the Morrison’s farm at Weber next year.

The way Jason sees it, the three big challenges facing the sheep industry are Facial Eczema, wool and internal parasites.

Ben and Vebz with Jason Le Grove, from Motu-nui Rams.

Facial Eczema (FE) particularly is a big focus for the future, and Jason has already formed a partnership with Will Jackson at Piquet Hill and started a FE breeding programme.

“Producing good hardy sheep that can handle any environment, that bounce factor. I’ve had Motu-nui for 10 years and the feed efficiency is pretty impressive. We

never have any spare grass and they’re still producing. That’s what I want to breed for other farms, and do it as best we can,” Ben says.

For Jason’s part, his aim is to help Vebz and Ben as much as he can, to succeed them into what Motu-nui stands for, and to secure its long-term future.

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Romani stays on top and looks to future flocks CONDITIONS MAY HAVE GOT TOUGHER on Ross and Ruth Richard’s property near Taumarunui over the past few years, but the fact their Romani stud genetics performance has gone north, not south is testimony to their efforts in doubling down on key performance attributes.

The once summer safe country is less so today, but the couple’s quality Coopworth sires are proving their twin breeding planks of facial eczema and worm tolerance are helping push them into the top tier of performance across all aspects of production.

Since taking on the stud owned by Edward Dinger for about 45 years in 2015, Ross and Ruth have worked to build on Edward’s founding efforts that include over 35 years of breeding for facial eczema tolerance in their rams. As concerns have risen over drench resistance the couple have also put greater emphasis upon parasite tolerance.

Their efforts are reflected in recent years’ performance monitoring, and particularly in the high-profile Beef + Lamb Genetics Low Input Central Progeny Test conducted at Orari Gorge Station near Geraldine.

Designed to benchmark sheep genetics selected to deliver low input traits, and to strengthen comparisons across flocks and breeding groups, the ram comparison trial leaves ram lambs undocked and all lambs are drenched at weaning. The ram lambs are never drenched again, and the ewe lambs were only drenched again in May. Orari records a wide range of traits in the progeny of rams from about 17 flocks.

At tailing, DNA samples are taken for parentage and genomic calibration of novel

traits. Tail length and bareness is measured, along with leg length to correct this for lamb size.

The usual parameters of lamb survival and growth-rate are recorded, along with wool weight, micron and colour. Later the ewe lambs are scored for breech and belly bareness, resilience to worm challenge, dag score, hogget oestrus, residual feed intake and methane emissions. Ram lambs are scored for dags, resistance to worm challenge, and carcase traits of eye muscle width, depth and fat measured.

“In the first year our sire proved to be the most productive, and that came through not in any one particular trait, but overall. This year’s results are just out and the Romani ram has again proven the most productive for the 2020 cohort, and with the lowest methane emissions too “says Ross.

While flystrike tolerance is not included in the LICPT, it is another key trait Romani has been working upon.

“I believe we have achieved great progress with this issue in our environment. The flock has been undipped for eight years and most seasons records less than 1% incidence of flystrike. Last season we had only 5 or 6 cases, out of around 7000 sheep.”

The results of the LICPT reflect the efforts with the Romani flock, where Ross and Ruth don’t drench any stud lambs until 6-10 weeks post-weaning.

SIL analysis reveals Romani’s flock has consistently performed above the national average for key production and health traits. In the case of meat and wool yields this is around double the average, with disease traits the gap is even bigger.

The latest selection work at Romani is focussing on measuring methane output, a genetic trait that can be incorporated into a SIL index. Initial results indicate Romani sires are exhibiting the typical range, with a positive link to feed efficiency.

“While it is only early days, we know that lower methane emissions correlate with improved feed efficiency, which makes sense, and is reassuring given our other traits have also contributed to an efficient protein converter,” says Ross.

“Given our genetics’ proven track record of constantly pushing upwards in productivity, we are confident we can integrate this increasingly important trait into what is already a very well rounded set of genetic values in our sires,” says Ross.

For Ross and Ruth their efforts in facial eczema, worm tolerance and flystrike are holding their sires in a good position as more farmers face the challenge of one or even all three issues, thanks to shifts in climatic conditions around the country.

This translates to SIL-leading maternal worth indices that are among the top in the country, confirming those efforts have been well placed, and put their clients’ flocks in a good position to endure tougher farming seasons.

“And now as we incorporate methane into our indices, we feel we are not only offering stock that are capable of enduring the tough conditions that climate change is inducing, but also offering genetics that are helping to reduce the future effects of climate change, through lower methane emissions,” says Ross.

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ADDING REAL VALUE TO OUR BUSINESS “For the last 5 years we have been using Grassendale Genetics and have been impressed with the results.

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LIVESTOCK Northland

TOUGHEST SHEEP IN NZ By keeping buying local, Northland farmer John Blackwell reckons his are the toughest sheep in the country.

By Glenys Christian.

Photos by Malcolm Pullman.

A

rapohue sheep and beef farmer John Blackwell is a rare breed.

Unlike many Northland farmers he is still farming sheep.

But with the triple risks of viral pneumonia, facial eczema and fly strike he believes it can take 10 years to get stock from outside the north to the point where they’re safe.

So that’s why he’s so strict about buying sheep locally.

“If they can survive in Northland they should survive elsewhere,” he says.

“But not the other way around.”

Most of the sheep are run on a property of 200 hectares bought four years ago close to their 345ha home farm. They better suit its larger paddocks which average between 1 and 2ha. And the kikuyu pastures are not as good as those with none of the species on the home farm. But there are plans to carry out more subdivision. Chicory is being used in their pasture renewal programme of about 40ha, annually, 30ha of which is on the new farm.

John farms with his wife Lurline and their son Peter helps out. Peter runs a fencing business, employing five workers.

In total they now carry about 650 ewes with a lambing average of 150 to 170% as well as 250 hoggets which average from 110 to 120%.

They were scanned on July 19 showing 153% in lamb, 5% with triplets and just 9% empty. From the late 1980s John concentrated on breeding a

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The Blackwells with farmhand Stacey Lawrence who started in February this year under an intern programme.

high-fertility flock as well as keeping eye on facial eczema tolerance. This led to a switch to Coopworths, mostly sourced from Northland’s west coast then there was a change to Ashgrove genetics to speed up progress. Now all ewes and hoggets are scanned and every hogget that doesn’t get in-lamb leaves the flock, averaging $180 nett. Tail-end ewes will be put to a terminal sire, which used to be a Suffolk ram.

“I liked them because the lambs were easy to identify as not being replacements,” John says.

But first he switched to Texels, then the Beltex breed, two years ago. They show good weight gain and finishing as well as looking quite different from the Coopworths. Lambs will go off the farm at 17 to 18kg from November each year in monthly drafts with prices last year ranging from $90 to $120.

“Then by April the next year we’re pretty well cleared out of the hoggets’ lambs.”

John does his own shearing, helped by Peter, who has run his own shearing gang for the last six years. He’ll also help out other local farmers when it comes round to their shearing time which he admits he finds “cruisy”.

“They’re making all the decisions.”

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Buying cattle all year round When it comes to his buying in of Friesian weaners over 100 kilograms John’s policy couldn’t be more different than his sheep strategy.

“I’ll buy from anywhere,” he said.

Replacing one finished bull with three weaners he buys all year round which he’s been doing for 40 years, initially on handshake deals which could be worth up to $100,000, but more recently over the phone.

On the beef side of the operation he decided to largely change to Friesian bulls in the late 1990s because of the better profitability.

“We only have about 20 steers now but can go from 700 up to 1000 bulls from late summer drought through to spring,” he says.

“We buy in a lot of bulls through the winter now as steers were becoming more expensive to buy. While bulls are more work, once you’ve set up a temporary fencing system they’re easy to shift.”

A local private discussion group he belongs to tested out a variety of different fencing systems around that time so the various pros and cons could be seen at close quarters. Thanks to that knowledge,

temporary fencing cuts paddocks down to an average 0.2ha by use of a technosystem of polywire and fibreglass rods and “hundreds and hundreds of reels”.

“Because we’re quite a wet farm we tend to move the cattle every day,” he says.

The average rainfall is about 1.3 metres annually but with three recent very dry years it’s fallen under 1m.

There will be up to 28 bulls in their largest mob through the winter, which will be sold once they reach 600kg in the new year. They’ll go either to Silver Fern Farms in Dargaville, Auckland Meat Processors or Greenlea Meats in Hamilton. In winter and spring John will buy in the next generation with weaners costing from $550 to $900 going from 140 to 400kg. They’ll go into mobs of up to 90 when they arrive on the farm.

“That helps in summer as we’re not summer safe and it’s more effective to feed out silage to mitigate facial eczema.”

Animal health costs are about $3/stock unit.

He prefers straight Friesians over Kiwicross. “They eat grass really well.”

He tried Wagyu animals from First Light, saying it was very refreshing to work with a meat marketing company rather Continues

››

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Mainly Coopworths, the blackheads are Suffolk Dextall cross and on the right a Beltex from a local Kaipara breeder.

than a meat processor. He bought in 25 as weaners and took them up to weights of about 660kg, and recently bought another 50 weaners.

“The new farm may suit them better.”

Sold on chicory About 70ha is made into silage every spring, half of it in big round bales and the rest in pit silage.

They used to make round bales of hay.

Pastures on the home farm are mainly ryegrass and clover with the odd paddock of fescue. He used to grow brassicas but found lambs took some time to adjust to the taste.

Then he started growing chicory for his

lambs back in 2000 and found there was no such problem. They started eating it on the first day. “It’s just like rocket fuel.”

It can survive for 20 years.

“It hangs around longer than ryegrass.”

About 80ha of the home farm pastures are chicory rich with the species only slowing down in July. One week this June delivered the best growth rates on the farm for the whole year.

Impressed by his lambs’ high intake and weight gain in 2014 John took part in a Beef + Lamb project, finished in 20 months, where five Northland farmers trialled different cropping regimes. In his case chicory showed up as the cheapest option

with the best growth rates, and grazing it simply involved shifting a wire. And John is quick to counter arguments from fellow farmers about the amount of tractor hours involved in putting the crop in.

“Match that up against the tractor hours involved in feeding out silage,” he says.

The trial looked at how farmers could improve profitability and sustainability by growing cattle faster to finish them at a younger age. Young cattle in the trial achieved more than 1kg liveweight gain/ day during summer and autumn when they were grazing chicory. They got to their slaughter weights earlier than those on ryegrass-based pastures.

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on this year from a lime quarry just three kilometres away run by friends. It’s usually applied every three or four years. On the home block the pH ranges from 6.1 to 6.2 while on the new block it’s slight lower at 6.

Olsen P on the home block is from 30 to 45 but on the new farm is in the low 20s.

Bush blocks on the farm have been progressively fenced off since the 1970s, including more than a hectare containing a kauri so large that John can’t get his arms around it.

“I don’t know how it escaped milling.”

Drains have also been fenced and there’s a block of 15ha of pinus radiata which is due to be harvested shortly.

“We will replant it because it’s easier to muster the bulls when they can’t see each other.”

A strong community man About 80ha of the home farm are chicory rich pastures with the species only slowing down in July.

Over the five farms taking part in the trial, chicory grew three to four times the drymatter (DM) compared with ryegrassbased pastures. This was during summer and autumn, with similar growth during winter and spring.

Chicory carried twice the number of stock during summer and autumn compared with ryegrass-based pastures with a significantly higher quality of an average of 11.3 megajoules of metabolisable energy (MJME)/kg DM, compared with 9.7 for ryegrass.

By May autumn-born bull calves grazing chicory for four months came in at an average of 44kg heavier than bulls on ryegrass based pastures. And in June spring-born bull calves on chicory for five

months were 76kg heavier. But about half the liveweight advantage gained by grazing chicory was lost after bulls were put back on ryegrass for six months.

Extra profit of $200/ha Using farm system modelling it was shown that if 7% of the farm area was sown in chicory which lasted 2.5 years, it could mean an increase in farm profit of about $200/ha.

John’s also grown a 3ha paddock of plantain which has shown good results.

“It’s a herb that hangs on well in the summer and is facial eczema safe.”

About 245 tonnes of superphosphate and urea goes on each year using their own spreader. Just over 1100t of lime went

Dealing with every agriculture minister over the past 20 years has been the norm for John Blackwell, due to his representing a large number of different organisations.

He’s recently retired as president of Northland Federated Farmers, a position he took up five years ago with the goal of increasing membership, which has doubled.

He had been its Kaipara chairman after resigning when a breakaway northern group split from the national body back in the 1990s.

The biggest recent issues he says have been non-farmers buying up forests for carbon credits which often means the trees aren’t pruned so the income isn’t seen locally.

“We should be following science.”

He says the Government is not doing that and they’re not giving farmers credit for the grass they’re growing.

However, he was pleasantly surprised during the Government’s last term when

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he made a personal plea to Regional Development Minister, Shane Jones, for donated feed to be brought north for drought-affected farmers. The minister rustled up 100 rail carriages in Auckland at short notice for its transport but it was already too late in the drought to be able to get the supplements up from the South Island.

John spent two years as Kaipara District councillor and was the last chair of the Northland Beef Council, after being put forward by the late Richard Drake. He was a member of Beef + Lamb’s Northern North Island farmer council and is a mentor for a Paparoa sheep and beef farmer in lower Northland. It is part of the Extension 350 (E350) programme set up five years ago to encourage long term farmer to farmer learning.

He’s also been a judge for the Northland Ballance Farm Environment Awards and the Young Farmer of the Year regional final.

His involvement with the Arapohue A & P Society goes back to his early farming days with him regularly running the sheep classes of its annual show.

Last year John became treasurer of

the Northland Agricultural Field Days, held in early March, after serving on its committee for six years. He’s also on a local lake catchment group with the Northland Regional Council.

The farm was a case study for Beef + Lamb during the drought. The farms are used by its economic service for data collection.

Development work needed John parents took on the 200ha home block as a rehab farm in the Clear Ridge block, southeast of Dargaville, after his father returned from the Second World War. They ran about 400 Perendale ewes which provided most of their income, adding an adjoining 145ha in 1977.

“They were really chasing wool then,” John says.

About the same number of Angus Hereford steers were also run, being bought in at weaner fairs and finished at 18 to 24 months, with 12 animals a week going to Hellabys in Whangarei through the winter.

“The price reflected the cost of feeding them through the winter and we did that for about 15 years,” he said.

He was always keen on farming, with him

FARM FACTS • Location – southeast of Dargaville, West Coast • 350kg/ha meat production • 4000su over summer droughts, up to 5800 in spring • Coopworth Beltex-cross lambs, every hogget not in-lamb sold • Friesian bulls moved daily on 0.2ha techno-fenced blocks • Two farms, one with kikuyudominant pastures • 20 years of using chicory on the home farm • Chicory part of a pasture renewal programme on second farm

joking later on that the 11 years he spent on the Ruawai College board of trustees was more time than he’d spent there as a pupil.

So he came back to the farm, buying it from his parents in 1977 with his wife Lurline. Their son Peter’s fencing business is mainly for farmers but sometimes caters for urban dwellers wanting a bit of landscaping work done.

The new farm needed a lot of work on

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On Farm Sale 11th Feb. 2020 at 12pm.

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infrastructure with a dam and water lines being put in, more than 10 kilometres of fencing, a big set of yards and a shed built. A quarter of the farm has now been regrassed. It was running only cattle and the house hadn’t been lived in for five years. “..but it did have a nice four-stand woolshed and covered yards,” John said.

Farm intern programme For the second year the Blackwells have hosted a student on their farm.

It is part of a farm intern programme run by the Whangarei A & P Society.

It aims to give students interested in a future in the agricultural sector some good, basic onfarm training. So for two years from February to December students attend a day of theory in Whangarei, run by Land Based Training tutors. Then they spend four days living and being trained on a Northland farm before having the weekend off.

Previously, the training the students went through didn’t prepare them for the many practical tasks farmers expected them to be able to perform such as tractor driving and using a chainsaw.

“The difference with this scheme is that

Two mobs of bulls showing how the cells are moved down a ridgeline. At the bottom each mob will be pushed into adjoining cells and will work their way back up the ridge in the adjacent paddocks providing a 60- to 70-day rotation.

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they’re living onfarm, and not going home every night and getting into bad habits,” he says.

The programme is free with no fees paid, and if eligible a student allowance may be paid in the first year. There’s flexibility between individual farmers and students as to whether they live in or commute and what they are paid.

While some theory work needs to be completed there are no exams, however tutors will make onfarm visits twice a month to sign off that practical skills have been attained. At the end of the first year students gain the NZ Certificate in Agriculture Level 3. Then in the second year they will move into paid work and gain Level 4.

Whangarei A & P Society chief executive Chris Mason says eight students graduated from the first year of the programme last year. This year 21 are taking part with roughly half on sheep and beef farms and female. For the coming year there have already been expressions of interest from about 50 students as a result of being introduced to the programme at careers roadshows.

Farm hand Stacey Lawrence with corrugated iron for wet weather day dog kennel building lessons. Note John’s motor scraper he has used to build numerous dams on the farm. He also owns a bulldozer for dam building.

She says they may struggle to find that number of farmers so may have to limit students next year. “The key is farmers like John putting up their hands to do it because they believe in giving back to the farming community.”

Last year Chantelle Cook, 20, spent the year on the Blackwells’ farm, before leaving with two dogs, one of which she’d trained there, to take up a position on a Taupo Bay farm. This year Stacey Lawrence, 17, started learning the ropes in February.

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LIVESTOCK Intestinal worms

Lambs grazing at a Lincoln University farm. ‘Resilient lambs have greater growth potential.’

Resistant and resilient lambs similar gains BY: LYNDA GRAY

W

hich lamb produces more meat: one that is resistant or one that is resilient to gastro-intestinal worms?

It turns out that there’s very little difference, according to the latest Lincoln University research.

“The results indicate that selection for

resistance or resilience will eventually result in a similar level of performance although resilient animals did have a growth advantage until six months of age,” lead researcher and animal production scientist Andy Greer says.

Results from previous parasite challenge growth trials have confirmed the superior liveweight gain (LWG) of ‘resilient’ lambs – those that can tolerate high worm burdens -

compared with ‘resistant’ lambs – those that have high immunity to internal parasites.

However, in most of these trials the resilient and resistant animals were run together so that the increase in pasture larval species and internal parasite infection, and the effect this had on lamb LWG of each group was hard to isolate.

“It was hard to tease out the epidemiological benefits of resilient versus resistant lambs, but we’ve been able to do this by running them separately over a long time.”

In the five-year study which will wrap up in 2022, the lambs from resistant and resilient Romney lines were compared on three farmlets.

On each block they were weaned at 10 weeks and set-stocked in their respective birth paddocks for 210 days. Every month the lambs were weighed, and saliva, fecal egg and pasture pluck samples taken. Lambs were removed from the paddock early April each year and the paddocks rested until required in August for the next lambing.

On both Farmlet 1 & 2 the lambs got no anthelmintic treatment. On farmlet 3 resilient and resistant lambs were co-grazed under a ‘suppressive’ anthelmintic drench system. This involved the Bionic capsuling of ewes prior to lambing, a short-acting oral drench of lambs at weaning followed by a Cydectin injection.

Analysis of results showed resilient lambs had a far greater growth response following drench than did resistant lambs up to 210 days. Also, the cumulative LWG of drenched resilient lambs was about one-third greater than un-drenched resilient lambs over the same period. This result highlighted the greater impact and opportunity cost that

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‘It was hard to tease out the epidemiological benefits of resilient versus resistant lambs, but we’ve been able to do this by running them separately over a long time.’ internal worms had on resilient animals.

“Resilient lambs have greater growth potential, but the tipping point is in autumn which is when they’re starting to develop immunity but are also challenged by a greater parasite burden.”

The study also showed the “temporal effect” of parasite infection – how it changes over a season and how farmers might be able to use this information to feed and manage lambs for optimal growth within a time frame.

Although the results weren’t directly relevant in the ‘here and now’, they could be 20 years down the track when there may be few if any drenching options left.

“It indicates that you can get an epidemiological advantage by selecting for resistant animals, but the trade-off is reduced growth rates.”

There is a possibility that follow-up research might look at breaking the parasitism cycle.

“We know that autumn is when resilient animals are challenged and liveweight gains fall so we’d be interested to see how a combination of strategic grazing by resistant animals and targeted drenching could help break the parasitism cycle in resilient animals.”

PROGRAMME PROVES ITS WORTH The first crop of lambs from an artificial insemination (AI) programme are on the ground, proving the technology works.

The AI programme was carried out on 90 commercial ewes last autumn using the cervical AI technique, and is part of the Rapid Genetic Gain project on Lanercost, Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Future Farm.

The project aims to define the effectiveness, speed of change and cost of breeding technologies and determine if sexed semen can be used successfully in sheep. It will also compare cervical to laparoscopic AI using sexed semen.

The project takes into account the practicalities for commercial farmers to execute a cervical AI programme. In this first year, Lanercost’s farm manager Digby Heard learnt how to do this procedure himself with guidance from Xcell Breeding Services.

This technique is commonly used in other sheep farming countries because it is faster, less expensive than the laparoscopic method and does not require skilled technicians.

B+LNZ’s general manager of farming excellence Dan Brier says sheep studs typically use the laparoscopic method because it is associated with higher conception results. Scanning of the AI ewes on Lanercost was 47.4%, which was particularly pleasing given the drought conditions in autumn and that this was the first-time Digby had carried out the procedure.

“What this means is that from one day, we have 43 ewes in lamb to a specific ram.

If we chose to, we could repeat that for a week and have 300 in lamb to him.”

Brier says sexed semen wasn’t available this year, so they went ahead with the AI programme using fresh semen collected from the Lanercost ram flock as a proof of concept and as an opportunity to teach Digby how to cervically inseminate ewes.

Rapid genetic gain technologies will be used on the 1310ha hill country farm near Cheviot in North Canterbury to speed the transition to a low methane emitting flock, but Dan says these technologies could be applied to any targeted traits.

“Lanercost will be a good testing ground for artificial breeding technologies such as artificial insemination and will hopefully give commercial farmers the confidence to invest in them if they are wanting to change the genetic profile of their flock,” Dan says.

While the focus on Lanercost is transitioning to a low methane flock, artificial breeding could be used to speed the genetic gain in any number of heritable traits.

“With consumer pressure increasing all the time, farmers need tools to be able to use high merit rams over a bigger proportion of their flock while keeping a lid on costs. For some farmers it might be finer wool but for others it could be health traits like Facial Eczema.”

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ANALYSIS Feeding

Lamb growth rates of more than 300g/day can be made from birth to weaning.

MORE WEIGHT, MORE PROFIT Well-fed ewes produce heavier lambs at birth, leading to heavier weaning weights and the potential to sell more prime off mum, Dwayne Cowin writes.

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T

he easiest time to achieve lamb growth rates of more than 300g/day is from birth to weaning. However increasing lamb weaning weights remains an area of opportunity for most sheep and beef farmers.

Heavier lamb weaning weight means more lambs can be sold ‘prime off mum’, remaining lambs will be heavier and be sold earlier, and replacement ewe lambs will be heavier.

Factors affecting lamb weaning weight • Well-fed ewes with good body condition score (BSC) equal or greater than 3 at lambing will produce heavier lambs at birth, decrease lamb mortality potential, and have higher levels of colostrum production.

• Ewe milk production peaks about three weeks after lambing, then gradually declines. Good feeding levels slow the decline of milk production post-peak lactation, and increases total ewe milk production.

• By week six of lactation, a twin lamb will consume an equal amount of pasture and milk each day. This increases to 80% pasture by week eight. High lamb growth rates (>300 g/ day) can generally be achieved on pasture covers between 1500–2000kg DM/ha.

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Table 1: Key farm scenario model assumptions Area (hectares)

500

Breeding ewes

2600

Ewe hoggets

700

Lambing %

133%

Lambing date

26 August

Breeding cows

200

R2 heifers

36

R1 heifers

42

Calving %

88%

Calving date

9 September

Increasing weaning weight from 30kg to 32Kg resulted in an extra 11% of finishing lambs being sold prime off mum...

Modelling the effects of increases

Physical performance

Farmax modelling was undertaken with a 500ha hill country base model farm with average pasture production and stock performance to demonstrate the effects of increasing lamb weaning weight at a whole farm level. Some of the key assumptions used for the base model farm are outlined in Table 1.

Lambs were weaned at 100 days, and those over 34kg LWT were killed ‘prime off mum’ (POM). For post-weaning lamb drafts, minimum lamb kill weights were lifted to above 37kg LWT. It was assumed all trade lambs were finished onfarm, and all weaner steers and non-replacement heifers were sold store at calf weaning.

Different scenarios were then modelled to increase lamb weaning weight. Lamb weaning weight was lifted by a combination of increasing ewe wintering liveweight to reflect ewes being in better body condition.

This allowed ewes to achieve a higher peak lactation.

Ewe and lamb intakes were increased over mid to late lactation to drive higher pre-weaning lamb growth rates. It was assumed that stocking rates remained the same for all bar one of the scenarios, and lifting ewe condition did not lift the lambing percentage. However, in reality there would be a likely flow-on effect for the following season.

Table 2 below shows the physical performance results from the base model (30 kg lamb weaning weight) and for four other scenarios modelled.

Increasing weaning weight from 30kg to 32kg resulted in an extra 11% of finishing lambs being sold prime off mum, an average sale date of all finishing lambs 10 days earlier, and ewe hoggets being 1.9kg heavier

by April 1. It also resulted in a reduction in feed requirements to finish all remaining lambs by 50,000kg DM (or 100kg DM/ha) for the model farm, which is a significant 20% reduction. This means that feed normally used to finish lighter lambs could be reallocated into other stock classes over summer, or conserved into the autumn.

Lifting weaning weight to 32kg was achievable through adjusting the timing of feed allocation. Lifting to 34kg required farm management or farm system adjustments to ensure enough feed is on hand at lambing to drive the required ewe lactation and lamb growth rates.

Three scenarios were modelled – reducing the sheep stocking rate, applying nitrogen, and delaying lambing and calving dates.

In the lower stocking rate scenario, the sheep stocking rate was reduced to a point where the scenario model farm had sufficient feed availability to drive the required ewe condition and milk production in early lactation to achieve a lamb weaning weight of 34kg.

Continues

››

Table 2 Physical performance of five different weaning weight scenarios: WEANING WEIGHT SCENARIO (kg LWT) 30 (Base)

32

34 (Lower S.R.)

34 (Urea)

34 (Later lambing)

Lambing %

133%

133%

133%

133%

133%

Ewe wintering weight

64

67

69

69

69

t DM required for all ewes - 1 July to 31 December

1024

1054

1088

1114

1115

Number of lambs killed POM

541

899

1212

1246

1278

% of sale lambs killed POM

18%

29%

40%

41%

42%

Average lamb sale weight (kg CWT)

16.7

16.8

17

17

17.1

Average lamb sale price

$114.28

$116.56

$119.39

$119.42

$119.82

Average lamb sale date

14 Feb

4 Feb

24 Jan

24 Jan

5 Feb

251

201

158

161

176

-20%

-37%

-36%

-30%

t DM required for all finishing lambs remaining post weaning % reduction in feed requirements for sale lambs post weaning 1 April ewe hogget weight (kg LWT)

42.7

44.6

46.4

46.4

46

1 April two tooth weight (kg LWT)

60.6

62.6

64.4

64.5

63.9

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The nitrogen scenario used urea to provide 35 tonnes of DM (or 70kg DM/ha) in mid-August to boost early spring feed supply to achieve the same feed levels. In the last scenario modelled, shifting the lambing date back seven days, and calving date back 14 days allowed feed demand to be better aligned to increasing spring pasture growth rates and the same stocking rate was able to be maintained without the need for nitrogen.

A 34kg weaning weight resulted in more than double the number of sale lambs being killed POM (between 40 and 42%), the average sale date of all finishing lambs was between nine and 20 days earlier, and ewe hoggets were 3.3 to 3.7kg heavier by April 1, compared with the base model farm.

Financial results

Accepting a lower weaning weight was the least profitable option.

This also followed through to the financial results, as shown in Table 3.

The financial results showed that fine tuning feed allocation to ewes and lambs to produce a 32kg weaning weight, delivered a 4% lift in economic farm surplus (EFS). Once farm management or system adjustments were required to lift

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Table 3: Financial performance of different weaning weight scenarios

WEANING WEIGHT SCENARIO (kg LWT) 30 (Base)

32

34 (Lower S.R.)

34 (Urea)

34 (Later lambing)

Sheep sales less purchases

$393,657

$402,749

$404,060

$414,003

$415,217

Wool income

$54,702

$54,691

$53,531

$54,826

$55,809

Beef sales less purchases

$130,473

$130,473

$130,473

$130,473

$124,757

Gross farm revenue

$578,832

$587,913

$588,064

$599,302

$595,783

Gross farm revenue/ha

$1158

$1176

$1176

$1199

$1192

Farm working expenses

$325,336

$324,074

$322,132

$332,289

$325,467

Farm working expenses/ha

$651

$648

$644

$665

$651

Economic farm surplus/ha

$507

$528

$532

$534

$541

4%

5%

5%

6%

The modelling highlighted that increasing lamb weaning weight by any of the strategies considered resulted in increased farm profit, but consideration should be given to an individual farmer’s circumstance.

For example, using nitrogen in early spring might be a better fit for a farm system in traditionally summer dry areas, where selling lambs early best suits their climatic limitations.

Also as farm systems come under increasing regulatory and cost pressures to run fewer stock and use less nitrogen, decisions around most appropriate stocking

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• Dwayne Cowin is a senior consultant with agri-business advisory firm Perrin Ag Consultants.

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NZ Maternal Worth with Meat (MW+M)

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rate and timing of lambing and/or calving dates may be more important.

The modelling should give farmers confidence that these changes can be made, and can still deliver increased farm profitability.

Most importantly, the modelling showed that “doing nothing” and accepting a lower weaning weight turned out to be the least profitable option.

 

the weaning weight to 34kg, extra increases in EFS became smaller, however all 34kg weaning weight scenarios were still more profitable than the 32kg scenario.

The modelling demonstrates higher lamb weaning weights (from improved ewe and lamb nutrition) resulted in: • A higher average lamb sale weight and value over all lambs sold; • Less feed being required for finishing lambs from December to May; • Having heavier ewe lambs by 1 April (and heavier two tooths the following year); • An overall increased level of farm profitability.

 

% EFS lift from 30kg weaning weight EFS



@longdowns.nz

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95

ANALYSIS Future

What will the sheep of tomorrow be?

BY: KERRY DWYER “WHERE TO WITH SHEEP?” IS AN ongoing conversation I have with my sheep-farming clients. How do they adapt to the changing marketplace? Or do they drop sheep out of their systems?

First, think about why sheep are farmed at all? They were domesticated from wild back in the day for several reasons: 1. They could be domesticated.

2. As a herd animal they could be managed in groups.

3. They produced fibre, milk and meat; probably in that order of initial importance.

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4. They produced useful items from herbage which is not much use to us directly.

Then think about why we farm sheep in New Zealand?

When first imported they produced fibre which could be sold to foreign markets, because it is a non-perishable product.

We do not have enough local market to consume our production, exporting is key to our economy.

They can be selectively bred to fit a range of environments and produce differing balances of product.

The first sheep imported to this country

were little Merinos, producing maybe 2kg of fleece from a 30kg ewe. The wool was incredibly valuable in 1850, but has declined in real terms ever since.

They weren’t suited to all areas, and refrigeration of meat allowed the industry to expand and diversify production. So today we have a range of breeds fitting different environments and production aims.

Maybe sheep are special to us primarily because of this historical legacy, we love sheep because we have them! But they have declined in importance over the past 30 years or so, driven largely by the continued decline in the real price of wool we have been earning.

What is special about our sheep today?

They are radically different to the sheep of 1840, and quite different to the sheep of 1990. As the figures in Table 1 show, the

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‘MAYBE THE SHEEP OF TOMORROW WILL BE FARMED AS PETS. AS A DOMESTICATED RUMINANT THEY CAN BE AS LOYAL AS A DOG AND MORE FUN THAN A CAT.’

ROSEMARY sheep of 2021 produce more and heavier lambs than in 1990, with slightly less wool.

The trend has been fewer sheep and more integration with other farm production enterprises. What will the sheep look like if it is to continue being farmed in NZ? The genetic diversity of sheep allows us to select for differing traits. Where that leads is dependent on the breeders who anticipate market trends rather than continually trying to sell what we produce, just because we have it. Crossbred wool is sadly produced more because of history than meeting today’s demand.

Maybe the sheep of tomorrow will be farmed as pets. As a domesticated ruminant they can be as loyal as a dog and more fun than a cat. The Valais Blackface is an excellent example of this; they may have no superior productive traits but are appealing to many.

Sheep have been farmed because they produce product from herbage. The opposite ends of this spectrum are to either improve the herbage or select animals that are more efficient in utilising it.

There is continual pressure on farmers to improve what they put in front of their sheep, which comes at a cost that may not be profitable or sustainable although it is certainly productive. I know we can feedlot sheep on grain-based diets and get rapid weight gain, that can be profitable in Australia with barley at $200/tonne but is not profitable here with barley at $400/t.

Pigs and chickens have been selected for improved efficiency of turning feed into product. At some stage we should have the technology to do the same with sheep. Pigs have been bred to produce twice the carcase weight from the same feed consumption, if we could do that with sheep we would have a real game-changer. The range of biological efficiency probably exists in the species, if we could only measure it on a grazing basis.

We farm sheep to produce a range of products and that range is more likely to expand than decline.

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Table 1: Comparison of Production Data 1990 & 2020 1990

2020

New Zealand's sheep flock

58m

28m

Average lambing

102%

133%

Average lamb carcaseweight

13.9kg

19.1kg

Average lamb price per kg

$1.80/kg

$6.50/kg

Adjusted for inflation

$3.35/kg

$6.50/kg

Average lamb price per head

$24/hd

$125/hd

Total NZ lamb production

390,000t

360,000t

Wool production per head

5.3kg/hd

5.0kg/hd

Average wool price per kg

$3.70/kg

$2.00/kg

Adjusted for inflation

$6.90/kg

$2.00/kg

Estimated cost of production – wool

$1.00/kg

$3.60/kg

Estimated cost of production – lamb

$1.20/kg

$4.50/kg

Sheep’s milk production is an increasing system in NZ, exporting a high-value product to niche markets.

The sheep of today produces more and heavier lambs than in the past. That trend will continue as we are paid more for meat than crossbred wool. The likely consequence is a dramatic reduction in wool production per sheep, to hasten the trend of the past 30 years. A sheep producing 180% lambing, 45kg weaned lambs and 2kg of wool is called a meat breed. Note the lack of wool on the highest priced sheep sold in England last year, 350,000 guineas for a fast-shearing Texel. Or the extreme is a sheep with no wool.

The non-wool sheep prove that wool is not necessary for their survival and reproduction, and maybe we have bred sheep that grow too much wool for sustainability.

Fine wool sheep produce fibre for a niche market, with the main limitation seeming to be our ability to produce it because of environmental constraints on the sheep

used. Selective breeding may allow a 16 micron fleece to be produced in wetter areas; goats and alpacas can do it so why not sheep?

Other sheep are being bred for speciality wools such as the Stansborough Grey, Astino, Gotland, and the black and coloureds. The expansion of any of these breeds depends on the market demand for the fibre produced.

Maybe crossbred wool will see increased demand and profitability but will you bet the sheep station on that happening?

I like the concept of deconstructing wool fibre for the keratin that can have a wide variety of uses, however I don’t see why our crossbred wool would attract a premium for that. Keratin from cheaper wools would probably fit the space and the world supply of that is large.

The sheep of tomorrow will be shaped more by technology than the sheep of today, in both its selective breeding and its ability to profitably produce to fit a market demand.

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ANALYSIS Outlook

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Exciting future for farming Graham Butcher sees potential for improvements if farmers take a step back and look.

I

n my book, sheep farming is an exciting industry with a future.

Yes, we see challenges from central Government regulation, policy and carbon values nipping nipping at our heels but we also see significant cohesion in pushing back at a level possibly not seen before. And it seems to be registering.

“Rural rage moved into the cities as farmers mounted protests against Government policy,” reported the Southland Times. No, not July 16 this year but March 11, 1986. Different issues back then of course. It would seem each generation of farmers reaches a tipping point where enough is actually enough.

Pragmatic solutions will, I believe, prevail and we will still be farming sheep in 2060 and come to know that the environmental compass points, currently suggested, needed to be addressed. Who would now say that those 1986 issues, being addressed, have not strengthened farming?

As for carbon values destroying food production – there are challenges right now with rocketing carbon value. Two things though, you can’t eat carbon and if food production world wide falls because of land being swallowed up by permanent trees then food prices must rise. This should pressure governments to act and act as a counter measure to bring balance to the equation. Expect some, hopefully, short term disruption though.

So, the way ahead looks exciting. You can look at this on a couple of levels. First we have the day-to-day management of sheep and the potential improvements there for the taking. These are things you could think about today and implement tomorrow and see a benefit in the current season or at least in the next season.

We all hear about the “top 10%”, some of their performance will be based around

physical farm attributes and some will be based on just how they go about making policy decisions. These folk also have the ability to step back and take a critical look.

“If your lineout isn’t working, step back 20 metres and watch.”

To cover off all the things that could result from this “step back and watch” could fill a book, but here are some of the more fundamental ones. I’m a bit Southland-biased here but you will get the idea.

• High per head performance is very important – talking reproductive performance and young stock growth rate. If there are issues, sort them out today. What’s really holding things back?

A deceivingly simple question but the most important one.

• Stocking rate – this is fundamental.

Each farm will have a sweet spot as regards per head performance, winter feed costs, control of summer quality and being able to manage what can be vastly different seasons.

• Never take mob averages (condition scores, LW, etc) as an indication of success. Look more at the spread and always look at how you can deal with the bottom 20%.

• A key target is average pre-winter pasture cover. If you don’t get this right you are in trouble. Possibly more a Southland issue but other parts of the country will have equally critical periods.

• Combining enterprises, notably breeding cows, can have benefits, particularly hill country farms.

This is not about substitution, it’s about running a class of stock that will better deal with lower quality surplus feed that might otherwise be wasted. On this note, a lower profitability enterprise can still lift farm performance.

• While dealing with strategy issues

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Graham Butcher: Big gains are to be made from getting the basics right.

We all hear about the “top 10%”, some of their performance will be based around physical farm attributes and some will be based on just how they go about making policy decisions. (stock policy) don’t forget the basics, like dealing with selenium. A white board in the office is great. You can write down these sorts of things.

• A second opinion can open up new avenues for thought. Sometimes the obvious can be missed if you have been doing it for 10 years.

• Once a plan is made, make sure you carry through with it and expect to have to make some revisions. This is called progress.

Big gains are to be made from getting the basics right – so that’s exciting.

Long-term what might need to happen in the future to deal with rising costs, greater consumer demands, legislation/regulation and the ever-present stock welfare.

Occasionally something comes along that

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turns “conventional” sheep farming on its head. Sheep milking is a good example.

Cows to sheep milking Who would have thought we would have conventional dairy farms in the North Island converting to sheep milking. Not many, but it’s happening. Milk is the most valuable product a sheep can produce, and we still get wool, lambs and cull ewes. It’s had a 35-year gestation, with failures, but it has now found its feet. So congratulations to those who trusted their research/ intuition and persevered.

The next one to touch on is aseasonal breeding. We are well and truly wedded to short day mating and once a year. It’s serving us well but there are possibilities here. Changing climates are altering the

feed supply pattern and premiums for “out of season lamb” are attractive. We have breeds here that will ovulate just about any time of the year so we need to recognise this as an opportunity.

A significant add-on to aseasonal breeding is mating every eight months – that’s three lambings in two years. Not a new concept, it’s been around for a while both here and overseas.

I was involved with some trial work with Polled and Horned Dorset, nearly 20 years ago now, on a farm close to Lawrence. Not the ideal farm, it’s in the deep South with long cold winters, but that’s where the ewes that we needed were. We at least showed it was a feasible proposition.

To establish such a system, you need to construct a new management system

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Buy from the top

from the ground up and have a more conducive climate than the deep South.

The fundamentals make sense, lower ewe numbers, higher numbers of lambs, more feed directed towards growing lambs.

Next we have production of higher eating-quality lamb. We have the Alliance programmes such as Pure South Handpicked, Te Mana and Silere all aimed at eating quality. This is the right approach and represents an opportunity.

A while ago I came across information about Australian White sheep, touted as the Wagyu of the sheep world. It’s a synthetic cross between Poll Dorset, White Dorper, Texel and Van Rooy. It apparently has a very high intramuscular fat IMF and low melting point fat – both important for eating quality. Needs to translate into value at the farm gate of course. If it can, expect to see changes in this direction.

Interestingly, Australian Whites are a hair sheep, no shearing, which leads me on to the next point.

The vexed issue of strong wool.

Opening sales for this season look promising, if these hold we are probably in a position where there might be surplus funds from the wool cheque once shearers are paid. Farmers know that wool’s attributes (sustainable, non toxic, fire retardant) are valuable. The rest of the world just needs to catch up with us.

My view, I think the world is catching up slowly.

KIWITAHI ROMNEYS are a modern Romney bred on top of the North Island central high country (over 2500 fasl.)

Kiwitahi Genetic Trend Kiwitahi Genetic Trend Breeding Value in kg Breeding Value in kg

3.5 3.5

Liveweight 8mths Liveweight 8mths LW8 LW8

Kiwitahi Romneys are farmed under commercial conditions in a TOUGH environment to PERFORM in 0.0 today’s demanding economic environment.

20 00 20 00

20 19 20 19

0.0

4 Worm Resistance — Survival —Pedigree Objectively links & performance data recorded at Kiwitahi (1988-2019) used in within-flock SIL analysis #37713.

Genetic gain since 2000 presented.

Selection through NIL Pedigree links & performance data recorded at Kiwitahi (1988-2019) selected for low reproductive used in within-flock SIL analysis #37713. Genetic gain since 2000 presented. drenching Genetic Trends derived from SIL BV’s. wastage and superior © 2020 The derived New Zealand Animal Genetic Trends from SIL BV’s. Breeding Trust Wool Type — Medium survival BV’s © 2020 The 4 New Zealand Animal Breeding Trust micron, high bulk, colour & Fertility — Stud ewes length. Stud flock average average lifetime lamb drop 7.5 kg/ssu 190%. Replacement ewes 4 Guaranteed lambed as hoggets — SILrecorded — High selection rates Growth Rate — Lamb av.

— Rams from top 35% only 31kg at 90 day weaning.

— Structurally sound — Lambs finished from — TRY before you BUY 17-26kg CW Kiwitahi Genetic Trend scheme available Kiwitahi Genetic Trend

4

4

4

Latest gross margins I have just updated the gross margins based on c/kg drymatter consumed.

This gives a broad comparison between how different enterprises can convert a kg DM into profit. It’s based on average pricing/costs and, as always, there will be those that can buck the trend and can command a better return.

Kiwitahi Genetic Trend

0

00 20

0.0 0.0

2000 2000

4.7 4.7

BV SURVIVAL %

lambs born born Overall lambs Production Index

BV SURVIVAL %

13.4 13.4 BV NLB % BV NLB %

Index in cents

2200

lamb survival lamb survival

The sheep enterprises monitored are:

0.0 2019 0.0 2019 9 2000 2019 1 20 Pedigree links & performance data 2000 recorded at Kiwitahi (1988-2019)2019

Pedigree links & performance data recorded at Kiwitahi (1988-2019) Pedigree links & performance data recorded at Kiwitahi (1988-2019) used in within-flock SIL analysis #37713.

Genetic gain since 2000 presented. in within-flock SIL analysis #37713. Genetic gain since 2000 presented. used in within-flock SIL analysisused #37713.

Genetic gain since 2000 presented.

KIWITAHI ROMNEYS — “They’re active, intelligent sheep, that shift well and produce fast growing lambs that “survive and thrive” anywhere. They’re bred to make you money.”

Contact: PADDY LOWRY 0274 472 339 kiwitahi09@gmail.com

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Kiwitahi Genetic Trend

96279

Genetic Trends derived from SIL BV’s.

Trends from SIL BV’s. Breeding Trust Genetic Trends derived from SIL Genetic BV’s. © 2020 The derived New Zealand Animal 2020 The New Zealand Animal Breeding Trust © 2020 The New Zealand Animal©Breeding Trust

August 2021

September 2017

Breeding ewe 135% No hgt mating

14.1c

11.6c

Breeding ewe 140% 50% hgt mating

15.5c

12.7c

Breeding ewe 155% 85% hgt mating

16.6c

14.1c

Breeding 135% No hgt mating, sell store

12.4c

9.3c

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Looking more closely at this lift from five years ago, if we take the most common scenario, the 135%/no hogget mating policy – we can see where the gains have come from, nearly 19% improvement across the enterprises.

August 2021

September 2017

Wool income

$35,214

$54,594

Lamb income

$319,951

$236,018

Ewe income

$53,298

$38,879

The loss in wool income ($19,380) from five years ago is almost offset by the gain in ewe income ($14,419). Big winner of course is lamb – up 35% So, despite wool, we have appreciating profitability. It’s of interest to note that the initial 2021 wool sales show strong wool still has a heartbeat and if we can recover to the 2017 average greasy price of $3.17, we will add about 1.2c/kg DM to the gross margin.

I know that doesn’t sound much, but we are dealing with nearly 2.1mkg DM for the 2458 ewes/688 hoggets and 38 rams modelled.

So, how do these figures compare to the other options we have onfarm?

Below is a list of common options:

Above: Occasionally something comes along that turns “conventional” sheep farming on its head.

ANUI STUD LIVESTOCK ROMNEY | DORSET DOWN | TEFROM

Breeding cows, calve 2yr, sell weaners

10.6c

Breeding cows, calve 2yr, finish

8.8c

Bull beef, rear own

16.2c

Bull beef, rear own, high performance

19.1c

Autumn purchase steer calves

8.9c

Autumn purchase heifer calves

8.3c

Dairy heifers ($6 and $10.50)

16.7c

- Fully SIL & Studfax performance recorded

Winter dairy cows at $32

16.8c

- Stud ewes farmed on hard hill country at Mangatuna, east of Dannevirke

We have some standouts here, bull farming done well is very competitive as are both dairy heifers and winter dairy cows at the right price of course.

Just one quite big point when you are looking at breeding cows, these cow enterprises don’t take into account the fact that cows consume 15% lower quality pasture than sheep. In effect, to get a fair comparison, you should add about 15% to the c/kg DM. Still will be a notch below sheep, but if that is the class of stock you need to consume surpluses, then that is still a good option.

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- We use eczema tested sires up to .6 as well as test progeny - Sires DNA tested for sheep 50K - Worm resistance programme in place

GIVE US A CALL TO ARRANGE AN INSPECTION.

Willy Philip 102 Laws Road, Dannevirke Ph: 06 374 8857 Email: anui@xtra.co.nz

George Philip 923 Mangatuna Road,Dannevirke Ph: 06 374 2861

• Graham Butcher is a Gore-based farm consultant.

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ANIMAL HEALTH Post mortems

Get your knives out

I

BY: SARA SUTHERLAND n most aspects, the welfare of sheep on your average New Zealand sheep and beef farm is way better than most of our customers realise.

Their physical, social and emotional needs are met. They don’t need to worry about starving or getting too fat, they aren’t frightened or abused, they live very natural lives, all they have to do is sit around eating and chatting with their best mates.

In terms of animal welfare, the way we raise sheep in NZ is better in most measurable ways than just about any other animal production system anywhere in the world. One area where we may fall behind other systems is in lamb survival.

Lamb wastage (conceived but not surviving to weaning) is about 15-20% on many farms, even higher with triplets. The vast majority of these losses occur around lambing time – at lambing or in the first 48 hours.

Once you know what is causing these losses you can put steps into place to reduce them. The only way to know is to investigate those dead lambs.

With a little bit of training and a little bit of practice, farmers or farm staff can do their own post-mortem exams of dead lambs very quickly and safely. You get over the “yuck” factor quickly and can even pretend you’re on one of those forensic TV shows. With my regular clients I am happy for them to text me photos of

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anything they are unsure of – maybe have a discussion with your vet first!

The Process First, always wear disposable gloves even if you hate the feel and never get sick. A good case of leptospirosis means six weeks off work, a bad case you can get chronic fatigue and you may never be able to farm again.

If you’re pregnant, double gloves and a face mask, or delegate someone else for the job.

Collect as many dead bodies as you can find – you have to get in quick before the hawks find them. If you want to save them up you can stick them in the freezer, just be aware they need a good 2 days to thaw. It is important to look at lots of bodies – finding out what is going on in one or two animals doesn’t necessarily mean that is your main issue.

Have something handy to record what you find – paper and pencil or the techy people among you will be able to work out how to dictate into your cell phone without smearing blood everywhere.

The most important thing you are finding out is whether the majority of your lamb losses are due to starvation/mismothering, exposure, infection/disease, dystocia (difficult births), or are these in fact late abortions and not deaths at or around birth.

Having a standard protocol or way of going about it makes you more confident you haven’t missed anything. This is the way I do these and the way I teach my clients, there are other good protocols out there.

Examine the outside of the body. Is the lamb dry as though it was properly cleaned off by the ewe? Otherwise maybe mismothering is an issue. Is it fully formed and covered with hair? Otherwise this is an abortion and you should contact your veterinarian.

Look at the pads on the front hooves.

These are present at birth and wear off when the lamb walks around. If they have worn off then the lamb lived long enough to get up and walk.

Lay the carcase on its back and cut between the front legs and the ribcage on each side. This makes the body lie reasonably stable. Cut carefully from the front of the brisket taking off the top of the chest, and the skin over the stomachs. This allows you to see the inside of the abdomen and the inside of the chest. Take a moment as you are peeling off the skin over the abdomen to look at the navel/umbilicus.

If it is thicker than a pencil, contains pus or if there’s a lot of bruising around it this suggests infection (navel ill).

Sometimes when you open up the body you see pus very obviously in the lungs or around the internal organs – this means infection is the issue. Have a look at the liver. White spots suggest infection (this could be before or after birth). Tan circles could be bacterial abortion, talk to your vet.

Look at the stomach. You can pull it out and open it up. If it is full of clotted milk (cream cheese floating in clear liquid) then the lamb has had a good drink and starvation is not the issue. If it is completely

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With a little bit of training and a little bit of practice, farmers or farm staff can do their own post-mortem exams of dead lambs very quickly and safely.

empty then starvation is possible. Pull the stomach gently to one side and find the kidneys stuck right back against the spine.

If there is no fat around the kidneys then starvation was what killed this lamb.

In the chest, have a look at and feel of the lungs. Don’t worry about the colour as this is very variable, but cut a little piece and see if it floats in water. If it sinks then the lamb never took a breath and dystocia or abortion are the issue.

When you have finished with the insides, remove the skin over the back of the neck and shoulders. In a normal lamb the skin separates easily from the underlying muscle.

If there is lots of red jelly-like stuff under the skin this indicates bruising from a difficult lambing. Maybe dystocia is the issue (although you can get some bruising in a normal healthy delivery too). Sometimes with exposure (freezing to death) you will see jelly-like swelling under the skin of the front legs but this is inconsistent.

In summary, if the lamb did not breathe (no air in lungs) and had lots of bruising under the skin it is probably dystocia.

If it is full of pus, has pus or bruising in the umbilicus, lungs stuck to the ribcage or white spots in the liver it is probably infection. If it breathed and walked but has a completely empty stomach and no fat around the kidneys it is probably starvation/ mismothering.

What to do about it Once you have looked at 20 or 30 lambs (minimum) and decided what your main cause of death is, you have the opportunity to improve outcomes for next year.

Starvation/exposure You can’t control the weather but you can put multiple bearing ewes in paddocks with more shelter. Maternal behaviour depends on two things – genetics and feeding level.

Ewes are better able to keep track of their lambs on 1400kg DM/ha covers than 1200kg DM/ha covers. With better feeding especially in the last four weeks before lambing the lambs have more brown fat reserves to get them up and going so they get that important first drink. And with betterfeeding ewes have more colostrum to feed them. There is no downside.

Infection In deaths after birth most of the infection comes in through the umbilicus/navel. The navel connects to the liver so infection often

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settles there. As blood circulates through the liver these rafts of bacteria can spread to the lungs and other organs. The more mud there is where the lambs are born the more likely infection is to come in the navel.

The worst outbreaks I have seen were lambing on crops, or where sheep consistently camp in a sheltered area and make it muddy. Think about how you can manage this on your farm.

Dystocia Hopefully eventually we will see rams with a breeding value for low birth weight but fast pre-weaning growth as we see in beef cattle.

Since these beef cattle easy calving genetics have become popular the workload of rural vets in springtime has decreased immensely.

The value of saving these big single lambs would make it worth it. We aren’t there yet and I don’t know of any research in that area but hopefully it is coming. In the meantime, look at some breeds known to have low birth weights, especially for hogget lambing.

Nutrition also plays a part, but by the time you get to the last month before lambing that effect is no longer important. In other words, don’t tighten up your ewes (especially multiple-bearing ewes) too much in the last month before they lamb.

It is possible that some of these cases have a component of milk fever/sleepy sickness to them as well, where ewes have prolonged lambings because of low muscle tone from low energy (sleepy sickness) or low calcium (milk fever). Again good feeding in the last month before lambing is vital especially in older ewes with multiple lambs on board.

Abortion If you are seeing abortions it is worth calling your vet to work these up. You are more likely to get an answer now than at docking.

Bring in as many fresh foetuses as possible, with their placenta attached if possible.

Your vet will discuss the costs with you before sending samples away. With a full workup we usually do find a cause of the abortions, and many of these causes can be managed with vaccination or grazing management.

In summary, you can’t manage what you don’t know. Once you figure out the main causes of lamb deaths you have the opportunity to do something about them. Most lamb deaths are at lambing, so preventing these deaths will result in more lambs on the truck at weaning and better animal welfare.

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ANIMAL HEALTH Tailing

To B12 or not B12 at tailing BY: ANDREW ROE

W

ith tailing/docking just around the corner in most regions, a common question being posed by our sheep farming clients is “Should I give my lambs B12 at tailing?”

As is the case with anything to do with cobalt (the mineral essential for the production of vitamin B12), the answer is not simple.

Unlike selenium, where vast areas of the country are known to have deficient soils, cobalt deficiency is a bit more patchy. A study by Scott Knowles et al (published in 2014) reported that only 54% of NZ’s pastures contained enough cobalt to meet the requirements of our grazing livestock.

The most severe soil deficiencies have been found in parts of the central North Island and the upper Westland/ Nelson areas, while marginal to moderate deficiencies have been documented in parts of the lower North Island, Canterbury,

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There is no simple answer to whether or not to give lambs B12 at tailing.

South Otago and Southland.

Soil cobalt levels are strongly linked to the parent rock of the soil concerned, so it is common for neighbouring properties, and even different parts of the same farm, to have quite different soil cobalt levels.

On top of that there is a seasonal element to cobalt availability in our pastures; levels typically start to fall later in spring and bottom out over the summer months, before lifting again in the autumn. Cobalt requirements of our livestock also vary, with growing lambs requiring a lot more than ewes, especially when grazing high quality forages after weaning.

Getting back to the original question; when you consider the above factors, there will be relatively few sheep farms where the lambs have already become vitamin B12 deficient by tailing time.

Sure, there have been reports of properties with more severe deficiencies, where supplementation of their ewes helped prevent deficiency in young lambs. But for most farms cobalt intake is generally

adequate over winter and ewes have lower dietary cobalt requirements than young, growing lambs. So their colostrum and milk will be meeting the B12 needs of their young offspring.

Therefore any B12 supplementation given to lambs at this time of year is designed more to protect against an upcoming shortfall in dietary cobalt, rather than to correct an existing deficiency. For this to be effective the choice of product is important.

When it comes to injectable B12 products most are short-acting, lifting tissue B12 levels for about four weeks. So they are of dubious use at docking time on all but the most severely cobalt-deficient properties.

By the time pasture cobalt levels are falling into the deficient zone (typically late October/early November onwards) any benefits gained from these products are likely to have almost worn off.

Of more use for those farmers looking to supplement their lambs at tailing is the long acting injectable product, SmartShotB12 as this will not only correct a deficiency,

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...any B12 supplementation given to lambs at this time of year is designed more to protect against an upcoming shortfall in dietary cobalt, rather than to correct an existing deficiency. should one exist, but will also boost the lambs’ B12 reserves for the following six months. There is also the option to use a half dose (0.5ml) which lasts about three months, which may be suitable for those larger works lambs that are likely to be drafted at weaning or soon after.

The other common method of meeting your lambs’ cobalt requirements is pasture topdressing and spraying. Traditionally this consisted of annual applications of about 350g cobalt sulphate/ha, usually applied along with the farm’s annual fertiliser.

As only a fraction of the cobalt applied this way is actually taken up by the pasture plants and utilised by grazing animals, such practices took a few years to build up soil reserves and give consistent rewards. More recently it has been shown that smaller amounts, applied in a more targeted fashion can give similar, or even better, results. For example, rates of around 140g/ha applied in the spring as a foliar spray have been shown to work well.

For best results the solution should be

Most ewes’ colostrum and milk will be meeting the B12 needs of their young offspring.

sprayed on to actively growing pasture two to three weeks before grazing. Multiple applications from late spring and through the summer may be needed.

Much of the advice and recommendations discussed here are of a general nature. However, as pointed out earlier, the incidence and severity of cobalt/vitamin B12 deficiency varies widely

Friday 19th November 2021, 10am-3pm

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from season to season, region to region and even farm to farm. So, for the best, up-to-date advice for your flock, have a chat to your own veterinarian who will be familiar with local trace element trends and recommended supplementation regimes.

• Andrew Roe is a veterinarian with Clutha Vets.

Nithdale Station, 338 Nithdale Road, Gore (meet at the woolshed)

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“To promote the concept of genetic selection for parasite resistance as a sustainable, long-term solution to worm challenges and drench resistance”

WormFEC Gold flocks must meet certain criteria to be granted Gold status. For this reason, WormFEC Gold flocks are making twice as much progress in the selection for resistant animals as other WormFEC flocks and are not relying on a continual need for drench to maintain performance.

2400 2200 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 −200

NZMW – WormFEC GOLD flocks 600c above national average 2400 2200 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 1995 −200

DPF – WormFEC GOLD flocks 280c above national average

NZMW (Cents)

NZMW (Cents)

The genetic trend graphs show that is possible to breed for worm resistance with no compromise on production traits.

2000 1995

2005 2000

Average Dual Purpose flocks

Average Dual Purpose flocks

2005

Year

2010 2010

Year Average WormFEC Gold flocks Average WormFEC Gold flocks

2015 2015

Average WormFEC connected flocks

Average WormFEC connected flocks

NORTH ISLAND Keith & Trish Abbot Craig & Tina Alexander Kate Broadbent Paul & Dayanne Crick Forbes & Angus Cameron John & Jan Marchant Rangiora Trust Alastair Reeves Ross & Ruth Richards Adrian & Jenny Savannah

2020 2020

SOUTH ISLAND Waiteika ARDG Nikau Arahura Ngaputahi ARDG Longview Waimai Romani ARDG – Glenbrook

Richard & Kerry France Peter& Reuben Moore Mt Linton Station Andrew & Heather Tripp Scott & Kjersti Walker

Hazeldale Moutere Downs Mt Linton Nithdale & Wairaki Avalon

“I have been breeding low input sheep for nearly 30 years and hosting the B+L Low Input Progeny Test has only convinced me even more that this is the only way forward. This trial has clearly demonstrated that with the right genetics top performance can be achieved with limited dagging or drenching.”

Robert Peacock Orari Gorge Station, Host of the Beef and Lamb NZ Low Input Progeny Test Country-Wide

October 2021

www.wormfecgold.co.nz 107

ANIMAL HEALTH Stock check

Mixing it with sheep and cattle BY: TREVOR COOK

W

hen working with farmers in all of the northern hemisphere countries I have been to, it was almost a common surprise that sheep and cattle could run together.

Monoculture systems are more common than here, but running them together was for most unheard of. In our sheep and beef sector, monoculture systems are common but mostly associated with finishing enterprises. Mind you, some almost 100% sheep hill country systems do exist in the South Island.

For these northern farmers it was the fact that the sheep and cattle grazed together that was the surprise. But a lot of that surprise was because using pastures as the primary feed resource was still either a novelty or being mastered.

So why is it standard practice here?

Theoretically it should only happen when the two stock classes have the same feed demand. So cows with ewes over the winter is common and clearly both have similar feed demands.

Calving cows with lambing ewes is common but very often does not meet the feed demand of each. Cows more often than not seem to be underfed.

It is one of the aspects of our hill country systems that defies our knowledge because I am frequently surprised how well those cows perform. Obviously not at their peak, but amazingly well for how little they appear to have consumed. Maybe there is more feed available than appears to be.

Having cattle with sheep is very often justified on them keeping pasture quality.

The cattle will eat that rough pasture.

Really? Given the choice they will target the best stuff as much as the sheep do.

It really will be only when pasture covers get below 1200kg drymatter/ha that the cattle cannot compete for the better quality pasture. The competition from co-grazing cattle with growing sheep will always detract from the sheep performance unless pasture covers are very low.

Are there other benefits from grazing sheep and cattle together? The one that is most often cited is in reducing the worm challenge to the sheep. I think this effect is massively over-stated as an outcome. Just how much of this occurs will depend on the sheep-to-cattle ratio, the length of the rotation and the feed levels.

At best having the cattle with the sheep dilutes the worm contamination level.

Instead of 15 lambs per hectare there are 12 because there are cattle, so there will be less contamination. But in reality that level of contamination needs to drop by over 50% to make any difference.

MOUTERE DOWNS 42 YEARS OF RECORDED BREEDING

ROMNEY & POLL DORSET RAMS TOP 1% IN NZ FOR WORM RESISTANCE

STUD FLOCK RUN COMMERCIALLY

HIGH GROWTH RATES

NO DRENCH POLICY

HIGH FERTILTY

EASY CARE SHEEP

HIGH SURVIVAL

HILL COUNTRY RAMS

Breeding High Performance, Low Input Sheep Since 1978 PETER MOORE 027 267 7370 (03) 543 2729 romneyrams@gmail.com 223 ROSEDALE ROAD RD2 UPPER MOUTERE SIL FLOCK 124

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I do not see farmers drenching lambs any less frequently when they are sharing their grazing with cattle. But is that just because the 28-day need to drench is so ingrained that it happens regardless of the challenge?

On any day in the summer and autumn whether a lamb consumes 5000 L3 per day or 8000 makes little difference. It is not until it only consumes 1500 per day that we see significant lifts in liveweight gain. Having some cattle with lambs is unlikely to give that benefit.

If we are to use cattle to make a real difference instead of improving pasture quality they need to be grazed in a much more planned way.

First they need to be grazed on their own.

This is not to clean up the sheep worms but to stop further contamination from sheep.

They need to graze on their own for long enough for the pasture contamination from sheep to subside.

This is an area that we still need to know more about because I have been caught out by how long sheep-contaminated pasture has remained high enough to parasitise lambs despite several months of cattle grazing. But generally using cattle to “clean” up sheep-contaminated pastures does work.

It takes time and the time of the year is

important as to how effective that is. For example, grazing sheep pasture with cattle for the winter and expecting it to be much lower in contamination by the end of the spring is unlikely.

What I find though is that it all takes more than a year. By that I mean applying strict inter-grazing to lower the level of worm challenge is an accumulating benefit.

The second year gives much better outcomes than the first year, for example.

Very long rotations with cattle as part of it, but not with the lambs, is the concept I am most excited about. Perfecting that requires some quite lateral thinking on a hill country farm. That can go hand-in-hand with some of that thinking into other parts of our farming.

RESISTANCE AND PRODUCTION NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE BY: LYNDA GRAY GENETIC SELECTION FOR PARASITE resistant sheep need not be at the expense of production traits.

That’s one of the key messages from Kathryn McRae, an AgResearch scientist.

The best way farmers could incorporate the benefit of this trait while pursuing chosen production goals was to select rams using the NZ maternal worth index and the additional trait of WormFEC (NZMW+F).

However, McRae, who has a special interest in the genetics underpinning disease resistance, says genetic selection is not a quick fix for the increasing problem of anthelmintic resistance in sheep parasites.

“The breeding of sheep with an increased ability to resist infection is one tool. It’s a permanent tool, but it takes generations of breeding for the benefits to accrue.”

Presenting at the New Zealand Veterinary Association conference in June she summarised the key findings of research over the last 25 years about breeding for

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October 2021

internal parasite resistance in sheep.

One of the projects had dispelled the popular view that parasite-resistant sheep had more dags than non-resistant sheep.

The 2012 project by a PhD student involving a comparative analysis of 45,000 dag records and 130,000 FEC records showed a very low correlation between parasite resistance and dagginess. That meant selection according to a low dag score was not at the expense of parasite resistance, McRae said.

“Dags, or lack of them is a heritable trait and something that ram breeders could be recording to make genetic progress. They’re easy and free to measure.”

Research had also proved that resistance to internal parasites was geographically transferable.

“While some may believe it's better to select and use rams within a specific environment or geographical region, that's not the case with parasite resistance.”

The next 25 years of research would likely include DNA identification of larvae

species from faecal samples.

“If we can look at the breakdown of species within faecal egg counts, it may provide additional information that could help in the breeding of more resistant sheep.”

Another likely project was to identify the typical behaviours of sheep whose health is compromised through parasite infection. The measurement of the time a sheep spent moving, resting, or ruminating with devices such as GPS collars and accelerometers would help with gathering this information.

“That type of research is already happening in the dairy industry and we’re hoping that as the technology advances and gets cheaper we’ll be able to adapt it for the sheep industry.”

The microbiome – DNA markers of microorganisms - within a faecal or rumen sample was another new and future arm of research that could provide more insight about the interaction between sheep and the parasites responsible for infection.

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October 2021

ANIMAL HEALTH Lamb growth

Ruminant animals source their B12 from the bacteria that digest feed in their rumen.

Pre-weaning treatments can be crucial BY: BEN ALLOTT

W

hen it comes to lamb performance at this time of year, I commonly get asked one of two questions; • Should I give my lambs a Vitamin B12 injection?

• Should I drench my lambs before weaning?

I’m addressing these not because I see them as the most important considerations for the season but because these are the two topics farmers question me about the most.

The most important driver of lamb performance in the spring is high feed quality. This is possible with more legume and herb content in pastures. Also maintaining pastures in a vegetative growth phase.

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Importance of vitamin B12 Vitamin B12 plays a very important role in energy metabolism in animals. Without sufficient B12 the liver stops being able to convert the products of food digestion into utilisable energy.

Feed intake drops, energy levels decline, and growth rates suffer. Humans source their Vitamin B12 from eating animal products (meat, eggs, milk, fish) or from B12 supplements. Ruminant animals (sheep, cattle, deer), source their B12 from the bacteria that digest feed in their rumen. For these bacteria to make enough B12 they need a source of cobalt, a trace element found in soil and plants.

There are regions of New Zealand where there is an absolute deficiency in soil cobalt.

The most widely-known being the bushsickness band of volcanic country that extends north from the centre of the North

Island, through the King Country.

Through other regions, while the soil may contain sufficient cobalt it can be ‘locked-up’ and therefore unavailable for plants to take up through their roots. The common soil factors that will reduce cobalt availability are: high manganese levels, high iron, high aluminium, acidic soil pH, low soil moisture content.

Different plants will take up dramatically different amounts of cobalt when grown on the same soils. Legumes (clovers, lucerne) and the pasture herbs (plantain and chicory) will have far higher cobalt content than common pasture grass species.

Given the large number of factors, how do I untangle this mess to reach a recommendation?

• Look at the soil test data you already have. Soils with good cobalt levels, low manganese content and a solid liming history are less likely to result in B12deficient lambs. Soils with low cobalt levels, high manganese content, or an acidic soil test are more likely to result in deficiency.

• Pastures dominated by grass with little clover and herb content are more likely to result in deficiency than clover rich pastures or herb stands. There are numerous reasons why a sheep breeding

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operation should strive to see the clover content of their hill country pastures lift, and improved B12 status is one.

• A large amount of data is behind the relationship between liver B12 concentration and lamb growth rates in NZ. Collecting liver samples from lambs prior to supplementation will confirm or alleviate your concerns about different classes of country. Many farms I have worked with have had intermittent trace element samples taken. Very few have had a robust, well-planned out survey on which their supplementation programmes are based.

• On most properties you cannot look at your farm as a single block with one recommendation for all lambs. Harder hill country with more acidic soils and lower clover content to pastures will require more direct animal supplementation than easy, fertile flats.

If stock are deficient, what options do you have for supplementation?

1. Cobalt chip in fertiliser. This can be an effective option where an absolute lack of soil cobalt is the cause of the problem. On soils where manganese lockup is occurring, cobalt chip will only give very short-term benefits. I rarely recommend this method as I have not been convinced it is cost-effective on North Canterbury soil types.

2. Short-acting water-soluble B12 (Hydroxocobalamin) injection. This is the cheap, red, watery B12 injections sold by every vet and farm supplies store. It will boost animal B12 levels for four-to-six weeks but on farms with more severe deficiency they may find themselves injecting lambs at every drench. This is also the type of B12 present in mineralised five-in-one vaccines.

3. Long-acting B12 injection (Smartshot) – more costly per dose but a single dose can provide up to six months B12 supplementation in sheep. Particularly useful in less-intensive systems where young sheep are infrequently yarded.

Lower doses can be used for shorter periods of supplementation.

4. On paddock country with reticulated water systems the water supply can be dosed with trace elements. *Boluses – I am aware of long-acting trace element boluses for adult sheep in NZ but am unaware of any bolus options for lambs.

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For these bacteria to make enough B12 they need a source of cobalt, a trace element found in soil and plants.

Pre-weaning drenching When it comes to drenching lambs prior to weaning there is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to this question. When I work through this question on a farm the top point I have in my head is that most oral combination drenches given to these lambs will only kill the worms already present in the gut.

To justify giving a pre-weaning drench I should be confident the lambs will have a worm burden at the time my drench is administered and that this burden is large enough to justify wiping out. What factors are likely to impact this?

• High sheep-to-cattle ratios – farms with high sheep numbers and very few cattle will frequently see large worm burdens in lambs, earlier in the season. Cross-grazing is a critical principle to understand in a world where we need to focus on fewer chemical inputs.

• Low covers – tight feed supply will result in lambs grazing lower, where we know more parasite larvae will be present.

Increased competition for food and nutritional stress will make animals less resistant to parasites, resulting in higher

faecal egg counts, resulting in more pasture contamination with parasites.

• Previous farm history – pre-weaning egg counts from previous seasons, results of pre-weaning growth rate trials, farmer experience of leaving lambs un-drenched in previous seasons. This is all valuable information.

• Paddock/block history – areas of the farm that grazed lambs the previous autumn or winter are likely to have higher parasite challenge than areas of the farm that haven’t seen a lamb/hogget since last weaning. A comment like, ‘the hoggets fell to pieces here last autumn’ raises a flag for me that lambs are likely to be challenged the next spring and that earlier drenching should be scheduled.

• Onfarm trials – they don’t help you this year because the result comes in too late to help with your decision, but comparing the growth rate of drenched versus undrenched lambs under your management brings huge value in making decisions for years to come.

What about a tailing drench?

No. Not useful. If you are following good practice welfare standards and are tailing lambs at an appropriate age they will not have a worm burden that will justify a drench. Young lambs are also at far higher risk of toxicity and because of this you are limited to drench options that are ineffective on a large number of NZ farms.

• Ben Allott is a North Canterbury veterinarian.

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ANIMAL HEALTH Drenching

The concept of leaving some animals undrenched can be a scary proposition for many farmers.

Achieving balance BY: ANDREW COCHRANE

L

ike many things in life, farming is a balancing act and for every action there are often unwanted consequences. Many of these scenarios often play out as a ‘catch-22’ where you find yourself having to make difficult decisions picking between the lesser of two evils.

Making these decisions and achieving the balance can be difficult but this is often what separates good farmers from those that are treading water.

I come across examples of this onfarm almost daily in my job, whether it is deciding to quit stock early in the face of feed shortages or choosing who gets the better feed when there are several mobs that would benefit.

There are numerous examples in animal health too, from simply deciding whether or not to vaccinate (risk vs reward), or more complex decisions on managing abortion

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outbreaks (opting to spread out early, knowing that this will decimate lambing pasture covers).

Most commonly we are balancing cost vs production, but more frequently this is becoming sustainability vs production, especially when discussing parasites.

The concept of refugia is a classic example of balancing sustainability and production.

The most basic principle of refugia is to leave animals undrenched and often the concern is what cost will this be to production. The reality is that any cost to production can be mitigated if the animals left undrenched are chosen wisely.

It is well reported that sheep in good health, with good body condition and adequate feed, are well prepared to withstand the impacts of internal parasites.

For this reason we will typically choose the best-conditioned ewes/lambs in the mob to be left undrenched, not necessarily because they will have fewer parasites, but because they are better-suited to withstand the burden.

When it comes to ewes pre-lamb we may also consider how many lambs she is carrying, with single-bearing ewes less likely to suffer from missing a drench. Often it is the first step that is most daunting, the concept of leaving some animals

undrenched can be a scary proposition for many farmers.

What if they die? Won't they fall apart?

These are questions often asked by farmers following veterinary advice to leave some animals undrenched. The truth is many farmers already practice good refugia and aren’t noticing any significant illeffects.

Every situation is different but taking small steps to leave a proportion of stock undrenched can be a positive step towards balancing sustainability with productivity.

In most cases you won’t notice any change, however we do recommend marking and monitoring the undrenched animals so you can keep an eye on things.

How many to leave undrenched is another discussion, but start by leaving 5% undrenched (1 in 20), once you get comfortable with this we can discuss whether this is enough to provide adequate refugia. Test your drenches, they are failing throughout the country.

If you think production will drop by missing some animals when drenching, try farming without any effective drenches and see what productivity looks like then.

• Andrew Cochrane is a veterinarian with Northern Southland Vets.

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ANIMAL HEALTH Shedding sheep

and has opened up the floor to some “welfare-washing” (a term I use to describe promoting actions which claim to result in positive animal welfare experience, but may not necessarily be addressing the real animal welfare issue).

The easiest solution is not tailing at all, an opportunity which our shedding sheep allow us due to their bare breech. The benefits of not tailing are financial not only due to reduction in the actual cost of tailing, but also the reduction in any potential growth check seen in the lambs as a result of tail removal.

No crutching: Quite simple here, clean breech means the faeces doesn’t stick to the non-existent wool. This means no dags, so no crutching is required to keep sheep clean to prevent flystrike. Crutching is a cost of time and money to the farm, so the benefits of not doing this once again drop to the bottom line.

Clean breech means the faeces doesn’t stick to the non-existent wool.

Shedding sheep bring balance BY: BECKS SMITH

F

ull disclaimer here, we breed shedding sheep, so I’m biased in their favour. However, as a farmer and a veterinarian shifting our commercial flock from a composite base to a shedding genetics base, I thought it might be useful to share some of the positive management impacts around costly issues such as ewe wastage, external parasite control, labour and mental workload.

The first and most obvious is no shearing; now don’t get me wrong I am an avid supporter of wool as a fibre, both fine and strong, but we weren’t selecting for wool production and had a costly shearing bill to pay each year.

No shearing also saves a lot of labour and mental workload over a period in the winter where it can be difficult to get a “weather window”.

From an animal health perspective, not shearing reduces potential negative impacts on the ewes’ metabolism due to reduced time off feed during mid-late pregnancy and reduction in negative thermal energy balance experienced post-shearing which

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can in worst case scenarios result in unnecessary ewe wastage.

Reduced management issues around lambing – fewer cast ewes, bearings and lambing difficulties: Fewer cast ewes is a result of the reduction in wool weight on the ewes during late pregnancy.

The reduction in bearings and lambing troubles which I have observed in our sheep is noticeable and keep in mind we have been intensively lambing shedding ewes (for recording purposes) alongside composite ewes for more than 10 years.

It is my opinion that the reduction in both these animal health issues could be due to stronger musculature around the perineal region (due to retention of their tails) and the narrower shoulders we see specifically in the Wiltshire genetics. These impacts result in less ewe and lamb wastage – increasing farm productivity.

No tailing: This is a major benefit especially given the industry trends around tailing. While I am a strong advocate for pain-relief at tailing, it needs to be the right product, administered correctly, at the right time which provides practical challenges

Reduction in chemical use to control lice and fly: The open fleece and bare breech of shedding create less-than-ideal conditions for flystrike and lice infestation; so much so that I refer to shedding genetics as a tool in the toolkit for management of both of these animal health issues.

With more and more agrichemicals being identified as having negative human health impacts and being less desirable in the food-chain, not only does this impact save you money, but it also sets up a more sustainable system considering a one health approach.

It is worth noting that these benefits don’t just automatically appear when you buy “shedding sheep”. As with all genetic traits, there are some individuals that perform well within a breed and some that perform poorly. Ensure that, if you are buying shedding sheep for the benefits you will gain from not having wool, they are from a breeder selecting for shedding score.

As a final note I’d like to claim one of the benefits of shedding sheep is an improved work/life balance, but you know farming – there’s always something to do! But what I hope it does provide is a less-stressful mental workload for our family, with more time to spend on the areas of our business which increase productivity, sustainability and enjoyability.

• Becks Smith is a veterinarian based in Ranfurly, Central Otago.

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ANIMAL HEALTH Resistance

Breeder

Reversing triple drench resistance

Study farm with triple drench resistance Refugia group 5-25% lambs undrenched Quarantine group all lambs drenched

BY: SANDRA TAYLOR

E

arly results from a study looking at ways of managing triple drench resistance in an intensive lamb finishing system reinforces the importance of regular FECRT for both breeders and finishers.

The study, initiated by the Wairarapa Producer Group, included breeders and finishers working together in a lamb trading arrangement. It was led by Renee Hogg from Inside New Zealand with technical expertise from PGG Wrightson vet Andrew Dowling, AgResearch’s Dr Dave Leathwick and Aiden Smith from South Wairarapa Vets.

Information generated from the FECRT test informs the breeder about which drenches are working on their farm and is valuable information to a finisher, Dowling says.

“Ineffective drenching costs money in lost production and time.”

Recognising the value of working together to address the issue of drench resistance, the group found there was little practical advice on introducing refugia into a lamb finishing system and the impact this would have on drench efficacy. They also wanted to understand any negative outcomes from introducing refugia.

Before the study started, and before the lambs left the breeders, a FECRT was carried out on all breeder farms and the finishing farm (study farm) to know the drench resistance status.

Two areas of the study farm, diagnosed with triple drench resistance, were used to try different parasite management practices so lamb finishing would still be a feasible option.

On one area of the study farm, a percentage of lambs (ranging from 5 to 25%) sourced from a farm with drenchsusceptible parasites (source of refugia) were left undrenched for a full grazing rotation while the remainder received their quarantine drench.

On another area, all lambs were quarantine-drenched with a novel active drench as has been farm practice for many

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Finisher

Breeders and finishers communicate drench resistance status with each other

10 days later, a drench check was carried out.

Following that, every 28 days the number of parasites were checked

Quarantine

10 DAYS

Refugia

28 DAYS

All lambs drenched depending on results of the drench check

The drench status of the study farm will be tested for improvements over three years

3

YEARS

years. Subsequent drenching was with a triple combination or a novel active depending on the results of the drench check (a faecal egg count (FEC) was carried out 10 days after drenching to confirm drench and drench protocol is working).

Faecal egg counts and larval identification were also carried out on the lambs that were the source of refugia to reduce the risk of introducing more-harmful parasite species and then every 28 days to monitor parasite burden.

Results to date show an improvement of the drench status with both approaches, as well as a reduction in overall drench use, Dowling says.

“However, as it takes time to improve the drench status on farms, the study is being carried out for three years to ensure these results are reliable.”

The next FECRT to assess the drench status of the study farm will be carried out in Autumn 2022.

Based on these early results, Dowling recommends finishers know the drench efficacy status (FECRT) of the worms on their farm and the worm challenge (FEC).

Using highly effective drenches, maintaining refugia and reducing the number of drenches each lamb receives will slow the development of drench resistance.

“You can only identify drench-susceptible

‘Ineffective drenching costs money in lost production and time.’ parasites from a recent FECRT on the farm supplying the lambs.

“Know the parasites you are purchasing and if you’re selling animals, having drench-susceptible parasites could be valuable.”

Effective quarantine drenching is also an important part of drench resistance management to prevent any new parasites or resistance arriving on farm via new stock.

Maintaining a population of drenchsusceptible parasites is vital to the continued preservation of drench efficacy in any farm system.

“Drench-resistant parasites cost you money in lower growth rates and wasted investment on ineffective drench,” Dowling says.

“Build good relationships with people you trade livestock with and keep up the dialogue on your resistance status.

“If you have a good FECRT then your parasites could be a valuable source of new refugia for a finisher.”

Drench resistance on finishing farms is a serious risk to those selling store lambs, however, even farms with a good FECRT result can make improvements in their drench resistance management practices.

• This study was funded by Beef + Lamb New Zealand and Silver Fern Farms.

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INDUSTRY Consumers

Plus equals assurance BY: SANDRA TAYLOR

A

newly launched assurance programme reflects growing consumer demand for evidence-based environmental and social standards around red meat production.

New Zealand Farm Assurance Programme Plus (NZFAPP) is a new voluntary standard which builds on the existing NZ Farm Assurance Programme (NZFAP). It is a highlevel sustainability programme, which includes the management of people, farm and natural resources and biosecurity. It is to be launch on October 1.

NZ Farm Assurance Incorporated (NZFAI) general manager Megan Mounsey-Smith says development of NZAPP began in 2018 under the Red Meat Profit Partnership, in response to customer and consumer expectation and government regulations.

“It is about demonstrating and communicating to NZ and an international audience that the NZ red meat and wool sectors are farming sustainably and ethically.”

She says 30 farmers have piloted the programme so far and feedback has been positive.

Many of those in the pilot were already doing some or most of the work and Megan says it was a matter of recording and providing evidence to support their management practices.

To take part in the programme, farmers need to have completed NZFAP, the foundation programme. They can then apply to become a member of NZFAPP and will carry out an initial self-assessment checklist to determine what aspects of their business they need to work on. They are then given up to three years to meet the required standards and be audited by an AsureQuality independent auditor.

The cost of the audit is covered by NZFAI member companies with whom farmers have a relationship.

Megan says a comprehensive handbook has been developed to support farmers as they work towards their NZFAPP certification, along with a number of other tools and resources which are under development.

The programme is aligned with Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s farm plan to avoid duplication and provide tools and resources to support farmers in working towards meeting the Standards.

Megan emphasises that while NZFAPP aligns with several regulations, they are not regulators.

“The new programme is an entirely voluntary standard that has been developed to support access to markets internationally.”

“It is very much market driven with consumers increasingly wanting to know where their food is coming from and how it is being produced.

She says if farmers want to find out more about the programme, they should speak to their meat or wool processing company.

NZFAI is an incorporated society that is a collaboration of 16 meat processing companies, 23 wool companies, Beef + Lamb NZ and Deer Industry NZ.

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EFFICIENCY

EYEING UP THE OPPORTUNITIES Developing the Ezicare breed has meant the Morrisons can focus on meat with a little wool on the side. By Russell Priest. Photos: Brad Hanson.

F

aced with increasing costs of growing wool, Marton-based Morrison Farming Limited (MFL) have over the past 30 years developed their own composite breed of sheep called Ezicare.

‘We believe we’ve trimmed $12-$15 a head off the costs of growing wool by developing this breed,” manager for MFL Daniel Clayton says.

Based on the Coopworth, Texel and Wiltshire breeds the objectives in establishing the breed were to produce an easy-care, highly fertile and fecund breed capable of generating 18kg high-yielding carcases in 100 days at a 160% weaning rate while still producing a fleece. Minimal dagging, once-a-year shearing, a high degree of FE (facial eczema) and worm tolerance and use of hybrid vigour round off the main objectives the Morrisons are striving for.

The role of Wiltshire sheep within MFL and in the development of the Ezicare breed has been hugely significant. In 1982 John Morrison and his father Max bought the entire New Zealand population of the breed amounting to 120 animals. The previous owner David Blakley of Te Puke had managed to fix the poll gene within the flock so all the 99 females and 21 ram lambs were polled.

John Morrison describes them as a ‘motley crew’ being of varying ages from 12-year-old ewes to lambs and at different stages of shedding and with tails. However, after the first lambing their performance proved to be a revelation delivering a 226%

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trouble-free lambing with few lamb deaths.

Mated also to some Coopworth, Romney and Border Leicester ewes in equal numbers, the 200 first cross lambs produced growth rates that far exceeded what the Morrisons had been used to. A draft of 100 lambs killed out at 20kg all grading “Ys” and “Ps” which was exactly what the new-look export lamb industry was seeking.

Morrison remembers in 1982 export lambs were almost valueless. Based on whole, frozen, fat 13kg carcases NZ’s export lamb industry needed a dramatic shakeup.

However the majority of its traditional sheep industry could not meet the new specifications based on legislative changes that required the production of large, lean, chilled carcases that could be further processed.

Carcases with more than 10mm of GR fat were graded “T” (Trimmer) and over 15mm GR were graded fat with both grades being penalised for being too fat for export and requiring further processing.

Wiltshires’ arrival in NZ Wiltshires were originally a horned breed, however, when a flock was imported to Australia from England in 1952 it was crossed with the Poll Dorset breed to remove the horns. Four Wiltshire Horn/Poll Dorset cross ewes plus a Horned Wiltshire ram were imported to NZ in 1972 by a Mr Belleby being progeny of the rescued remnant of Wiltshire Horn sheep. Ironically, he wanted to farm sheep he didn’t have to shear.

Not long after the borders were closed

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to any further sheep imports although the Morrisons did import the Australian National Champion Horned Wiltshire ram in 1988 to inject some new blood into their narrow genetic base. However, the downside was they had to spend the next five years trying to stabilise the poll gene in their flock again.

Farming 14,000su on two complementary blocks 14km apart the MFL business has several strings to its bow. The primary focus is in breeding easy-calving Hereford bulls, many of which are sold into the dairy industry. Carrying the Ezicalve brand the business sells about 250 yearlings and twoyear-old bulls annually. Home to the herd of 400 pedigree Hereford cows is a 900ha (800ha effective) hill country farm (Mangara) 18km north of Marton which also runs 3800 Ezicare and Wiltshire ewes plus replacements.

Managed by 33-year-old Daniel Clayton, Mangara also keeps handyman and ex-shearer John Hicks busy while also employing a shepherd (in the process of employing a further one). Directors John Morrison and his son William, his wife AgFirst consultant Erica van Reenen and John’s cousin Graham Morrison all work within the business.

“We all work across the two farms,’ Daniel says.

The epicentre of the business is a 400ha flat-to easy rolling farm called Ardo which has been owned by the Morrison family since 1864 and which finishes lambs and grows out weaner calves from Mangara as well as providing high octane feed for lambing triplet-bearing ewes. It is also the testing ground for 260 R2 in-calf Hereford heifers where they must prove themselves before entering the main breeding herd.

Cropping is pivotal to the business providing high quality feed via swards of chicory, plantain, clover (CPC) and lucerne on Ardo and plantain/clover (PC) and rape on Mangara.

Mangara’s 3800 ewes consist of 2800 Ezicares (EC) and 1000 Wiltshires which are run together for most of the year except at mating. Of the 3800 ewes 300 are in their final year.

MFL’s philosophy towards its Ezicare flock is simple. If the directors see merit

Mangara Farm manager Daniel Clayton.

“The shearers maintain it takes just as long to shear them because of their lively nature on the board.”

FARM FACTS • Farming 14,000su at 11.66su/ha.

• 400ha easy block, 900ha (800ha effective) hill block.

• Sheep & cattle breeding (rams & bulls) & finishing business.

• 2800 Ezicare composites plus1000 Wiltshires and replacements.

• Developed Ezicare composite to reduce wool-growing costs. MARTON • Runs 650 pedigree Hereford cows/heifers.

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in introducing a trait like facial eczema tolerance into the flock, rams carrying the trait will be sourced and mated to the flock.

This generally puts some wool back on the EC’s points so the Wiltshire is used every now and then to peel this wool off.

Keeping a purebred flock The company’s intention is to maintain the Wiltshires as a purebred flock and run them together with the ECs. With unprecedented demand for Wiltshire sires MFL are in a prime position to satisfy some of this demand.

“We have clients who don’t wish to change entirely to Wiltshire but want to maintain the positive attributes of their base breed so they do two crosses with the Wiltshire to remove the wool off the points then use our Ezicare breed to maintain that degree of fleece cover.”

Having farmed Wiltshires and ECs together for a number of years Daniel is

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Wiltshire mixed age ewes.

in a strong position to comment on their relative merits.

“Wiltshires are an amazingly productive sheep considering the narrow genetic base they originated from in NZ and the minimal amount of selection pressure they’ve been put under.”

Daniel says Wiltshires have a reputation for being “mad” and this arises largely from the way they are handled. Good stockmen enjoy mustering them because they’re free moving on hills. Being intelligent, cautious, active sheep they don’t respond well to pressure so it is advisable to work them with eye dogs rather than huntaways.

Approaching a gateway or unfamiliar territory they should be allowed to find their own way instead of being forced.

Daniel maintains they are as fertile/ fecund as the ECs, produce few if any bearings, seldom get cast and are excellent mothers producing plenty of milk. The lambs are lively at birth with survival rates no different to the ECs and the breed is deceptively heavy.

During the shedding process small pieces of wool are seen around the yards but little is visible on the paddocks. Few are born with or develop horns now and they have normal length tails. Few if any need dagging whereas about 20% of the ECs do although Daniel says this is easily dealt with using a Handypiece while holding them up in a narrow race.

Wiltshires appear to have a greater resistance/resilience to internal parasites

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Fast growth, high meat yields, meat quality, excellent survival and tough hardy rams

SUFTEX – A NEW ERA IN TERMINAL PERFORMANCE RAMS than ECs and have some tolerance to facial GRUNT NZ Standard Terminal Worth (NZTW) eczema.

Fast growth, high meat yields, excellent survival and1600tough 1600 Because of the many other traits to hardy rams 1400 Premier Suftex 1400 select for in sheep the Morrisons have not Industry Average 1200 1200 selected solely for the shedding traitPERFORMANCE in their 1000 1000 Wiltshires. Unlike wool breeds a greater 800 800 degree of shedding is achieved when they …..AND THE BREEDERS NORTH TO600SOUTH 600 are well fed.

400 Raupuha King Country 400 Only the ECs are shorn (not the 200 200 Kelso Hawkes Bay 0 0 Wiltshires) with 80% being shorn in January 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010Hawkes 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 Pahiwi Bay and 20% in mid-pregnancy. Producing Paki-iti Manawatu about 3kg wool/head they are shorn once a Hemingford North Canterbury year at no discounted shearing rate (at the Punchbowl North Otago moment) in spite of them being clean on Castledent Otago the points.

0

AND THE BREEDERS NORTH TO SOUTH

Nithdale Gore “The shearers maintain it takes just as long to shear them because of their lively Twin Farm Gore King Country 07 877 8977 Raupuha nature on the board.”

Greeline Wyndham HawkesTO Bay SOUTH 0800 453 576 …..AND THE Kelso BREEDERS NORTH Daniel says the number to be shorn is not Mount 06 855 4943 Pahiwi Linton Hawkes BayOtautau Raupuha King Country 07 877 8977 established until he drafts them as he selects Crossieberg 0 Manawatu Invercargill 06 328 5772 Paki-iti KelsoHe Hawkes Bay 0800 453 576 only those he deems necessary to shear.

Nth Canterbury 03 3158 689 Hemingford Pahiwi Hawkes Bay 06 855 4943 normally works on a percentage requiring Sth Canterbury 027 6855 702 Dalzel shearing and is generally not far outPaki-iti with Manawatu 06 328 5772 North Otago 027 222 3809 Punchbowl his number.

Hemingford LongdownsNorthOtago Canterbury PremierSuftexNZ 03 485 916103 3158 689 “Some ewes may only be shorn once in 18 Punchbowl North Otago 03 439 5693 Gore 0800 648 432 Nithdale months depending upon how much wool Castledent Otago Gore 03 208 590403 485 9535 Twin Farm they are carrying.”

Nithdale Gore 03 205 3566 027 201 7312 Strathallan Run Wyndham Ohai 021 779 485 Twin Farm Gore 03 208 5902 Mount Linton Crossing for FE tolerance Invercargill 027 230 4052 Crossieberg Greeline Wyndham 03 246 9697 Ram-out date on Mangara is March 10 Mount Linton Otautau 03 225 4689 when the 300 one-year ewes go to Ezicare Crossieberg Invercargill 027 230 4052 rams (those with best early growth) at a

PREMIER SUFTE

ratio of one to 75-100. The main flock of Ezicare and Wiltshire ewes normally go to Ezicare and Wiltshire rams respectively on September 1 although this year all the

PREMIERSUFTEX SUFTEX PREMIER PremierSuftexNZ

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Ezicare ewes went to Wiltshire ram lambs for the first cycle to strip a bit more wool off their points then were tailed up with Ezicare MA rams.

“To improve the FE tolerance of our Ezicare flock we’ve been crossing it with Coopworth rams tested at 0.6 so we need to bring back the Wiltshire to remove some wool off their points.”

Daniel says he tries to flush ewes before mating but has found it difficult in drought years so he aims to keep the ewes in as good a condition as possible throughout the summer by rotating them around the hills. This continues through the winter joined by the 400 MA cows. However, with fewer paddocks than is ideal he keeps the rotation going for as long as he can (40 days) before set stocking the main flock for lambing on August 20. Twin-bearing ewes are set stocked on the easier hill country at 6/ha with singles at 7-9/ha on the steeper, rougher country.

“When the ewes come out of the rotation I try to even up the covers in the lambing paddocks by set stocking no ewes in the recently grazed paddocks, to let them come away while doubling the stocking rate in those paddocks with the best covers.”

Initially the farm had 22 paddocks and now has 50 but to get a good rotation going Daniel would like 70-80.

Daniel Clayton in his woolshed office.

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Left: Panorama view looking south. Above: Many of the easycalving Hereford bulls are sold into the dairy industry.

“We still have some 50ha paddocks which means we have to spend too much time in each paddock. I’d like to get the average paddock size down to 12-15ha.”

Cows are removed from the rotation when paddocks become too wet and are set stocked on the hills until the ewes come out of their rotation and are set stocked for lambing. At this point the cows come off the hills and are given their pre-calving injections before being put behind a hot wire on easier country and fed saved grass before calving.

Ewes are shorn and scanned about three

months after mating with the MA ewes scanning about 190% and the two-tooths 175%. This year 15% scanned triplets, 65% twins, 18% singles and 2% dries.

“This year the two-tooths only scanned 155% which was disappointing but we think it was one of the side effects of the severe drought of 2019/20 when they were lambs and they have been struggling to meet growth targets ever since.”

Lambing starts on Mangara on August 5 with all the one-year ewes lambing on PC at 10su/ha.

“The idea of lambing them early is to

kill them and their lambs at good weights before Christmas when there are good premiums about and it also takes some pressure off feed demand.”

Lambs are killed down to 17kg ($110 plus) and ewes (26–30 kg CW) return about $150.

Two years ago when early lamb prices were high lambs killed out at 19.3kg ($163).

The main Ezicare and Wiltshire flocks start lambing on September 1 after the triplet-bearing ewes are drafted off and trucked down to Ardo to lamb on PCC. All ewes receive an eight-in-one jab and triplet-bearing ewes a jab of Hidejet minerals and trace elements to deal with some of the stresses related to lambing.

“We have nothing to do with the ewes on Mangara from set stocking through to weaning other than when docking the lambs. This is just as well because we’re tied up for 2½ months with weighing and tagging calves, taking tissue samples and shedding out cows and calves from calving paddocks onto saved pasture on the hills.”

Weaned in early December, lambs are drenched with the male lambs being trucked to Ardo where they are finished at 18-20kg CW ($140 average return) on PCC and lucerne stands. After each monthly draft remaining lambs are drenched.

“The good thing about Wiltshires and Ezicares is you don’t have to shear 80% of them before slaughter.”

Replacements retained Replacement ewe lambs are retained on Mangara and fed on PC stands using a similar drenching regime to the finishing lambs. As winter approaches the drenching interval is extended based on faecal egg count tests. No exit drench is being used at this stage but may be considered in the future.

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and the widespread prevalence of drench resistance, MFL doesn’t drench its ewes and is looking at introducing worm tolerance/ resistance into their breeding programme.

It has a policy of regularly mating hoggets, however the numbers mated are determined by the ability to achieve target mating weight. Based on 70% of the average MA ewe mating weight of 62-65kg this is 4345kg but in reality is normally 40-42kg.

“Two years ago we only mated 50% of our hoggets because of the severe drought, however in a good year we aim to mate everything and only winter in-lamb hoggets by culling the dries at scanning.”

This year 1100 hoggets got in lamb out of 1340 (82%) mated and scanned 104% (including dries).

“It’s easy to get hoggets in lamb. The biggest challenge with them is to grow them well through to lambing and beyond and get them back in lamb as two-tooths.”

To this end twin-bearing hoggets are trucked down to Ardo after scanning and fed on PCC stands to give them every opportunity to grow. Single-bearing hoggets remain at Mangara where they are lambed.

“If we have to, we will winter dry hoggets

Ezicare ewe on rape crop.

to ensure we mate 1000 two-tooths the following autumn.”

Outside Coopworth and Texel rams are occasionally introduced to the Ezicare flock to bring in desirable traits like FE, worm tolerance, hardiness and improved carcase characteristics. The Maternal Worth index is used to help select rams for the Ezicare flock when it is available.

MFL are now testing their home-grown rams for FE tolerance by exposing them naturally to the disease and measuring their blood GGT levels. This data is then loaded into SIL and evaluated. Recently a shorttailed Texel was introduced with a view to eliminating tail docking.

MFL has an interesting approach to animal soundness based on the concept

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SOUTHDOWN

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Daniel and general hand John Hicks.

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that if an animal is unsound to the extent that the fault affects its performance it will cull itself. MFL regularly cull these underperforming animals.

Since Richard Morrison left MFL two years ago and formed his own business taking with him the SIL recorded Wiltshires and Ezicare flocks, MFL have screened 300 Wiltshire and 300 Ezicare ewes from their commercial flocks based on twinning, breed type and soundness.

These are now all EIDed and recorded with SIL and instead of being single-sire mated are mated with multiple rams using commercial, unrecorded ewes to bolster mob numbers.

Tissue samples of lambs are taken at docking time and parentage established.

Costing $26 a ewe regardless of the number of lambs she has, it removes the task of having to tag lambs at birth and has significantly higher accuracy. It also comes with a free allocation of 5K and 50K genomic tests.

“We don’t go around our ewes at lambing time anyway and it is physically impossible to tag lambs on hill country.

Also we don’t have the time because we are tied up with recording calves and shedding out so it’s a no-brainer.”

Being able to mob mate with large numbers of ewes enables rotational grazing to continue throughout mating as opposed to set stocking under singlesire mating. This gives pastures a greater opportunity to build up covers before winter which is a major management advantage.

“The opportunities to use EID and DNA testing in sheep are endless and we’re looking to use Myomax, Lambmax and Loinmax in our breeding programme as well as any other relevant genomic tests that become available in the future.”

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EFFICIENCY Rams

Simplifying ram selection FARMERS ARE BEING ENCOURAGED to make use of the free, online tool nProve. nz to help them find the rams that best meet their breeding objectives.

B+LNZ genetics operations specialist Sarah Powdrell says nProve was launched last year and was developed with input by farmers, for farmers.

“It presents data in an easy-to-use format to allow farmers to objectively compare genetics.”

She says when using nProve, farmers need to identify and prioritise the traits that are important to them and then through a series of buttons and sliders, describe what they need from a breeder.

“For example, if facial eczema or parasite resistance are important traits, farmers just move the sliders to see the top flocks for those traits.”

Powdrell recommends farmers have a

Using nProve makes ram selection easier for farmers.

play with the tool. As the sliders are moved, nProve will identify options nation-wide that best match an individual’s selection criteria. The options can then be narrowed down further by region, breed and birth year.

NProve was built with commercial farmers in mind by B+LNZ Genetics, a levy-funded division of Beef + Lamb New Zealand.

“Eye appraisal alone doesn’t cut the mustard compared to ratings based on

comprehensive data on an animal and its family members.”

“There’s a balance.”

Powdrell acknowledges the difficulty of juggling lots of figures for a range of traits on ram sale day, especially with the addition of new traits as science emerges.

“We’re often told by commercial farmers that ram buying is getting more complicated.”

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EFFICIENCY BCS

Condition major profit driver BY: RUSSELL PRIEST

E

we body condition is the most powerful profit driver in a sheep production system and unlike many objective measurements taken on sheep is cheap to assess, requiring only a farmer's valuable time.

That’s the message delivered by former BakerAg consultant and now full-time farmer Sully Alsop at a Beef + Lamb NZ Farming for Profit seminar held in Manawatu recently.

It influences the three main profit drivers – kilograms of lamb weaned/ha, weaning weight/lamb and number of lambs weaned/ ha.

“If there is one thing that drives sheep production more than anything else it is ewe condition,” Sully said.

Affected are ewe fertility, fecundity, mothering and milking ability (colostrum production and milk yield), death rate, weaning weight as well as lamb birth weight, survival, growth rate and weaning weight. All these potentially influence profit

Sully Alsop highlights the finer points of body conditioning scoring.

in a sheep production system.

Sully and his wife Katie run two farms in the Wairarapa (one summer-dry and the other more elevated and colder with a higher rainfall). They are strong advocates and users of condition scoring.

“There are a million good reasons why you want to get into condition scoring and understanding what it does,” Sully said.

BC scoring allows farmers to generate more profit from the same amount of feed or use less feed by allocating it to those ewes that will give the best return. It identifies those lighter ewes that need preferential feeding, those ewes that need maintaining and those that should be culled because they have not responded to better feeding.

“Using an average BCS for a flock can be misleading because it doesn’t give a breakdown of the numbers of ewes within each BCS class hence doesn’t enable a farmer to apportion feed to the class that gives the best economic response,” says Professor Paul Kenyon from Massey University.

“For example: Two farmers can have ewe flocks with an average BCS of 3. Farmer 1’s ewes may all have a BCS of 3 and farmer 2 may have 50% of ewes with a BCS of 2 and 50% a BCS of 4. Farmer 1 only needs to feed his ewes maintenance while Farmer 2 has a significantly higher feed requirement if he is to achieve similar results to Farmer 1 because of the extra feed he has to supply to the 50% of his ewes with a BCS of 2 and

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Presenter Sully Alsop.

‘There are a million good reasons why you want to get into condition scoring and understanding what it does.’

he’ll be wasting feed giving it to ewes with BCS 4.”

BC scoring assesses the amount of body fat or condition by feeling the spine and associated horizontal processes along the loin area.

Assessed using a score from 1 to 5 (with 1 being the thinnest and 5 being the fattest) the single most important factor influencing the profitability of a ewe flock is the percentage of ewes in a flock that are below BCS 3 at mating and lambing. The higher the percentage, the lower the profitability so the best bangs for bucks on feed is achieved by lifting the lowest BCS ewes assuming they are otherwise healthy and are able to respond to better feeding.

“The figure to focus on is BCS 3 however you don’t want to go overboard and have too many over BCS3.5 ‘cause you’ll start killing them with kindness. Also the scanning percentage plateaus above BCS3.”

Sully said ewe weight and BCS are not strongly related. For example two ewes can be the same weight but one may have a small frame and a BCS 4 and one may have a large frame and a BCS 2.”

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BCS is a way of comparing sheep that relates strongly to production ability unlike body weight which can be influenced by things like gut fill, stage of pregnancy, breed, frame size and wool.

The most profitable thing you can do To move a ewe from BCS 2 to BCS 3 requires an additional 30kg drymatter above maintenance and the return on this 30kg amounts to 54c/kg DM compared with winter lamb trading of 25-35c/kg and dairy cow wintering of 30c/kg, Sully said.

“This is probably the most profitable thing you can do on a sheep farm.”

The Alsops believe the two most important BCS in the sheep breeding calendar are at mating and lambing and should be as close to 3 as possible.

“A lot of people believe the start of a ewe’s production cycle starts at mating, however we believe this is wrong. We believe it starts at weaning because between weaning and mating is the only period during which we are not asking a ewe to produce something like growing a lamb.”

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WILTSHIRE & EZICARE SHEEP RAMS, EWES AND LAMBS AVAILABLE

Condition scoring with hand in loin area.

So the Alsops begin their BCS programme at weaning after the ewes are shorn.

“You can spend a whole lot of money on EID tags and weigh crates but BCSing at weaning and responding is where you can make some serious money.”

BCS at weaning results in lightconditioned ewes being separated from the heavies with the former being preferentially fed and the latter going on a diet. If ewes are not differentially fed after weaning, feed is wasted lifting ewes whose BCS is already at three or above. This feed is better allocated to those whose BCS needs improving.

For example: By reducing the percentage of ewes in a flock with BCS 1&2 from 15% to 5% can improve scanning percentage by 15%, lamb survival by 2.6%, lamb weaning weight by 0.9kg and increase gross margin(GM)/ha by 14%.

“Never cull ewes on BCS at weaning because you don’t know what they’ve produced. In doing so you may well be culling your more productive ewes.”

During the 90 days from January 1 to March 31 if a ewe’s BCS is lifted from 2 to 2.5 (requires an extra 24kg DM above maintenance) this will increase her GM by $9.90 giving a return of 41c/kg DM. If this increase in BCS is from 2.5 to 3 (requires an extra 51kg DM above maintenance) the increase in GM is $19.84 giving a return of 39c/kg DM. This will also lift the scanning percentage from 154% to 176%.

The Alsops’ ewes are BC scored three times between weaning and mating, one of these being sometime during January when they are brought in for dipping.

“If you can get above BCS 3 at mating it gives you a bit of a buffer for later on in

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October 2021

pregnancy if you stuff it up.”

Sully believes that it is invaluable having a bit more condition on a ewe at mating because if she is mated at BCS 3 she can’t afford to lose any more condition before lambing.

Observing the 20 golden days (10 days before and 10 days after the rams go out) of mating is vital if a good scanning percentage is to be achieved. Ewes are shifted every day for 20 days during this period.

“We haven’t had a scanning failure since we’ve been doing this. It is the second most valuable thing you can do to get good scanning results.”

Ewes must maintain weight in last days before lambing Ideally ewes cannot afford to lose any weight within the last 30 days before lambing.

Sully said this is because a chemical (ketone) called beta hydroxybuterate is released when a ewe’s energy balance is in deficit in the last month of pregnancy. The clinical effect of this is a condition known as ketosis which can be fatal. The subclinical effect reduces a lamb’s vigour at birth making it slower to get on its feet to get its first drink affecting its survivability.

“Ewes bearing multiples and especially thin ones need to be prioritised to minimise this risk.”

Underfeeding ewes in the last month of pregnancy also results in a poor lactation response.

“We should be feeding our ewes like dairy cows to achieve the highest peak lactation possible as this affects total milk production and levels of colostrum which contain vital antibodies for the lamb. Milk is the best

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There's more money in a Poll There’s more Dorset

money in a Poll purse Dorset purse When you weigh up your options, Poll Dorset is a way better choice.

When you weigh up your options, Poll Dorset is a way better choice.

You see, the genetic make-up in Poll Dorset enables lambs to put on

You see, the genetic make-up in Poll Dorset enables lambs to put on more weight faster. And the faster you get your lambs off to the works, the the better for for your bottom line.line. works, better your bottom

more weight faster. And the faster you get your lambs off to the

After all that the weather has thrown at you this year, things will be looking up when you get Poll Dorset on the job.

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quality feed a lamb will get in its life so if it is underfed its growth rate will be impaired.”

So between the end of the 20 golden days of mating and this point (30 days before lambing) there are 110 days of winter to negotiate.

“If a large percentage of the ewes have taken the ram within the first 10 days of mating you can really shut them down hard particularly if they are in good condition.

This allows you to get out to a long 70-day winter rotation and build some good winter covers.”

Sully’s philosophy is the sooner the winter rotation can be initiated the better because if it’s left too late the last 30 days before lambing becomes compromised.

“It’s better to screw ewes down as soon as possible after mating and push this feed forward to late winter/early spring when you can’t afford to lose ewe condition.”

BC scoring ewes again at ram removal and scanning allows the light and heavy ewes to be identified and fed accordingly.

“BCSing at scanning is easy because they’re in the scanning crate anyway so you’ve only got to talk nicely to the scanner to get them drafted.”

By lifting ewes’ BCS from 2.5 to 3 between scanning and lambing results in fewer ewe deaths, better lamb survival, better lamb weaning weights and fewer lambs to finish in the autumn, heavier cull ewes and better ewe weaning weights. These all lift a ewe’s GM by $27/ head requiring an extra 41kg DM above maintenance giving a return of 66c/kg DM. If all goes well during the winter and the Alsops have been able to get out to a 70day rotation after the end of the 20 golden days of mating there are 40 days left before the final month of pregnancy. This is the period when the pressure starts to come off the multiple-bearing and lighter ewes in readiness for the final 30 days before lambing. During this period the ewes are broken down into smaller mobs of single, twin and triplet-bearing ewes and covers are evened up in readiness for lambing.

Sully says ewe condition is more important than lambing covers. However the Alsops’ goal in spite of rarely (if ever) achieving it is the magical 1400kg DM/ha.

He believes there are three important components to successful lamb production in order of importance; ewe condition,

BCS allows farmers to generate more profit from the same amount of feed.

lambing covers and quality feed for lambs to transition on to from their mothers’ milk.

He suggests a conflict exists between the last two, the reason being that if the lambing covers are too high it is difficult to maintain quality feed for the lambs to transition on to. Many farmers overcome this challenge using cattle.

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October 2021

Sound well fleshed sires, Excellent temperament 200 Fully Breedplan recorded cows • 20 Bulls Catalogued 96157

We will have some 14 month White Dorper rams available from mid October 2021 and hogget rams at the end of February 2022 when SIL and FEC data comes through.

Wiltshire 2T Ram Auction 25th November 2021 > Genuine full shed sheep > No shearing > No dagging > No dipping

PETER & CAROLINE FOSS

495 Potaka Road, RD 1, Aria, King Country Ph/fax (07) 877 7881 • Email: pcfossy@xtra.co.nz

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GENETICS

Dorian Garrick scopes the range of options for wool off the typical New Zealand sheep farm.

E

arly in my career, a typical family sheep and beef farm in New Zealand earnt roughly onethird of its income from wool, another from sheep meat, and the rest from cattle.

The woolshed was a stimulating workplace at shearing time, with the hard-working team, the competitive environment, and the high value of the product being harvested. At that time, those few individuals that had knowledge and experience with wool classing were held in high regard.

The approaches used to improve reproductive performance and lamb growth rates by selection were based on considerable scientific efforts. They were in concert with the onfarm activities of the enlightened ram breeders and the interest of industry to support activities such as Sheep Improvement Limited (SIL) and its predecessors.

Economic circumstances have changed, and the costs associated with harvesting wool now typically exceeds its value. Securing a shearing gang can be difficult. This leaves sheep farmers with three options.

The first is to continue with the status quo, buying the same kinds of rams as in the past, and hoping that the wool market will turn around.

Other options involve changing the sheep policy, and seeking different kinds of rams from the usual Romney-based dual-purpose breeds that have been the mainstay of NZ sheep farming.

Those other options include changing to some other kind of sheep with finer wool that attracts a premium price per kg that increases wool income. Or changing to some other kind of sheep that sheds its fleece avoiding the costs and effort associated with dealing with wool.

If wool is finer, it is more versatile for processing and manufacturing as it can be made into finer yarn.

If it is sufficiently fine it is sought after for fashionable and sporting clothing. Such wool can attract prices that well exceed the harvesting costs, and in some climatic regions of the country can result in fine wool production being a profitable farm enterprise.

The improvement of wool value by reducing fibre diameter did not benefit from the same effort or scale as had been applied for improvement of reproductive performance or growth rates, and did not achieve similar success.

There were economic considerations. When wool prices were high, the industry did not believe anything needed to be done. When wool prices were low, the industry argued they could not afford the investment.

Heavy, fine wool difficult There is also a biological phenomenon making selection for heavy, fine-woolled fleeces difficult in Romney-type sheep. This is due to the fact that the weight of clean fleece per unit skin area is determined by the combination of the density of the follicles that produce the wool fibres, the mean density of the fibres produced by each follicle, and the amount of fibre extruded from each wool follicle.

To maintain fleece weight in a finer-wooled animal, it would be necessary to simultaneously decrease the diameter of the fibre produced, while increasing the density of the follicles on the skin surface, to counterbalance the reduced weight from finer follicles.

However, selection for reduced fibre diameter in Romney-based breeds tends to be associated with a correlated substantial reduction in fleece weight. This is just a fact of nature, that most breeds other than Merino do not exhibit sufficient genetic variation in follicle density to provide for selection to reduce fibre diameter while maintaining fleece weight. Merino and Merino-derivative breeds are different from Romneybased breeds in regard to the genetics of wool follicles.

Those Merino-type breeds do exhibit substantial genetic variation in follicle density, due to variation in the density of primary wool follicles, and in the ratio of secondary to primary follicles.

Crossing Merinos with dual-purpose breeds makes it much easier to simultaneously select for reduced fibre diameter while maintaining fleeceweight, by increasing follicle density. But measuring skin follicle attributes is much more difficult than counting lambs, characterising growth rates, or collecting greasy fleece weights. Furthermore, Merino breeds tend to have other attributes that do not predispose them to achieving high levels of performance in high rainfall areas.

Numerous attempts to produce and farm finewoolled Merino-type sheep in the North Island have been less than successful, over more than half a century.

In an ideal world for ram buyers, there should be options of buying high-performing rams that are dualpurpose, or buying similar rams with respect to the entire portfolio of attributes except for having finer wool, or buying similar rams with respect to the entire portfolio of attributes except for producing offspring with shedding ability. This would be comparable to being able to buy the farm 4WD utility in a choice of colours, or a choice of double cab and flat deck options etc.

Continues

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Sadly, and for a variety of reasons, such options do not exist in the ram marketplace for commercial sheep farmers. The only practical options include considerable choice for high-performing dual-purpose rams, a few choices for Merino-type animals that are likely not well-suited to high-rainfall areas, or a few choices for straight or crossbred Wiltshire animals of mostly uncharacterised merit for many important traits.

Significant investments have been made by dual-purpose ram breeders not just to improve reproductive performance, but also resistance to facial eczema, and improved resistance and/or resilience to internal parasites.

Fine woolled or shedding sheep may not be best The perceived value of increased wool income from farming finer-woolled sheep could easily be offset by replacing your sheep flock with one which has a lower reproductive performance, and/or poorer lamb growth rates, and reduced resistance to facial eczema or internal parasites.

Similarly, any savings from reducing woolrelated expenses by using a shedding breed such as Wiltshires are of little benefit if other income sources such as those associated with reproductive performance and/or disease are compromised.

There are other complications in making these changes. Changing breed composition at any national scale has to start by changing ram breed, to produce first-cross offspring that can then be back-crossed to that same ram breed in a manner known as grading up. The breed composition of the new ram breed will increase in successive lamb crops from ½ in the F1, to ¾ in the

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Above and below: Genomic introgression to produce fine-woolled Romney-type sheep, or shedding Romney-type is an opportunity yet to be exploited.

back-cross, then to 7/8, 15/16ths and so on.

This has several implications.

First, the farmer will not really know what to expect with the new breed in terms of whole-system performance until they have significant numbers of ¾ or 7/8 animals in their flock and they have had the opportunity to observe all traits including survival, longevity and adaptability. This takes a number of years.

Second, the first-cross animals will exhibit heterosis (hybrid vigour), that might be significant for some traits. This may mislead the farmer into expecting even more performance from animals in the next crop of ¾ bred offspring. If the superiority of the firstcross is due to heterosis, the advantage will diminish in subsequent generations.

When Holstein sires were first introduced into NZ, many dairy farmers were impressed by the amount of milk their daughters produced. It was not until the backcross that it was recognised that the increase in milk income was not sufficient to make up for the reduction in reproductive performance when high percentage Holstein animals were

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Reducing fibre diameter did not bring the rewards as the same effort or scale used to improve reproductive performance or growth rates.

“When wool prices were high, the industry did not believe anything needed to be done.

When wool prices were low, the industry argued they could not afford the investment.” farmed in the same manner as most farmers had been used to.

The reduction in reproductive performance increased replacement costs, and reduced the proportion of early calving older cows in the herd, such that expected increases in whole farm profit were seldom realised.

Some modern approaches to selection can be used to produce new strains of sheep that retain the attributes farmers cherish, while introducing the new features such as finer wool or shedding.

The process is common in the plant breeding world where it is known as trait stacking or gene stacking. It involves the use of genomics along with phenotyping to carry out what is technically referred to as marker-assisted introgression, or genomic introgression. It needs to be done at scale, requiring partnerships between science and industry players.

Genomic introgression for complex traits has not yet been done in sheep anywhere in the world. This is the case for several reasons. It takes a few years, and it will be expensive in terms of genotyping and phenotyping for a ram breeder to do it alone.

The technical aspects associated with the genomic technologies are not known to ram breeders, and there are no off-the-shelf solutions. The long-term returns rely on a

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market for these new improved animals, and most ram breeders have been reluctant to give up on wool, or to give up on the breeds they are accustomed to.

Lack of funding Scientists cannot attract funding for such commercial endeavours without industry pull. And the timeframe for delivery is beyond that which is typically of interest to organisations such as those that control levy funds, or government funding.

The approach will not be uniformly successful for every trait, it will depend upon what we refer to as the genetic architecture of the trait. This comprises the number of genes involved in the trait, their distribution along the genome, and mode of gene action, including whether or not they interact with other genes in the genome. This is a phenomenon known as epistasis, one of two mechanisms that cause what is known as non-additive inheritance. Genomic introgression to produce fine-woolled Romney-type sheep, or shedding Romneytype is an opportunity yet to be exploited.

Sheep research is not an area that has been well funded in NZ for many years.

Professors Paul Kenyon, Steve Morris and Hugh Blair initiated a small study at Massey’s Riverside farm. It is to document the comparative annual productive and financial performance when a portion of

the flock was crossed and backcrossed to Wiltshire sheep.

Industry funding was not readily available for such a project, as apparently ‘farmers were already doing this’.

Nevertheless, the study is proceeding at a small scale, and has already generated more farmer interest than many of their previous research endeavours such as those focusing on mid-lamb shearing, lifting hogget reproductive performance, or improving triplet survival and growth.

Many other farmers have come forward and indicated they are involved in similar changes to their sheep breeds, either to finer-woolled or to shedding sheep. This is despite the uncertainties of budgeting the likely productive performance of their flocks over the next 5-10 years.

Is it not time there was a collective attempt to use a modern scientific basis to produce some new strains of sheep that are fit-for-purpose for NZ? Sheep which can maintain the foundation attributes for productive, reproductive and disease traits that have taken many decades of ram breeding passion and effective selection?

Who will step up and champion such progress in the NZ sheep industry?

• Dorian Garrick is chief scientist at the Al Rae Centre of genetics and breeding, Massey University.

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GENETICS Research

Breeding low methane sheep James Hoban reports on development of sheep with lower methane emissions.

L

ow methane-emitting sheep are a reality. After more than 10 years measuring methane emissions and selecting for lower-emitting sheep, AgResearch is now able to measure individual animals onfarm.

Suzanne Rowe and her colleagues have shown methane emission is heritable, can be measured and breeders can select for it.

Work started with progeny test flocks going through respiration chambers 10 years ago. After three years of this, scientists got to the point of having a high-methane flock and a low-methane flock. They have continued from that base for several generations.

The AgResearch flock is annually lowering methane emissions by 2-3%, though Rowe

expects wider industry change to be about 1% each year if the breeding approach is adopted. Because it is cumulative, this offers a significant opportunity to lower emissions.

It appears inevitable that farmers will have to account for greenhouse gas emissions at some level. Onfarm reductions will be needed for New Zealand to meet targets the Government has committed to. Enteric methane is the gas produced by ruminants as they digest feed.

Reductions in methane are firmly in the Government and Climate Change Commission’s sights. It accounts for 35.2% of NZ’s total greenhouse gas emissions and 73.1% of our agricultural emissions.

Of that methane emission, dairy cattle are

responsible for 48.4%, beef cattle 20.3% and sheep 29.4%.

Rowe explains that despite climate change research being a focus for the Government, this picture does not bode well for sheep research.

“It’s hard to get research money for sheep now because dairy cattle are the problem.

Beef cattle are at 20% so if you sum those together most of the research now is in cattle.”

The commission has accepted methane is a complicated gas in that its reduction will have implications beyond financial. It is a short-term biogenic gas and lowering emissions has potential to turn farming and communities upside down. In their targets, the commission has granted methane

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emitters a flexi-target of reducing emissions by 24-47% by 2050. This builds on a target of a 10% reduction in methane emissions by 2030.

One of the commission’s recommendations is that a pricing mechanism to incentivise farm emission reductions by 2022 should be implemented.

Farmers holding on to hope that there is an emission reduction toolbox on the way, that will offer meaningful solutions without major system changes, can be heartened that the methane breeding approach has made it to this point.

Mooted vaccines are possible but will take a long time and major expense to develop.

Gene editing does not appear feasible, even if the public accepted it. Rowe says, methane emission is not a single gene trait or even a multi-gene trait. Rather it is polygenic.

With more than 10,000 animals measured now, Rowe is confident in the heritability and potential of selecting for low methane.

The trait has heritability of 0.2-0.25.

Initially, tested animals were part of feed conversion efficiency trials and were fed lucerne pellets. Once the difference in methane emissions was quantified, it was an important next step to check whether the results on lucerne pellets would be replicable on a grass diet. This has since been verified and Rowe cites that as a key breakthrough.

Another breakthrough came when it was discovered that one-hour measurements in portable accumulation chambers were adequate to generate accurate breeding values. Until that point, all measurements were being taken in respiration chambers, which were not portable. This was a much slower process and not particularly accessible for breeders.

Despite ongoing controversy about accounting for methane emissions, it seems inevitable that it is something Kiwi farmers will have to allow for. With the first goals focusing on “knowing our numbers” some farmers and scientists have turned their attention from simply quantifying farmlevel greenhouse gas emissions to working out what tools offer the greatest potential in driving reductions.

Breeding for lower methane emissions is one of those tools and while Rowe and others expect relatively modest reductions, they do see it as a viable option for incremental gains for sheep farmers.

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A technician works in the portable accumulation chamber trailer.

‘It’s hard to get research money for sheep now because dairy cattle are the problem. Beef cattle are at 20% so if you sum those together most of the research now is in cattle.’

Implications for sheep type Anyone wanting to go down the path of selecting or using lower-methane sheep will want to know what the impact of this direction might be on other traits. Rowe’s work shows low-methane animals emit 11% less methane per kg of feed eaten.

They are smaller animals and have a smaller rumen but with the same surface area (their rumen papillae are denser and longer). They achieve more lean growth and less fat and also grow more wool. In general she says they are healthy, productive sheep.

Breeders hoping for a competitive advantage for any particular breed will be disappointed. Rowe says there is no major difference to date. Of the animals measured,

nearly a third are Romneys and two thirds are composites. Next to no fine-wool sheep have been measured so far. Two thirds of sheep measured have been in the South Island.

Breeders wanting to measure sheep onfarm need to commit to at least 120 animals (84 per day). Rowe says it is not worth the time it takes to travel and set up the portable accumulation chamber trailer for less animals.

With only one trailer in operation and growing demand, travel logistics are challenging. At $30/animal for direct measurement plus a further $25-30 per animal for genotyping the 120-animal minimum is undoubtedly a stumbling block for smaller flocks and breeders.

Mixing the direct measurements with genotyping results in a genomic breeding value for sires. Rowe recommends measuring 15 animals/sire. In the three weeks prior to measuring, animals need to be well fed with no major events like shearing or drenching.

Lower-methane sheep have negative breeding values so ranking of animals for methane goes from low to high. The breeding values generated do not account for animal size or feed intake and at this stage are not included in indices.

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GENETICS Ram selection

Value in taking your time Flock A

The slope indicates the speed of progress Dual Purpose Facial Eczema Index (DPX) genetic trend line of the flock you are interested in buying rams from.

Index value shows how much progress has been achieved in cents of NZ$

All in comparison to industry average

B

y now you would have received a ram order form from a ram breeder.

Ram buying season coincides with one of the busiest times of the year.

A day may seem hard to justify investing too much time in picking rams; coupled up with the multitude of information presented it can be rather overwhelming.

However, the decision made on selection day will impact on the profitability and sustainability of your farm for years to come. Below are a few things you can do before ram buying that could help you make the right decisions on selection day:

Trait selection Rams are bought for the progeny they will produce, so remember you are breeding a sheep for future performance. For that reason, it is important to keep in mind market trends and different production scenarios, for example is facial eczema or drench resistance likely to become a challenge?

Focus on the traits most likely to not only make you money but also save you money. Then ask or check if these traits

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are being recorded by a breeder or does the information rely on outside flock linkages?

Wherever your ram breeder goes you will go too, so make sure the breeding objectives between you and your ram breeder are aligned.

A great tool to help you check the progress a breeder has made over the years for a given trait is a genetic trend graph. Ask the breeder to provide you with genetic trend graphs for the traits you are after showing where the flock stands in comparison with the industry average. The example illustrated shows how to interpret the data presented on genetic trend graphs.

Find out where you are and determine where you want to be The challenge is always to know how your flock is improving over time and to clarify your ram buying decisions this season, it will certainly help to know where your numbers stand now.

Determining the level of flock performance against all traits you believe are important or have highlighted in step one is the first task. Then, because genetics

is a long-term decision, ask yourself where you would like your flock to be in five or 10 years? If you find yourself writing down “fast growth,” “high fertility,” or “good survival,” make sure you stop and set specific and measurable goals because without adding a number to it there is no way of measuring progress.

Make a plan and talk to the breeder With a clear idea on what direction your flock is going to take, the next step is to make a plan for how you are going to get there. Choosing a breeder is more important than choosing rams. So put some time aside to discuss with ram breeders your goals and achievements.

Breeders rely on ram buyers’ feedback to review their breeding program. Having an honest conversation with a breeder before sale day will not only impact on your ram buying decisions but also guide the future of ram breeding in New Zealand.

• Dayanne is Zoetis Genetics North Island Area Manager and Technical Lead - Sheep.

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GENETICS Opinion

Breeding for worm resistance The answer to the problem of drench resistance is simple. Increase the strength of the animals’ immune system to a point where they can cope, Gordon Levet writes.

I

t has now become evident that the era of controlling worm challenges with chemical drenches is coming to an end. Even if a new drench is introduced, it will probably be shortlived, as our super worm population will soon develop resistance.

We now have to face the real prospect of no effective drench to protect our animals. There has always been a genetic alternative. Parasitologists 30 odd years ago believed that breeding sheep that had worm resistance was possible, but would take 25 years.

In nature, all animals are protected

from diseases and some parasites by their immune systems. People generally consider diseases and parasites as enemies of health, but they are an essential part of nature by activating the immune system.

They challenge, and the immune system responds and overcomes the challenge. So a balance is achieved.

Before man was involved, animals’ immune systems evolved to a level where it gave protection from the diseases and parasites they encountered. Man upset this balance by confining animals in large mobs in small areas, thereby upsetting natures’ balance.

This greater concentration of stock created the ideal environment for parasites to thrive and increase numerically to a point where the immune system could not cope. The answer to this problem is simple.

Increase the strength of the immune system to a point where it can cope.

Genetic variations is a factor in all aspects of all living beings and has enabled man to increase productivity in farm animals, breed a huge range of dogs from one feral species and worms to evolve to survive chemicals that are designed to kill them.

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A national flock requiring little or no drenching is achievable.

Selective breeding The immune system can be enhanced by selective breeding to react earlier and more aggressively to worm challenges.

Over time with selective breeding, these immune responses will reach a point where it controls the greater worm challenges associated with intensive farming.

Furthermore, there is some scientific evidence that this will help in the control of some diseases and other internal parasites.

At Kikitangeo, after 34 years of selective breeding, I had a flock where the majority of sheep had never been drenched. How was this achieved? It was observed that in a worm challenge period with lambs in the same paddock, some lambs were lethargic and needed a drench, while others were lively and healthy. This indicated to me genetic variation and the possibility of breeding sheep that had natural resistance.

In early 1987, I visited Ruakura and

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discussed with Dr Tom Watson the possibility of breeding sheep that had resistance to worm challenges. He was both helpful and positive and designed protocols to achieve this goal. Those protocols were as follows: • Drench all lambs at weaning, or soon after to ensure all lambs were starting from scratch.

• Monitor the average FEC and when it averaged 1500, sample all lambs and drench them.

• Repeat this process again to gain more accuracy and information.

When this data is received, calculate the average FEC of each sire. It is then a simple matter to select a low FEC ram from the best one or two sires. To make maximum progress, mate these rams with the daughters of another low count ram.

Slow progress In the early years, the genetic variation between about 12 sires that were then used was considerable with a five-fold difference between the best and the worst. This was very good news and indicated progress could be made. Progress over the first 10 years was slow. In selecting for worm resistance, we had to consider production traits, physical soundness and be successful when tested for facial eczema. These factors slowed the process.

Then I had a huge stroke of luck. I found a sire which was a “top bracket outlier” for low FEC. He was KIKI 765-98. He had 41 sons that were faecal egg counted – about 7.5%. When the SIL data was returned, 76598 had the top 22 ranked ram lambs. The rest of his sons were in the top 40% with no sons in the bottom 60%. To those that are not familiar with the “outlier” term, it is a living being that is lying outside the norm

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It took 27 years to reach an average DPF figure of 371, with a top figure of 697 for our ram lambs.

Only seven years later, the average DPF was 749 with a top ram having a DPF of 1036.

for a trait. In the horse world, Sir Tristram is a good example. Seldom do outliers produce progeny better than themselves. I kept five sons from this sire, which all bred well. His daughters were also good performers.

Up to 2006, I continued to use the same protocols, and then I changed course.

Fortunately scientists allowed me to do my own thing. I wondered what would happen if I did not drench between the two tests.

There were 376 ram lambs that were tested that year. The first sampling averaged 4286. The highest count lambs with over 10,000 were drenched and withdrawn from the trial.

The first testing was seven weeks after drenching. The second sampling of undrenched lambs was taken five weeks later. I expected the count would skyrocket with the peak of the worm challenge, which some lambs did. But, the average only increased by 14% to 4907 with again the worst lambs drenched.

Four weeks later, they were tested again at the end of March, where the average dropped to 1947 or a 250% decrease. The tested lambs were not drenched at any stage. This was my “eureka” moment,

having them drop so much in a Barbers’ Pole challenge was certainly a major moment. From 2008, we carried out three FEC tests in many years without drenching most of the lambs, only drenching the lambs that showed obvious signs of failing.

A mission With the lethal Barbers’ Pole that can kill in a matter of days, this is quite a mission.

We would check the undrenched lambs every three days by taking them for a brisk walk for 400 to 500 metres with a drenching gun in hand. The lambs that were severely anaemic would soon hang back and were easily caught, drenched and marked.

Worm resistance is measured by SIL with DPF (internal parasite resistance index) figures and ranking with naught being an average starting point, a minus figure being susceptible to worms and a plus figure indicating resistance. It took 27 years to reach an average DPF figure of 371, with a top figure of 697 for our ram lambs. Only seven years later, the average DPF was 749 with a top ram having a DPF of 1036. So now the level of resistance to worms is accelerating at an ever increasing pace. But

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what does all this mean for ram breeders and farmers?

I believe using rams with a DPF of over 300 would leave progeny that would never have to be drenched in areas where the Barbers Pole worm has little impact.

In other areas where the Barbers’ Pole worm is the dominant species, the DPF would have to be much higher. Why? The blood supply is key to the strength of the immune system. Let me put it this way with a wartime example. The blood provides the transport of the army, tanks and guns to the invading army of germs and internal parasites. But the Barbers’ Pole worm is attacking the supply chain of the defending army. As soon as this lethal worm removes more blood than the body can supply, the battle is lost, leaving the victim dead.

A pleasing result In 2015 I assessed the results of the two FEC taken. I found that 85% of lambs had a reduction from the first count to the second. About 10% had a rise in the second count and 5% remained the same. I was reasonably pleased with that result.

Imagine my shock and amazement when I examined the FEC result of the 2019 born ram lambs. There were two FECs taken on 400 ram lambs in late January and late February. The first averaged 3733 eggs per gram and the second was a mere 122. That summer was the best I have ever experienced in animal health. My take on this result is that the immune system, with no other health issue to battle, could concentrate solely on the worm challenge.

O U R

F O C U S

We now have to face the real prospect of no effective drench to protect our animals.

Finally, I have sold my stud, which was a hard decision. Sheep have been bred that can withstand worm challenges in most parts of NZ. However, more work has to be carried out to achieve complete dominance over the lethal Barbers’ Pole worm. I am satisfied that I have done my best to achieve my goals. It is now up to others to carry on

and consolidate these gains.

I now believe that having a national flock requiring little or no drenching is achievable given that ram breeders have the will and dedication to achieve this goal.

• Gordon Levet is a retired ram breeder.

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145

GENETICS Obituary

A PIONEER OF NZ’S SHEEP INDUSTRY BY: SANDRA TAYLOR

T

he New Zealand sheep industry lost a true pioneer with the death of Holmes Warren on March 7 this year.

He was 92.

The third generation of the Warren family to farm Turanganui, one of NZ’s oldest and largest sheep studs, Holmes’ early focus on fertility and productive traits contributed to development of the modern Romney, a breed that has helped lift the productivity of the NZ sheep flock.

Holmes was a founding member of the Wairarapa Romney Improvement Group, a group of breeders who banded together in the 1970s to improve the breed and continue to work together for the betterment of the breed and ultimately the performance of commercial flocks.

It was a neighbouring sheep stud, where Holmes worked after leaving school at the age of 17, (after the death of his father) that gave him insight into what ewes were capable of producing given the right mix of genetics and management.

This stud was lambing an unheard-of 130%

SHEEP DIPPING

and returning to Turanganui in 1948 aged just 19, Holmes could see the potential in their ewes which at that time were lambing 105%.

Holmes' son Mike Warren says this early focus on fertility meant once that fertility was in place, everything else was achievable because selection pressure was there.

Holmes began keeping production records back in the 1950s and these records enabled him to identify and cull poorer-performing animals.

When Holmes first returned to Turanganui the farm was running 1300 ewes of which 700 were studs.

He gradually got rid of the commercial ewes and increased the size of the stud flock as the size of the farm increased.

Keeping individual records on some 1600 ewes was a gargantuan task before the advent of computers and this job kept the tractor driver’s wife Meg Tilsley employed for about 900 hours a year. Meg had an outstanding mind for numbers, often doing major calculations before the days of breeding values.

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October 2021

One of the people who greatly influenced Holmes in those early years was Professor Al Rae from Massey University.

The pair were implementing new technologies on Turanganui and designing suitable systems to collect information.

Holmes told Country-Wide back in 2014 that he felt terribly lucky to have had the guidance of someone who was practical as well as knowledgeable.

It was his focus on productive traits that set Holmes apart in the 60s, 70s and 80s, particularly at a time when so much store was put on physical attributes.

In those early days, Holmes was trying to market something no one could see in the sheep - he was marketing a more productive animal.

About 10% of sheep farmers were what Holmes called early adopters, selecting genetics based on productive traits as well as structural soundness, now everyone does.

In the 1960s and 70s farmers were buying rams for a mating ratio of 1:70 with Turanganui ram buyers buying an average of 14 rams. This changed when subsidies came off and farmers realised rams could easily cope with a ratio of 1:100. This meant the average number of rams bought was reduced to seven.

Holmes began keeping production records back in the 1950s and these records enabled him to identify and cull poorer-performing animals.

Holmes felt fortunate they were able to pick up more clients over that time, as the emphasis changed from wool to meat production. They were also able to increase the price of their rams.

With fewer rams, Holmes found farmers tended to look after them and get better mileage out of them. Similarly, they fed their ewes better and lambing percentages began to increase exponentially.

Despite his extensive knowledge and experience, Mike says Holmes never felt he knew what the answer to anything was, instead he drew on the skills and experience of people around him.

Even if it was just a diseased crop of swedes, he would find someone who knew more about it than he did.

Mike says what set Holmes apart was his inquiring mind, which could be frustrating. He was a very slow reader and if he didn't understand something the first time, he would read it again and again if he felt it was important or interesting.

His vision extended beyond sheep breeding and Mike recalls him buying a run-down hill country farm in 1983 and planting 400 hectares of it in trees, an ambitious move in those days.

He was extremely disciplined about running the farm business and Mike remembers him heading

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October 2021

Holmes Warren in his woolshed at Turanganui.

off to his office every night at 7.30 and staying until 10pm, after the family had joined him for a cup of tea.

There was little downtime for Holmes and Sunday afternoons were often spent digging the garden, but Mike says the world stopped for duck-shooting and, a keen fisherman, he enjoyed fly-fishing trips to Tongariro until he was well into his 80s.

Holmes gifted each of his three children a book titled True Grit by Charles Portis which was, in essence, about digging deeper and sticking it out when others had walked away from a situation.

One of his children commented that the book could really have been written by Holmes.

Mike recalls Holmes being unflappable, even during the ram-selling season when there were double-bookings of buyers arriving at the same time, Holmes thought it was great.

His attitude was the more the merrier.

He was supported throughout his life by Adrienne who passed away 11 years ago.

Holmes remained actively involved in Turanganui until he shifted to a retirement home in Masterton just six weeks before his death. He is survived by his son Michael and three grandchildren.

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Stud breeding has always been part of Emma Pettigrew’s life.

Finding the winners Emma Pettigrew enjoys working out what’s best in her new role at Wairarapa stud farm Wairere, Rebecca Greaves writes.

Photos: Brad Hanson.

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A

nalysing data to find the winners, whether it’s selecting sires or identifying trends, appeals to Emma Pettigrew’s competitive side.

She’s relishing her new role as research and development manager at Wairarapa sheep stud, Wairere, where she has been working since October last year.

Her role is primarily data analysis and administration, but she can be called on to help out on farm at busy times, which suits her just fine.

Stud breeding has always been part of life for Emma, 28, who grew up on farms in the Pohangina Valley and Kimbolton, in the Manawatu.

“My parents were stud farmers, both sheep and cattle. They’re now retired, but had Te Ohu Stud, so I grew up with stud stock.”

With 2500 Wairere rams (including two-

tooths and ram lambs) sold annually, her knowledge of stud stock certainly comes in handy. She worked hard at selling time last year to make it easier for clients to have access to information on just those rams being presented in their pick, rather than having to wade through the information for all sale stock.

During docking she’s often out and about capturing DNA parentage at those crossbred flocks that are run off-farm, and at weaning she can be found as extra casual labour. Summer is her time to really crunch the numbers.

With a diverse range of breeding objectives, she’s looking for different traits in different flocks, be it analysing sire lines in the hogget breeding programme, looking at meat traits in a terminal flock or focusing on facial eczema tolerance in the FE flock.

Emma didn’t know what she wanted to do when she left school, but she knew she wasn’t cut out for day-to-day farm work,

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October 2021

‘The role I’m in now, doing the data, but also getting to go out to collect it and play with sheep, is a good balance. I think I have a good knowledge of the industry through growing up on the farm, especially with it being a stud.’

Top: Shepherds Olly Wright and Bryden Henson tagging the twin in lamb ewes. Above: Sheep grazing on the hills at Wairere Station.

although still had an interest in the handson side of working with farmers.

“The role I’m in now, doing the data, but also getting to go out to collect it and play with sheep, is a good balance. I think I have a good knowledge of the industry through growing up on the farm, especially with it being a stud.”

When she left school Emma went to Massey University to study a Bachelor of Med Lab Science, but quickly realised it wasn’t for her. She was able to change majors and cross credit to go on and complete a Bachelor of Science in animal science, with a minor in genetics.

Professor Hugh Blair offered her a summer scholarship to work with him on a mini research project, and that kick-started her academic research career.

She went on to do a one-year honours project with Blair and Associate Professor

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October 2021

Rebecca Hickson, called ‘Data drives dollars’, which involved working with Massey and Focus Genetics on proving that estimated breeding values work.

Following that she undertook her PhD ‘Selecting replacement ewes that are born to ewe hoggets’ and has published five papers as a result. As well as Blair and Hickson, her supervisors were well-respected academics, Professors Paul Kenyon and Steve Morris.

“I had a big project with a flock of ewes – twins born to mature ewes, singles born to hoggets and twins born to hoggets – and followed them for the first two reproductions of their life.”

The key finding was that twins born to hoggets were lighter tha n the other two groups, but still produced the same amount of lamb (kg) at weaning, as long as their body condition score was the same.

“The conclusion we drew was that

farmers shouldn’t discount lambs born to hoggets, as long as they’re heavy enough at weaning to be selected.”

Since starting at Wairere, Emma has enjoyed being part of the team and getting to grips with the massive amount of data such a large scale stud pumps out.

“I really enjoy the fact I’m able to do data and get behind the numbers rather than just looking at the animals, but I also get out onfarm. The whole environment at Wairere is really good.

“I think there’s so much data and potential to look into that data further, but I’m the new kid on the block at the moment. Simon (Buckley) and Derek (Daniell) are definitely the brains trust and I’m still in the beginner phase. In the future I’d like to bring more to the table in terms of ideas and things we can be doing.”

Emma’s strengths are her strong

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background in data analysis and management, and she sees plenty of potential to pull even more information from the data being collected at Wairere, to take it to the next level.

“I think it’s a bonus for Wairere that I have practical onfarm experience and can pitch in if they need extra hands at times like docking – if I’m picking up lambs that’s fine. At shearing recently, some staff were on holiday and others were getting mobs in, so I was out vaccinating and drenching ewes. I’m quite adaptable in that sense.”

Emma says she still stays in touch with the science and research happening in the industry, and has retained a role she stumbled into at university five years ago, as associate editor for the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, an annual academic journal. She doesn’t rule out a job in the academic space in the future, but for now she’s very happy where she is.

“I’m a little bit competitive and that comes into it. I like to find the winners, the best or top things going on, whether it’s selecting sires or identifying trends in the data. To be able to improve on traits in the flock we have to select the best animals, and I enjoy working out what’s best.”

Emma Pettigrew assisting the scanner.

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151

WOOL Profile

WOOL’S COLOUR AND FUTURE IS BRIGHT After a lifetime working with strongwool sheep, Dan and Barbara Ramsden are moving on from the family’s farms.

Terry Brosnahan reports.

Photos supplied by Ravensdown.

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D

an Ramsden is a wool man. He has grown and worked with wool all his life.

It has been a major focus of his farming of Moanaroa and Ware Ware stations, near Dannevirke.

The two stations produce about 70,000kg of strong wool.

Dan and his wife Barbara have retired from farming and are moving to Havelock North.

Son Hugh manages Moanaroa and daughter Fiona is managing Ware Ware (1215 hectares effective).

There is a 400ha finishing block at Pongaroa. They also run cattle and sheep studs. The land is in trust and the farms are run under a family company structure.

About 23,000 stock units are wintered over the three blocks, 60% Romney sheep, 40% Angus cattle.

Dan may have given up control of the cheque book but will still be involved with farming, especially wool.

Born in Dannevirke on the last day of 1939, Dan grew up on the family farm at Kumeroa near Woodville.

In 1959 Dan gained his wool diploma through Massey University, just in case he had an accident and had to take a new direction in life.

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October 2021

Left: Dan Ramsden and his daughter Fiona share a love of wool; both have wool diplomas, are classers and farm it. Above: Moanaroa Station on the coast from Dannevirke.

Below: Family meeting in the woolshed of course; Fiona Ramsden, her father Dan and brother Hugh.

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October 2021

In the end he did farm all his life but never went wool classing outside of the family farms.

Dan thought he would’ve got more experience on other farms but in those days farmers were very protective of their wool.

“They didn’t like anyone interfering with it.”

He married Barbara in 1970. In 1971, when both were 30 years old, they took over Ware Ware Station near Dannevirke, about 15km from the coast. Barbara had inherited her mother’s quarter share of another farm and swapped it with her brother for Ware Ware.

Ware Ware means forgotten and it was like that when they went there. They had a 70% lambing in their first season from the Romneys. Dan had never lambed so many sheep in his life. He still hasn’t.

He gave a grim assessment of the situation to Barbara, “if we don’t do better than this then we will be walking down the road.”

They brought 200 ewes with them but had to buy more. Fortunately they were able to bail half of the livestock. Barbara’s aunties owned the sheep and they paid a rental of $2/head/year.

Dan had no family money until 1980 when his brother paid him out of the 607ha family farm.

He was one of four children so it wasn’t a big payout. His brother also bought him out of the 61ha block they were partners in.

In the 1980s the Lange Government changed the taxation laws. No one wanted to pay the tax on the livestock valuation write-up. So the Ramsdens had to borrow the money to buy the livestock.

In 1980 Dan took over as supervisor of Moanaroa at Akitio. It had had managers since 1943 and had not made a lot of progress. Half of the place was topdressed every third year. The lambing was barely 100%, now it’s 130%. They dropped about 1000 ewes after the end of the ‘skinny ewe subsidy’ but still produce 6000 lambs.

Dan lifted the quality of the wool on the stations, especially colour. The stations shear early so moisture and heat don’t ruin the colour. After rain the wind on the coast dries out the wool and keeps the colour bright.

He selected rams for wool with good character and what he calls 46 or 48 in the

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old standard which is about 35 micron. He uses the old standard for selecting ram hoggets rather than trying to put a micron on it because it varies from year to year.

He grew the unregistered stud on Ware Ware which supplied Moanaroa to 500 recorded Romney ewes. At the peak he was selling 200 rams to clients. It still has 300 recorded ewes.

Droughts were frequent.

In 1989, with permission from councils, they trucked 500 beef cows to south of Hunterville and two shepherds with a caravan drove them home, grazing the roadside for a month. Water was difficult to obtain in the holding paddocks due to the dryness. A lot of whisky changed hands.

As Country-Wide went to print Moanoroa was facing a spring drought as little rain had fallen, only about 40mm in July and August respectively.

“If we don’t do better than this then we will be walking down the road.”

A big change under Dan’s watch has been the increase in fertiliser which allowed them to normally fatten all the lambs and most of the cattle. In dry years some lambs are sold store.

He preferred selling wool by auction and was not afraid to hang on to it if it didn’t meet reserve. They sell wool to Primary Wools on contract.

The Ramsdens are also supplying Big Save furniture with strong wool at $4.50/kg to make into furnishings (see Country-Wide August, 2021).

Top: Taking the wool away in the old days. Above: Dan and Barbara Ramsden are retiring after 50 years of farming at Akitio. Below: “Did you hear Dan and Barbara are leaving.”

Dan is worried about the impact carbon forestry is having on the future of livestock farming with 80,000 livestock gone from the district. Landowners can make more money out of carbon credits than livestock. This has impacted on the rates which were up $16,000 last year. The studs have lost clients, especially the cattle stud.

He still sees the future of wool as bright.

In the short term, once most people are vaccinated, economies around the world will start to recover. It took about five years after the Spanish flu, but hopefully it will be a lot shorter and people will start using more wool sooner.

He believes long term consumers will move away from plastics and carpet manufacturers will move from nylon back to wool. However, it has to be at an affordable price and wanted by consumers.

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WOOL Industry

A new view for strong wool: Time to reposition strong wool as a global superstar fibre.

Capturing the swing to natural BY: TONY LEGGETT

A

new strategy to promote wool and educate people on its many uses in a modern world has been launched by the New Zealand branch of Campaign for Wool (CFWNZ).

The CFWNZ is not asking farmers to invest directly to fund the strategy, expected to require about $1m of investment over the next 18 months.

CFWNZ chairman and sector development manager Tom O’Sullivan says the funding will come from the voluntary 1c/kg collected from supporting wool merchants and buyers, plus cash on hand.

The levy is collected at the point wool is tested.

O’Sullivan feels the strategy is well timed to capitalise on the swing in consumer support towards natural fibres.

“NZ wool is positioned perfectly to take the mantle as the world’s most premium super-fibre. But you can’t sell a secret.”

“Demand needs to come from the consumer and we need to start now to ensure people are aware of how wool fibre might benefit them in their lives.”

O’Sullivan says the CFWNZ strategy is not another spend-and-pray effort.

Key measures like consumer awareness of wool and increases in wool product purchases will be tracked and reported back to the board.

“We are also analysing market and wool category trends globally to help us pick the next opportunities for wool in different markets.

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October 2021

“With strong wool we can create the biggest wins in the ‘built environment’ by pushing wool’s thermal properties, flame resistance, humidity control and even acoustic comfort.

“Wins in these areas will ultimately be reflected in growing wool prices at the farm gate as the demand for wool products increases.”

O’Sullivan says the intention is to establish CFWNZ as a “wool information conduit” for both consumers and industry and focus the investment in four specific areas of activity.

The key message for consumers is ‘live naturally, choose wool’ and will be promoted in all its communication and education activities. For industry, particularly architects and interior designers, choosing wool first and increasing the use of wool in the ‘built environment’ will be advocated. The CFWNZ ran a very successful webinar for NZ architects earlier this year and reached hundreds of people in the sector.

Developing the CFWNZ’s website capabilities and building digital engagement, particularly through social media activity, are also key priorities in the strategy.

“We will speak to consumers who make conscious purchasing decisions based on environmental impact and we’ll be aiming to 'influence the influencers’, like developers, architects, interior designers, and even the government,” he says.

Research into consumer attitudes to wool will be undertaken to help unlock market

opportunities. For the industry, the strategy includes the tracking of where and who is selling wool products to build an accurate picture of trends in demand and activity.

Finally, effort will go into growing a family of brand partners creating consumer products using NZ wool so they can share insights and collaborate. A digital portal is also planned to provide resources for industry to use in business development and marketing.

O’Sullivan says the initial phase of the strategy is focused primarily on the NZ market before tackling other global markets.

“We need to build assets, get our messaging tested and refined before we tackle markets beyond our shores. But it’s definitely in our longer term plan to roll this out globally in the future.”

O’Sullivan says work has already started on getting the right human and digital resource in place for the next phase. This includes recruiting a campaign manager to support and action the activities.

“Within the next six months, you’ll start noticing changes. This is an integrated campaign and there is no silver bullet – it won’t be one thing that makes the difference – it’s everything put together in the right way at the right time to create a groundswell of demand over time.”

O’Sullivan says the first report on the impacts of the strategy will be delivered in 12-18 months from now.

He will lead delivery of the strategy, supported by experienced marketing strategist Kara Biggs from ABV Marketing.

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CROP & FORAGE Persistence

LONG-GRASS FARMING A WINNER

The use of fescue with clovers has transformed a Southland farm bordering Fiordland, Terry Brosnahan writes. Photos: Chris Sullivan.

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Southland farm using no feed crops is killing an average of 72% of lambs from the weaning draft at 18kg carcaseweight.

Eight years ago 140 hectares of feed crops were grown on Kepler Farm. For the past two winters there have been no feed crops, just all grass using fescue, clovers and ryegrass.

Fescue is grown on 50% of the effective area.

Kepler station manager Travis Leslie calls it long-grass farming.

“We run higher covers than most and leave higher residuals.”

A key in the operation is fescue. It has a deep root system and is sown with white and red clover. Together they give a lot more growth. It starts two weeks early in spring and carries on two weeks later in autumn at full production. In a good year

it gives reasonable growth over the winter.

The Pamu (the brand name for Landcorp farming) farm, near Manapouri is 1650ha (1500ha effective) with 90% of it flat and the rest rolling hills. About 750ha are in fescue, the rest in ryegrass.

The stock ratios have also changed from 85% sheep and 15% cattle to 50:50.

Travis has 20 years experience of growing fescue in the North and South Islands. He started planting it when he took over as manager nine years ago. It was a store farming operation but now breeding, finishing and trading.

“The trading gives great flexibility.”

Tall fescue was originally sown to combat grass grub, but he knew it could do more.

As the fescue is coarse the metabolisable energy (ME) can vary, but he knew it is a good companion plant with clovers.

“When it is in full swing it is very good

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October 2021

Above: Stud ewes out on the flats on Kepler farm. Right: Kepler Farm manager Travis Leslie and his wife Catronia Cunningham.

feed, as good as ME as you can get.”

But it has to be rotationally grazed.

“Set-stocking is the death of any paddock.”

With the fescue able to withstand grass grub, greater longevity means the paddocks won’t need to be replaced so soon.

Another bonus with the long grass farming may be greater longevity in the ewes so fewer replacements will be needed.

With no feed crops the sheep are not wearing their teeth out on bulbs and soil.

Springs are hard on Kepler as they can come later, then it can be dry after Christmas to autumn. So it is a relief to have the lambs off the station.

Ewe lambs, hoggets are bought in from other local Pamu farms in March/April.

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Lambs left entire Travis can’t give a tailing percentage because they haven’t tailed for three years and the lambs are left entire.

So the lambing percentage is based on weaning numbers, about 150%.

“When we wean only about 1% of the lambs have dags.”

The 1200-1400 lambs not killed are sold store at about 32kg.

The ewes are not drenched except light ones which are marked and stay for one more season.

The five-year average lambing is 150% to the ram and they don’t have to flush ewes.

“We work on the ewes 12 months of the year to get that result.”

Travis says the long grass system suited

KEY POINTS • About 50% of ryegrass now fescue.

• Fescue gives extra month’s growth.

• No feed crops grown for two years.

• Average of 72% lambs killed at weaning.

• No tailing, lambs left entire, few dags.

• Major reduction in staff time over winter.

• Large drop in N leaching

cattle and when break-fed, they got good results. Now they have started using it on the sheep.

Annual rainfall is more than 1000mm, well over in a wet year given Fiordland is on

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the boundary, but the station is on a glacial moraine and can dry out within two weeks.

“If we are in Fiordland it is very wet, but in Southland, it’s very dry.

From Christmas through to the autumn it can be dry.

“It is nice to take the lambs off and be done.”

A positive of the moraine is the farm can handle heavy cattle which don’t pug the ground.

Originally they used Eastern, a tall fescue variety which grows a coarser feed and allowed a lot more clover to grow than ryegrass.

Travis says it is no longer available so Hummer is used but it is finer-leafed.

“The sheep nail it because it is so palatable.”

If the fescue takes off, surplus growth is easily managed because of the stock numbers especially with cattle.

“The only time we use a topper is for thistles.”

He buys all the seed off PGG Wrightson.

FARM FACTS • 15,000su on 1650ha (1500 effective) includes 4500 ewes (1200 stud ewes), replacements bought in.

• 450 cows moving to 600, and 1200 trading cattle.

• Five staff and a farm MANAPOURI technician shared.

Country-Wide understands Landcorp does supplier contracts for its farms.

Kepler runs 15,000 stock units made up of 4500 ewes (1200 stud ewes) plus replacements which are bought in from other Pamu farms. There are 450 cows though the number is moving to 600 (the station is part of the Beef + Lamb NZ beef genetics programme) and 1200 trading cattle.

Travis is married to Catriona Cunningham, an artist and art tutor. They have two children, Robbie, 15 and Ellen, 14. There are five staff on the station plus Bella Taylor, a farm technician. Kepler has a sheep stud so Bella does a lot of recording and farm work. She is shared with other Pamu farms with studs.

Bella will be doing a lot more now Kepler is part of the beef genetics programme.

Fescue has longevity Top: Travis checks the cows and calves at weaning. Above: “Crikey this fescue is long.” Travis and his dog working the stud ewes.

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The oldest paddocks are nine years old and don’t look like they need replacing.

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October 2021

Left: Kepler runs a sheep stud and a commercial operation Below: Farm technician Bella Taylor and Travis at work in the office.

The dilemma now is: do they continue putting in more fescues and change the farming operation or stick with ryegrass on the rolling country.

Another option is to take fescue paddocks after 10 years and set stock them with ewes for three or four years then replace them.

Travis is not sure what to do because the fescue looks like it might last 15 years.

“We’ve just reached those crossroads now.”

Even with some reversion, at 60% cover fescue will outperform ryegrass in most situations.

Travis says fescue is slower to establish than ryegrass but once it is established it is bullet proof. Fescue sown in September is usually available for grazing at the end of January. They use a lot more potash fertiliser as it suits the clover. The fescue responds well to nitrogen. Based on Overseer, with no more cropping in the

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October 2021

system Kepler has gone from leaching 38kg N/ha to 16kg N/ha.

Until two years ago the fescue was drilled in fine seedbeds. Now annual grass is direct-drilled into sprayed-off ryegrass paddocks and lasting two years.

This spring will be the first time the annual will be sprayed off and a fescue, clover mix direct-drilled in.

All supplements are either made on the farm or from a 100ha leased block.

Prior to set-stocking the ewes get a five-in-one, the two-tooths get a toxo and campy.

Weaning is the second week of January. A month before, the lambs get a scabby mouth scratch, a five-in-one jab and a drench.

Every three-years Travis does a drench resistance test with vets, a standard practice across all the state-owned farms.

The ewes are shorn in New Year then go back to the hills and start putting on condition.

Continues

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October 2021

Kepler is part of the Beef + Lamb NZ genetics programme.

The only time the ewes come down to the fescue country is with lambs at foot.

Scanning is late July and triplet-bearing ewes are left in with the twins, the singles separated.

There is no early ewe lambing mob and the hoggets are not mated.

“The whole focus is on the main line achieving a top result.”

Once the ewes get to a good mating weight they hold them there.

Travis says in winter the ewes don’t lose weight but gain it. He aims for a peak lactation when they start to lamb.

The ewes are set stocked at the start of September 1 for lambing about the 25th.

Rotated on fescue Once all the ewes have lambed and lambs are mobile, half are moved to the fescue and rotated. This gives more room for the rest of the ewes in the ryegrass paddocks.

The ewes are kept in mobs of about 1000 and every Friday moved to fresh paddocks, a total of about 5ha every shift.

The covers are 3500kg drymatter/ha saved from mid-March. So about 60ha is shut up to feed through June/July and August.

“It is all about feeding.”

It is a totally different system, shutting up a fescue paddock in March to be grazed over the winter and available again with regrowth in September.

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October 2021

With cropping, a feed crop is drilled in November, used over the winter, sown in ryegrass by Christmas.

Also the fescue paddocks do not get pugged in winter.

“In a dry year we can lose the crop anyway.”

It’s been a wet winter so Travis is glad to see spring come early at the beginning of September.

Kepler has gone back to six-month shearing because 12-month was knocking the ewes around before weaning. It’s more expensive but Travis is hoping to be rewarded with better animal health and welfare.

The change to fescue and long-grass farming has helped the staff welfare.

Travis says the winter programme wasn’t staff-friendly, seven days a week of break feeding. On weekends it was three staff members working a total of 30 hours. Now it is one-and-a-half hours a day for one worker.

Travis believes fescue would work on most farms with good management.

“Fescue gives you a month’s extra production over traditional ryegrass pastures.”

Even if the fescue had just solved the grass grub problem, he would have been happy, but it has transformed the farming operation.

“We knew we were on to a winner.”

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CROP & FORAGE Opinion

What is an agronomist?

Following on from the September issue ‘What is a Scientist?’, Country-Wide posed the question: What is an agronomist?

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incoln University plant science professor Derek Moot says an agronomist investigates and explains how plants grow in soil. How they affect and are affected by the environment. “Agronomists use science to determine best management practices.”

Agronomists usually have an advanced qualification in agriculture and understand when and how to intervene with appropriate practices to minimise harm from weeds, pests or disease, Moot says.

Top agronomists are also crop physiologists. They understand how management and the environment interact to affect the processes that influence crop growth and development, and ultimately the yield and quality of different species.

Agronomists must also understand farm systems to minimise impacts on the environment, he says.

Agronomy Society president Craig McGill says the council’s definition is a person who has recognised expertise in scientific research and/or the practice of agronomy. Agronomy is defined as the management and science of growing plants used in agriculture or horticulture. It is also the understanding of how the growing environment can modify that growth.

This includes factors such as soil and nutrient management, the use of irrigation and integrated pest management.

Massey University Professor Kerry Harrington says an agronomist gives advice to farmers and growers on how best to grow plants, especially pasture and crop plants.

They should be keeping up with the latest findings from scientists involved with research. This includes plant breeding, pasture and crop management and more. This is needed to help farmers make the many decisions required to get the best production from their pastures and crops. They should also be helping farmers to adhere to the various regulations in place for the use of inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides in an environmentally responsible manner.

Massey senior lecturer in agronomy James Millner says an agronomist is somebody who is focused on the management of crops, annual or perennial, at the paddock scale.

Management is a broad term, he says, but in this context it includes everything from research and planning before crops are planted to post-harvest management such as transport and processing.

Over the top of all this are economic considerations; many decisions are guided by profitability but also sustainability.

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October 2021

‘They (agronomists) are now rather an endangered ‘species’ like many technical specialist roles.’

What’s expected Barenbrug agronomist and marketing manager Graham Kerr says there is no official definition or standard that makes someone an agronomist. But usually it is expected of a person with this title to have a university degree, which includes studying papers in agronomy, sometimes called plant science. The role of an agronomist is more applied than a scientist. Often it has a systems approach, for example linking plants with soil, animal and management effects.

There are also several more specific job titles such as ‘research agronomist’, ‘extension agronomist’ and ‘senior agronomist’.

When he started his career in the 1980s there were many more agronomists in agriculture than now, Kerr says.

“They are now rather an endangered ‘species’ like many technical specialist roles.”

He says experience is also a key part of knowledge and agronomists need five years in the role to begin to understand it. For example, a pasture agronomist needs to see a range of events from drought to slug damage, to understand how overgrazing or a lack of phosphate affect growth. It is equally important to understand why farmers make the decisions they do.

How best to help farmers understand their options and assist them in their decisions.

PGG Wrightson extension agronomist

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October 2021

Wayne Nichol says there is no formal qualification to being accredited as an agronomist but there are some expectations to being employed as one.

Agronomists within NZ agriculture will generally require some form of graduate degree related to the field of interest, Nichol says. If it is a more senior or specialist role then postgraduate qualifications may be needed as well. The breadth of knowledge and the level of speciality required determines how much further training and development will be required beyond university.

On-the-job training is often a key part to this development process which takes time.

He says the role of an agronomist can be highly varied which requires a good grounding in agronomic principles and scientific trial work. An ability to utilise this information is needed and knowledge to implement into a farm system. Also needed is an ability to convey and communicate this message.

Nichol advises farmers to look for the specialist with the appropriate qualifications and background to meet their needs.

FAR senior research Phil Rolston has the final word.

“An agronomist is a person who undertakes research and/or extension on agricultural plant species that integrates an understanding of the soil and nutrients, weather, pest management, crop inputs and general crop management.”

165

T FEWER BUT ENVIRONMENT

BETTER SHEEP NEEDED

Phil Journeaux examines the work done to help farmers reduce GHG emissions.

he response to climate change has seen New Zealand sign up to the Paris Agreement, to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% below 2005 levels.

The advent of the Zero-Carbon Act has set a target of a 10% reduction in methane levels, relative to 2017, by 2030. That’s a 24-47% reduction in methane levels by 2050, and net zero emissions in carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide by 2050.

A key component of any GHG reductions will involve the agricultural sector, which emits 48% of NZ’s GHGs. As a result, a range of work is being undertaken to understand what farmers can do to reduce or offset GHG emissions.

On the research front, there is a range of work being undertaken to develop new technologies farmers can use:

Genetics Lower methane-producing rams (by 10%) have been bred, with animals likely to be commercially available in the next two to three years. Similarly, LIC and CRV-AmBreed are working to identify low-methane bulls in the dairy industry, with these likely to be used in the AB system in about five years.

Vaccine A methane vaccine is being developed, which could significantly reduce methane emissions by 30%. This is complex work, and a vaccine is not expected for another 10 years.

Methane inhibitors These are additives which when fed to ruminants again reduces methane production (by ~30%). A range of these

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are being investigated, with one likely to be registered in Europe over the next year, and possibly in NZ over the next ~2-3 years.

Nitrogen inhibitors These are compounds which when applied to the ground inhibit the production of nitrous oxide. Several possible compounds have been identified, but there is still several years of work ahead to prove they work effectively.

Forages A number of forages also reduce methane or nitrous oxide emissions, e.g. forage rape, fodder beet, cereal grain, plantain, but to be effective generally they need to be make up at least 30% of the diet, which then poses some farm system challenges.

At the farm level, there are three key drivers of GHG emissions: • Amount of drymatter eaten.

There is a direct correlation between DM eaten and methane production (21g methane/kg DM) and a strong correlation with nitrous oxide production.

• Amount of protein in the diet.

This is a strong driver of nitrous oxide emissions; unneeded protein is expelled as nitrogen (urea) in the urine, some of which is turned into nitrous oxide within the soil.

• Amount of nitrogen fertiliser applied. The main driver of applying nitrogen fertiliser in the pastoral sector is to grow more drymatter – go back to ‘drymatter eaten’ above, plus there is some direct carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions from the fertiliser.

These constitute the toolbox

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October 2021

Table 1: Intensity of emissions: kg CO2e/kg product Milk solids

Beef

Sheep meat

Goat meat

Venison

8.76

14.2

23.57

19.56

30.7

for farmers looking to reduce GHG emissions. In simple terms the need is to reduce all three, but which in turn creates problems at the farm system/farm profitability level.

Dairy versus sheep and beef A 2017 Dairy NZ study showed that the average dairy farm emits 9.6 tonnes of biological greenhouse gas per hectare per year, with a range of 3.1-18.8 tonnes/ha (measured as CO2 equivalents). A 2020 study by AgResearch showed the average sheep and beef farm emits 3.6t CO2e/ ha/year, with a range of 0.17 – 7.1t/ha.

Note that “biological” GHGs = Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O). These emissions are known as “absolute” emissions, and are the emissions targeted under the Zero Carbon Act. The ranges indicate a wide variation, largely relating to the level of intensity of farming; generally the higher the intensity of farming the higher the absolute emissions.

These are different to “emission intensity” which is the amount of CO2e per kg of product, as illustrated in Table 1.

These are relatively low by international standards, reflecting the efficiency of NZ farming. But it is the absolute emission levels which will be targeted by carbon taxes.

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October 2021

The key mechanism for deriving the price of carbon is the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which came into being in 2008. This is driven by the supply of NZ Units (NZU, =1 tonne CO2e) which comes from people sequestering carbon (very largely via forests) and demand for NZUs from firms emitting CO2 and the need to offset those emissions.

GHG management plan The only industry outside of the ETS is agriculture. There is a programme being undertaken by industry/iwi/government, known as He Waka Eke Noa, which is developing the rules whereby agriculture will face a carbon cost from 2025, at the farm level. In particular, He Waka Eke Noa is investigating a different pricing mechanism to the ETS, sequestration regimes for offsetting, and a farm-level accounting system. The intent is that all farmers will have a GHG management plan in place by 2025.

Farm system modelling work has shown there is a wide variation in how farms react to implementation of the “toolbox” described earlier. The main intent was to reduce the amount of dry matter eaten, with the proxy for this being a reduction in stocking rate.

What the modelling work quickly showed is that while there is an almost linear reduction in GHG emissions from

“This is complex work, and a vaccine is not expected for another 10 years.”

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“The largest reductions in GHG emissions were achieved via land use change, which was ‘mostly modelled as forestry’.” reducing stocking rate, it also adversely affects the profitability of the farm. To counter this, an increase in per animal performance was also modelled – which leads to a trade off in the sense that while reducing stocking rate reduced DM eaten, increasing per animal performance increased DM eaten.

Modelling of various case study farms has shown the following in Table 2.

What the modelling work has shown is that onfarm system change can impact on GHG emissions, but is limited: • As a generalisation, it achieves a 2-10% reduction • Variable impact on profitability • Key tool is to reduce stocking rate – but need to improve per animal productivity to maintain profitability • Reduce stocking rate/improve productivity – reliant on significant improvement in farm management to be effective which will take years.

Farm management The last bullet point above is very important; To operate a farm at a lower stocking rate means farm management, especially grazing management must improve to ensure there is no loss of pasture quality, which is usually easier to maintain at a higher stocking rate.

Achieving the “lower stocking rate/higher per animal performance” will therefore take some time to achieve and is not an overnight exercise.

The other key factor to come out of the modelling is that every farm is different, and reacts differently to similar scenarios, as a direct result of the intensity of the farming operation to start with, and the management characteristics of the farmer.

The largest reductions in GHG emissions were achieved via land use change, which was mostly modelled as forestry. In this case forestry was grown as a means of sequestering carbon, which was then used to offset the GHG emissions from the farm.

Using forestry as a GHG offset is complex, and the best advice, if you are contemplating such a move, is to get expert advice before you start.

The ETS provides the rules around sequestration and offsetting, although these may change as a result of the He Waka Eke Noa deliberations. A new “averaging” scheme is being introduced in 2023, which allows a forest owner to claim half the carbon

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October 2021

sequestered in the forest, relative to the rotation length, which does not need to be paid back when the forest is harvested, although the forest must be replanted after harvest, and no further carbon credits can be claimed.

This essentially means the carbon component of the forest is relatively short-lived; for pines on a 28-year rotation, the “averaging’ period is 16-18 years (varies regionally relative to growth rates).

Which means, in a simple sense if no other action is taken, you’d need to plant a new pine forest every 17 years.

Another option is to grow a “permanent forest” (e.g. natives). The issue here is that natives are (a) expensive to establish, and (b) sequester carbon at about a quarter of the rate of pines. But the upside is they sequester carbon for 100 years or more.

Overall therefore, mitigating or offsetting GHG emissions at a farm level is a relatively complex operation, and in many respects, the sooner the new technologies come along, the better.

Table 2: Case Study Modelling Total property net CO2e (T/ha)

Total GHG % change from Base

EBITDA % change from Base model

-8%

-35%

Dairy Farm 1

8.4

Reduce cow numbers 10% - no improvement in productivity

7.7

Reduce cow numbers 10% - improve productivity

7.9

-6%

33%

Reduce cow numbers 15% - improve productivity

7.5

-10%

38%

Dairy Farm 2

4.5

Reduce cow numbers 10% - no improvement in productivity

4.0

-11%

-11%

Reduce cow numbers 10% - improve productivity

4.2

-6%

-6%

Reduce cow numbers 15% - improve productivity

4.1

-9%

-10%

Sheep & Beef Farm 1

2.5

Decrease SR 10% - no change in performance

2.2

-13%

-17%

Decrease SR 10% - change performance

2.2

-12%

14%

Sheep & Beef Farm 2

1.8

Reduce SR 10% - no improvement in productivity

1.7

-7%

-9%

Reduce SR 10% - improve productivity

1.7

-7%

-3%

• Phil Journeaux is an agricultural economist with AgFirst Waikato.

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October 2021

ENVIRONMENT Freshwater

And now, Freshwater Farm Plans BY: CHARLOTTE GLASS

F

rom Farm Environment Plans to Freshwater Farm Plans – why the change and what’s the difference?

Many farmers across New Zealand have been using Farm Environment Plans as their first step to recognising and managing the impact of farming on the wider receiving environment.

The Essential Freshwater Package released in August 2020, notes the requirement for farmers to have Freshwater Farm Plans in place in order to plan and manage the impact of farming operations on freshwater quality.

These new plans will make up one of the modules within a broader Farm Planning Framework. The details of these plans are still emerging, and the Government is now in a consultation phase seeking feedback on the content, outcomes and certification/ audit aspects associated with these plans.

The Farm Environment Plans many farmers are already using have provided a useful structure to consider and manage how our farming operations impact the environment.

The Freshwater Farm Plan introduces more catchment context to our plans and requires a better understanding of how water moves through a whole catchment, not just one farm in isolation. It will also introduce more awareness of the concept of Te Mana O Te Wai, or “the life-force of water”. This concept is easy for farming people to relate to, simply put, it means, when the water is healthy, then the life it supports is healthy too.

Achieving “healthy water” now has a higher priority when seeking permission from councils to undertake farming activities that require their consent.

Freshwater Farm Plans will be central to farmers being able to understand and communicate how their farming supports maintenance or improvement of freshwater quality. The intention is that these are

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October 2021

The Freshwater Farm Plan introduces more catchment context to our plans and requires a better understanding of how water moves through a whole catchment, not just one farm in isolation.

As our understanding of the connection of water and lag phases between farming activities and impact in the catchment improves over time, then farmers’ Freshwater Farm Plans will become more specific too. living documents and capture continuous improvement and learning.

As our understanding of the connection of water and lag phases between farming activities and impact in the catchment improves over time, then farmers’ Freshwater Farm Plans will become more specific too.

They will continue to include an assessment of risk from farming activities on water quality from nutrient management, waterways, land and soil, effluent and water use (including irrigation), and will be useful in communicating winter grazing strategies too.

Farmers are familiar with the balance that is important in grassland ecosystems.

Sheep, cattle and deer eat pasture, and in doing so feed the soil by cycling nutrients back in dung and urine which in turn allows more grass to grow. The same sort of balance is important for freshwater ecosystems to thrive too.

Tools that help farmers consider the habitat and health of freshwater ecosystems on farms are now more accessible and will become increasingly important as a means of communicating the health and quality

of freshwater. By being aware of the nonfarmed species that are, or were once present in our catchments, farmers can seek to support the appropriate balance and habitat for them to thrive in conjunction with our productive farmed species.

Freshwater Farm Plans should provide a framework to prompt farmers to weave these aspects together. We don’t yet have perfect knowledge or measurement of these indicators at farm scale and gaps in science and current knowledge will be exposed. Farmers will play an important role in developing a deeper understanding of the interaction of farming with broader freshwater systems.

For those that have already prepared a Farm Environment Plan, and particularly those that have already had those plans audited, then the Freshwater Farm Plan is expected to be a subtle change. It will need to be certified by someone who is accredited to ensure it is “fit for purpose” and then audited 18 months after certification and then every three years.

For those farmers that have never completed a Farm Environment Plan, your industry bodies can help get you started.

They have templates you can use and provide workshops to get you started or you can connect with professionals who specialise in working with farmers. It might sound like something new or different, but for people who understand dynamic systems as farmers do, it really isn’t that new!

• Charlotte Glass is a consultant and director of Agri Magic, a farm systems consultancy company that specialises in environmental aspects.

171

ENVIRONMENT GHG emissions

Calculator works out the numbers

S

heep and beef farmers are being encouraged to make use of Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s greenhouse gas calculator to get an understanding of their farm’s emissions number.

Under He Waka Eke Noa, the primary sector’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 25% of farmers are required to know their farm’s greenhouse gas numbers and have a written plan in place to manage their emissions by the end of this year.

By the end of 2022, every farmer is expected to know their farm’s GHG number.

B+LNZ’s chief insights officer Jeremy Baker says the GHG calculator was developed as a user-friendly tool to help farmers measure both their emissions and sequestrations and he is encouraging farmers to make use of it.

“This is not a regulatory tool, rather it helps farmers get an understanding of where they are in terms of emissions and when used in conjunction with the organisation’s farm plan, it can help farmers take steps to manage their emissions and improve efficiencies to drive productivity and profitability.”

He stresses that the information generated through the calculator is the property of the individual farmer and cannot be accessed by anyone but the user.

Baker says knowing and managing farm

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The sheep and beef sector has a seriously good story to tell because farmers have, over recent years, been reducing methane emissions by driving efficiencies, Bay of Plenty farmer Rick Burke says.

GHG emissions is critical for NZ’s future as a trusted provider of sustainable food.

“Front-footing this demonstrates to the NZ public and our customers that we are serious about managing our impact on the climate.”

Bay of Plenty farmer Rick Burke says the calculator confirmed what he had suspected, that their farm was close to being carbon neutral.

‘It can help farmers take steps to manage their emissions and improve efficiencies to drive productivity and profitability.’

Burke says it took him about half an hour to come up with the number.

“It was really straightforward, surprisingly easy.

“It’s a great first step for farmers to get a feel for their number.”

It helps to have stock numbers (available on Cash Manager, Xero or other financial management tools) on hand before starting the calculations along with areas of trees,

remnant bush, hedges and plantings and wetlands.

Because Burke is a case study farmer for the NZGHG Research Centre, he already had a stock-take of all the vegetation and wetlands on his farm, so he had that information before he started. But he believes it is a good idea for farmers to do a vegetation stock-take anyway, particularly if they want to be part of the Emissions Trading Scheme in the future.

Burke believes that when coupled with the farm plan, the GHG number will help farmers see where they are at in terms of emissions and where they can make improvements.

The sheep and beef sector has a seriously good story to tell because farmers have, over recent years, been reducing methane emissions by driving efficiencies.

On his own 295-hectare farm, Burke and partner Jan Loney have halved their sheep and beef farm’s emissions while nearly doubling their profit.

This has been done by driving efficiencies; improving pasture quality so they are able to finish stock faster on less drymatter.

Of the 295ha, 162ha is in pasture and the balance is in exotic forest, native trees, regenerating bush and wetlands so they are also able to offset their emissions.

• Supplied by B+LNZ.

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173

BREEDING Opinion

So you wanna be a stud?

Geneticist and farmer Nicola Dennis reflects on the breeding of valuable sheep.

L

ast season, we sent almost all of our Wiltshire lambs off to meet their maker before Christmas and we were feeling rather chuffed with ourselves. Until we watched Wiltshire breeding stock sell for stupid money at auctions around the country.

It seems that many commercial sheep farmers, after scoffing at the bare-naked lambies that have plagued New Zealand lifestyle blocks for decades, are now ready to turn their hand to the woolless breeds.

Looking at some of the much fawned-over sheep at the sales we could see that not all of them were a shining example of the breed. Most had been tailed and many were retaining chunks of fleece.

Having spent the past nine years ruthlessly culling any sheep that had felt the touch of a human hand, we outwardly wept for the lambs we had slaughtered.

On hearing our wails, a small posse of stock agents promised to ring us about our next crop of lambs.

And, it got us thinking - could we register our flock for genetic evaluation on Sheep Improvement Limited (SIL)? And/or do some DNA testing?

Coming from a cattle background, we were a little naive about how uniquely difficult sheep make things. More on that in a second. First let's cover a few basics.

What is genetic evaluation?

And why do sheep make it so hard?

To be overly simplistic, which will be the tone of this whole article, genetic evaluation is trying to work out which animals have the most desirable DNA via statistical detective work. Grab your magnifying glass, dear Sherlock, we are heading out to which sexy sires and delicious dams have won the genetic lottery.

We could study DNA from each animal (coming up next: why that might not be as helpful as that sounds!), but we don’t have to, because we can use the process of elimination.

Instead of asking what the DNA has done to produce this stunning specimen of livestock that stands before you, start crossing off the things the DNA didn’t do.

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That early-born giant that is towering over tail-end tiny Tim. He got a head start. He should check his privilege. Actually, he’s the computer's problem now.

Give the computer everyone’s birthdays and the computer can use its magic to take out the effects of the age difference. And what about the triplets that had to fight their siblings for every meal versus the spoilt only child? That wasn’t fair! Tell the computer.

Once the computer has corrected the data according to everyone’s grievances, we will assume any differences left between families are, more or less, down to genetics.

In its most basic form, genetic evaluation is about correcting all the obvious environmental effects to get a decent estimate of an animal’s genetic potential.

In some industries it can be relatively easy for new detectives to jump on to this information train.

Think of the dairy industry where one can order semen straws from a selection of bulls in the genetics catalogue.

Each bull is effectively being used over thousands of different herds (each treated as a different environment) and each herd is using a selection of bulls (which can be compared within the same environment).

The big computers in the clouds can identify, and then correct, a lot of environmental effects.

You might be a long way off breeding bulls for the catalogues, but you still have some useful information coming your way if you are diligent with your farm records.

For sheep, it is not that easy.

For one, sheep enjoy more personal space than dairy cows. And, they hang out in much larger gangs. Also, the ewe’s reproductive tract is a scientific frustration. Artificial insemination is off the table for anyone who doesn’t want to venture into abdominal surgery on their flock.

Most rams are only being used in one flock which is a bit rubbish for comparing performance between different flocks and breeds.

To be fair, researchers have been running central progeny tests to compare a selection of rams from all walks of life on research sites. While that certainly helps, if you want the information on your sheep, then you can expect to do most of the legwork yourself.

How much legwork is involved?

The good news first. Registering your flock is fairly painless. SIL requires some simple details about you and your flock. You also need to choose a SIL bureau which is a private company that will be in charge of entering your data into the SIL system. There are eight SIL bureaux to choose from. The bureau I talked to had an annual flock fee of $120 and charged $2 for each new sheep added to the system.

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October 2021

Do you already have pedigree records for your flock?

YES

Awesome, if you have a few generations, then you will have a good headstart How about birthdates (or an estimate) for at least the current crop of lambs?

NO

Are you prepared to start tagging lambs at birth and recording birth dates and litter size?

NO

YES

NO

YES

NO

YES

Great, we have parentage and birth details sorted. Can you keep track of basic non-genetic variables such as which mob each ewe is in?

YES

We need to know both parents for performance recording.

Yes, parentage sorted

NO

I need more help with parentage

The genetic prediction won’t be very accurate if the data can’t be adjusted for lambs that are getting special treatment

Are you prepared to spend $30-35 to DNA test every lamb, ewe and ram?

YES

Ok, let’s find a way to estimate birthdate.

Here are your options:

1

3

Foetal aging at pregnancy scanning will give you an estimated birthdate and litter size.

Crayon markings at mating can give you some idea of lambing date for each ewe.

Don’t care

Chemistry

Stop the bus, I want off

2

Let’s tag the lambs at tailing and use science to work out which ewes raised which lambs.

There are a couple of options:

NO

Technology

Don’t care

Performance recording is not a priority for you.

But there still may be gains to be made from genetic testing.

NO

Are you keen to record your traits of interest? (e.g. weaning weight, post-weaning weight, wool etc) in all the lambs not just the good ones.

You can rent smart collars to attach to ewes and lambs for 48 hours. These will report who is hanging out with who.

YES

Do you aim to use a variety of sires each season and reuse at least one ram between seasons?

Are you prepared to pay an annual flock fee (~$120) and around $2/head fee for each new animal added to the database?

YES YES

Do you use more than one ram per mob of ewes at mating?

NO

Been using fancy rams?

Have you been using rams with known performance enhancing mutations e.g.

Myomax? You could spend $30-35 to see if your favourite lambs have inherited these mutations.

NO

Performance recording is great at telling you (after the fact) which daddy had the better genetics. If you are only using a couple of rams per season. This might be a lot of work for not much info.

Shall we keep going?

YES

NO

So close, but yet so far...

The science for determining genetic breeding values is a little more advanced for Romneys, Coopworths and Perendales. Texels are coming soon. This might help choose between rams that look the same on paper. i.e. twin rams with identical parentage.

Been using fancy rams?

Great, you are good to go.

Choose a bureau and register your flock with SIL. If you got here without genetic testing, you probably don’t need it. But, you might want to check it out if either of these statements is true.

Your flock is a common breed

Continues Country-Wide

October 2021

›› 175

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October 2021

The registration is the easy part. The hard part is putting together a system to collect the data needed for genetic evaluation. Pay attention here because this is where you could sign yourself up for a heap of work with little reward.

It is easy to look at the traits you might like to measure - weaning weight, postweaning weight, adult weight, dag score, lamb survival, wool, meat yield etc - and think “well, collecting that data is just an extra day or two in the yards”. But, remember the detective work going on above?

There is going to be a lot of hidden work to make sure you have all the clues you need to strip away the environmental effects. You are going to need to know (or at least estimate) when each of these lambs was born and how many siblings they had to fight to get mum’s attention and, of course, you need to know who the parents of each lamb are.

Traditionally, each sire would have the undivided attention of his ladies (singlesire mating) so there was no question of who daddy was. Lambs would be eartagged at birth and the birth details were recorded alongside mum’s tag (probably read with binoculars if you are dealing with Wiltshires) in the trusty notebook.

These days, technology such as pregnancy scanning and DNA parentage offers a few more options. Refer to the flow chart for a pathway through your options.

You will also need to know the age of each mother and ideally have some depth to her pedigree too (i.e. who was her sire).

And, you will need to share these ewes fairly between the rams. It is no use giving one ram a selection of youthful, well-bred ewes and another a bunch of “I don’t understand how this keeps happening” toothless, older ewes.

You also need to retain rams to use over multiple seasons so that there is a data link back to previous seasons (i.e. to test if the conditions in this season were more or less favourable compared to previous season).

SIL recommends studying a minimum of three rams a season producing at least 20 lambs each. I think it goes without saying that you have to record all the progeny born to a ram for this to work properly - not just the good-looking lambs.

And then, after all this is fed into the SIL system, you would have enough information to pick out which of the sires you used were the best (and which of their offspring are worth keeping). On our 30-hectare property we would probably run out of sires after awarding the gold, silver

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October 2021

and bronze medals.

I should point out that SIL isn’t going to scold you if you don’t follow these rules.

You can sign up and do whatever you please. I asked if I could register just to look like I knew what I was doing and while we couldn’t agree on a term for this (SILtokenism, SIL-cynicism, or just being SILly) it was clear I would have a bit of company.

But, useless data will yield useless results.

THE BIG BUM GENE This season we splashed out on a ram carrying the MyoMAX mutation.

That is a fairly marketable mutation to have. So marketable that it has to be called GDF8 by the labs that don’t own the trademark. We may as well find out which of our lambs have inherited the big bum gene from Mr Goldenballs.

What about genomic testing?

We have decided that we don’t yet have what it takes to break into full-blown recording.

But, could we break some ground with DNA testing? You don’t have to be SIL recorded to run some tests. You can pop down to your rural supply store and pick up the tissue sampling equipment.

This is a machine not unlike an ear tag gun. It punches a small hole out of the sheep’s ear into a barcoded container filled with a special preserving liquid.

The applicator gun costs about $110 and the tubes are about $30 for a packet of 10. These are then sent via parcel post to a commercial DNA testing laboratory.

The GenomNZ laboratory at AgResearch Invermay will run a 60k SNP test for $26/ test.

And what about the triplets that had to fight their siblings for every meal versus the spoilt only child? That wasn’t fair! Tell the computer.

The DNA test also includes six other causative mutations for a bunch of things we don’t want like missing eyes and high fecundancy. And, there are 60,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms - in case you thought I didn’t know what 60k SNP meant.

This new 60k SNP chip is a humongous step up from the microsatellite tests I cut my teeth on as a young graduate, but we are still a very long way off knowing what all the DNA is doing. Even less so, how all these As and Ts and Gs and Cs combine to form a productive animal.

SNPs are simply parts of the DNA known to have a lot of variation between individuals and these are useful “markers” to compare DNA. To oversimplify it a lot, if your sheep has lots of markers that match the top sires already on record, then it might be a good sheep.

SNP data can be used to compliment your performance recording (if you are doing it) by giving helpful hints about which lambs inherited the bits of DNA that the computer

thinks are helpful. This is useful to get early information on lambs before all the data has been recorded.

Since the sires used to train the genomic data models were mostly Romney, the machine does its most accurate work when dealing with Romney-based flocks. A Texelbased genomic breeding value is coming soon for terminal sires.

We could be waiting a while before the computers have the 200-400 training sires needed for the Wiltshire breed. And you know what? After this little thought experiment, I’m not going to begrudge the wait because that is a humongous job. And even though Mr Goldenballs cost more than my horse, he is probably a bargain considering the legwork that brought him into existence.

So, hats off to the breeders putting in the hard yards. Plenty of us would like the stud label, but when it comes down to it we lack the stud stamina.

177

PROFILE Lambing

COUNTING THE BEAT BY: LYNDA GRAY

W

est Otago farmer Brian Howden has ticked off his 53rd consecutive lambing beat and is counting down to the next one.

Aside from the snowstorms that have occasionally put an icy dampener on things, lambing is the bright spot in his farming year.

‘As long as I have my health…I enjoy it and that’s why I keep doing it,” Brian says.

His first lambing beat was in 1968, the same year as the Wahine disaster. He was a 16-year-old school leaver and got three weeks’ work with a local farmer helping out with 2000 Romney mixed-age ewes on the 120-hectare farm near Benio. He was quickly in the thick of typical lambing problems of bearings and mis-mothered lambs. There was also the problem of the full-wool ewes taking things that didn’t belong to them.

“They would pinch another ewe’s lamb, so we had to deal with them by catching them and shoving them in another paddock.”

The morning beat started at 7am and if everything went according to plan on the

Weigh

Drench Vaccinate Teeth

Dag

Feet

Draft

Udders Blood Tests

Capsule

One Back

Palpate

Tag

Pour-on

evening round, Brian was stepping out of wet and muddy waterproof leggings, jacket, and boots by 6pm.

“It was hard work. Nothing was setstocked, and we were shedding out every second day. I practically lived out in the paddock, but I was getting $60 a day so I thought I was made.”

He did another four or five lambings elsewhere before returning home to the family farm on Donald Road at Waikoikoi.

On the first lambing back home Brian got around his beat in a Land Rover.

“It used about 300 gallons of petrol over lambing, so it was the one and only time I used it.”

After the retirement of Brian’s parents, he and Nola took on ownership of the farm in 1982. A couple of years later is when the Howdens had a lambing from hell due to a severe southerly blast.

“It sticks in my mind. I had to come in early evening because the snow was too thick and the next day, I ended up putting 320 dead lambs at the gate. It was really tough.”

Reflecting on 50-plus consecutive lambing beats Brian says it’s the same but different.

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Brian Howden has ticked off his 53rd consecutive lambing.

Lambing performance has lifted considerably at the Howdens due primarily to a change in breeding tack. Brian and Nola persevered with Romneys during the early part of their farming career, but they struggled to get a decent lambing percentage.

“When we first took over, we were struggling to get 100%, we managed to crack 141% but it was hard work.”

In the search for better lamb survivability and growth rates they turned their attention

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“I’m still a passionate sheep man… if you’re not dropping many stitches, why change?” to Texels and in 2005 bought the Meba Texel stud. The infusion of Texel genetics led to a half-Texel half-Romney commercial flock of ewes which Brian says are a more resilient breed.

In 2009, coinciding with the return home of son Nathan, the Howdens bought 170ha next door, expanding their operation to 397ha. Last year the 3900 ewes (including two-tooths and stud ewes) lambed 153%.

This year’s drier than normal autumn was reflected in a lower across-the-board scanning of 180% which will transpire to a 148-151% lambing.

Technology aids lambing performance Aside from changed genetics, simple technology now taken for granted such as pregnancy scanning, and electric fencing has been another contributor to improved lambing performance.

The Howdens were among the first to start scanning ewes back in the mid-1980s.

It helped greatly with feed management, enabling them to prioritise the feeding of single and multiple (lamb) ewes.”

Feed planning and management is everything and needs to start well before the lambing beat, he says.

“You have to manage lambing according to your grass growth curve. I always maintain that the grass cover you have on 1 May (late autumn) is a good indicator of what you’ll have when you start lambing.”

Management aside, some things with lambing remain the same. Brian still likes to be about among the ewes by 7am and more often than not is bundled up in woolly hat, and waterproofs to stave off the weather.

“Good wet weather gear is part and parcel of it, I can count on two hands when I’ve managed lambing without leggings and a parka.”

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October 2021

The effort put in at lambing makes or breaks the rest of the sheep production year, Brian says.

It’s still an intensively managed exercise, especially with the stud ewes that are checked three times a day and get their lambs tagged at birth.

Nowadays Nathan, Brian and a shepherd are the core lambing team with back up as needed from Nola and Nathan’s wife Charlotte. As with the wider farming operation Brian is happy to take the back seat role these days, leaving the overall running to Nathan.

“We get on well. I’m the worker and do what I’m told, but I know what needs to be done.”

The big question is: how many more lambing beats has Brian left in him?

It’s a year-by-year decision but indications are he’ll be counting the beat for another few years.

“I’m still a passionate sheep man… if you’re not dropping many stitches, why change?”

Awards and rewards The Howden’s passion and success at sheep farming has been recognized over the years through several awards: Romney Farmer of the Year; winners of the 1991 AC Cameron South Island Farmer of the Year and the 1995 Clutha Farmer of the Year 1995; and 2005 runners-up in the Lincoln University

Lamb Producer/Finisher Awards. Brian has also been on numerous judging panels, a role he’s always enjoyed.

“I reckon you get a pretty good idea of how good an operator a farmer is by the state of their driveway. If everything is tidy and in order it usually means their livestock and business are too.”

It’s not surprising then that the Howdens’ driveway is all in order with well-strained fences and neatly clipped shelter belts and hedgerows.

The award recognitions have been satisfying but more fulfilling has been supporting and mentoring the next generation of sheep farmers. Brian used to run a farm discussion group with a lot of young farmers and enjoyed sharing advice and tips. Another example of his support is a lease-to-buy arrangement of ram lambs with a number of the Howden’s ram buying clients.

“It’s a bit of a risk but it’s nice to be able to help young guys get started.”

The Howdens sell about 130 two-tooth rams a year comprising Texel, RomneyTexel, Suffolk-Texel, Beltex-Texel and Charollais-Texel. The Texel-based range, evolved to include a greater choice of terminal genetics, gives clients the potential for a one-stop-shop for ram buying.

179

SOLUTIONS

Many hands make light work

H

ay season is just around the corner, and what could be more frustrating than rips and tears in your silage bale wraps caused by sharp edges and pinch points on your bale handler?

Many bale handler manufacturers don’t consider sharp edges and pinch points, but New Zealand-based Hustler Equipment invested thousands of research hours into completely eliminating both in their original Softhands bale handlers. And judging by their user reviews, that was definitely money well spent!

With clever horizontal nudge bars, the inside and the outside of the Softhands are smooth and seamless with little to no possibility of unintentionally pinching or tearing the bale wraps.

The unique curved shape is specifically designed to allow for stacking, grabbing and manipulating with ease. Requiring no more than 50mm to slide between the bales, the Softhands allow you to stack your bales super close to save space. Both inside and out, your silage bales are in good hands with a set of Hustler’s Softhands.

The compact frame design allows the bale to be held and carried much closer to the tractor, reducing constraints on the tractor’s front axle and providing industry-leading visibility. And who says that smart design can’t be ultra-robust either?

Every aspect of the Softhands is built to last, from the heavy-duty pivots to the replaceable, greaseable bushes to the

unique powder-coating finish, there’s a reason Hustler machines have an incredibly high resale value. Hustler’s original Softhands bale handler range is available in two models, the Softhands LM100 built specifically for round bales, and the heavyduty Softhands LX200 able to handle round and square bales – thanks to the threeposition adjustable hands.

The Equaliser Bar (standard on the Softhands LX200, an optional add-on on the LM100) is a great addition for keeping the hands moving simultaneously for precision bale control and operator safety and is easily removed if the situation requires floating hands. Hustler manufactures a large range of feeding and spraying equipment, with all their products backed up with a four-year warranty.

• For more details and pricing, visit www.hustlerequipment.com or contact Nigel Holt on 021 406 599, nigel@hustlerequipment.com

HIGH RETENTION AND RELIABILITY are two features of Shearwell sheep ear tags that are appealing to a growing number of sheep farmers looking for a cost-effective solution to identification.

The company’s South Island sales manager Alan McLeary says high retention is vital. Although no ear tag is infallible, a recent trial comparing the retention performance of several different ear tags showed the Shearwell option performed well at 99.9% retained over the term of the trial. McLeary says the Shearwell tags are also light, robust and the cheapest tag on the market in New Zealand.

“They don’t crack or fade with age.

Farmers in places like Central Otago where scrub and bush like matagouri is common, are telling us these tags are the best at staying in the ear,” he says.

The original Shearwell tag was developed by a British shearer, Richard Webber, and the company has expanded to cover most of the sheep farming countries of the world.

“Richard shore his way into farm ownership and managed to find the time to design and develop his own ear tag.”

Orders from New Zealand are made and printed in Australia, but McLeary says a plan is in place to move to a local site once volumes increase.

• Visit shearwell.co.nz for more information or to order tags.

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180

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October 2021

Clear skies ahead for Cloud Yards

S

upport is ramping up for a clever website offering livestock for sale, backed by a progressive group of North Island stock agents.

Cloud Yards has been operating since January 2020 and is now supported by 17 stock agents spread across most areas of the North Island.

It already has more than 1200 registered users and new farmers are joining every day, Cloud Yards spokesman and ManawatuWanganui independent agent Chris Hansen says.

He was in the initial group of mostly independent stock agents who shared the vision of creating a website where agents were responsible for listing stock and completing all sale transactions.

Others involved from the outset were his brother Simon Hansen, who operates across Hawke’s Bay; Tim Gardner, Gisborne; Wairarapa agents Ed Wallace and Shayne Rankin, and Rangitikei agent George Shannon.

“We had been brainstorming this concept for years to create an easier way for quotes to be put in front of buyers, faster.”

“With over 1200 registered farmers using the platform, it’s delivering real time quotes at the tap of a button.”

Each agent is responsible for the initial viewing, drafting and weighing of each line of stock before it is listed on the site. Stock are listed with a clear description which includes asking price, breeding, bloodlines, sex, weight, age, health, and the type of country they have been running on.

Quality photos and videos are provided for every line to add a visual element to each listing.

“At the click of a button, it’s in front of 1200+ purchasers.”

Once sold, the listing agent involved

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October 2021

Independent agent Chris Hansen sorting up cattle before loading their details on to the Cloud Yards site for farmers to buy.

handles the rest of the transaction.

“The best example for me, was a client following a line of ewes down a laneway on his horse, flicking through Cloud Yards on his mobile phone, and he purchased a line of lambs. It’s that easy!”

Between 8-10 new lines of stock are listed daily, Hansen says.

Rangitikei farmer Tim O’Neill was one of the first to register on the site and says in the past year he bought more than 5000 store lambs without leaving his Turakina Valley property.

“I’ve got total trust in the description of any stock quoted by the group of agents supporting the site. I haven’t been to a sale yard in months because I know that what I’m buying is accurately priced and I won’t be disappointed when they arrive at home,” he says.

“Being able to look at photos and a video of the stock in the quotes delivered straight to my email each day is great. It’s easy to buy from the site and it’s handled just like any private sale.”

“Cloud Yards has nailed it I reckon. I’d recommend it to other farmers to try with confidence.”

With increased pressure to ensure animals are treated well at all times, O’Neill says a major benefit is that stock move directly to the purchaser’s property, reducing transport costs and stress on animals during delivery.

Hansen says Cloud Yards is not aiming to replace the face-to-face contact between farmers and agents.

“Instead, it is just another tool in the toolbox for them to use. We still very much value the continued relationship of a handshake deal and our agents will

always follow through every transaction from start to finish.”

Adding new agents to the platform to expand the regional coverage is allowing farmers to move stock outside their own regions to take advantage of better prices.

Hansen says a good example of this has been the past season when the site matched stock on offer from dry conditions on the East Coast to buyers on the western side of the North Island.

“We work together as a team on a daily basis to nut out where pricing is sitting for each class of stock. It’s a great network of people that enjoy the fun and banter of working together, and everyone’s on the same page.”

Just added to the website is a rotating advertising slot where stud breeders, small rural businesses, livestock carriers, veterinarians, or farm stay owners can promote their products and services direct to users.

Hansen says he is happy to have achieved the founding aim to create a trusted platform for clients to easily access livestock for sale.

“We also believe strongly in the traditional agent values of farmers being able to operate on our word and a handshake,” he says.

“And, we’re 100% New Zealand owned and proud of that.”

Hansen says further enhancements are in the pipeline for the Cloud Yards platform along with a targeted marketing campaign and he expects a sharp rise in the number of registered users and transactions.

• More www.cloudyards.co.nz

181

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SOLUTIONS

Maximise spring sowing opportunities

A

n advanced formulation from one of New Zealand’s best known crop protection specialists is set to make it easier for farmers to prepare paddocks for spring sowing this season.

With Crucial as the backbone of any pasture spray out or post crop clean up, they will be well positioned to get new crop or pasture off to the best possible start, Nufarm territory manager Jeff Hurst, of Ashburton, says.

The breakthrough liquid glyphosate herbicide has everything farmers and growers need for fast, effective results in local conditions. When applied as recommended with Pulse Penetrant, Crucial carries a commercial performance guarantee of 15 minutes rainfastness, setting a new benchmark in terms of flexibility and

knowing the job is done properly even when conditions are unpredictable and challenging.

“At this time of the year, most farmers are

on a tight schedule to turn those paddocks around and get them back into production as soon as possible. Paddocks sprayed with Crucial can be grazed, cultivated or drilled just one day after application for annual weeds, and three days for perennial weeds which is a significant benefit to growers,” Jeff says.

“A fast, reliable kill at the outset makes the rest of the process run much more efficiently, and helps ensure a good outcome.”

Crucial pours easily, won’t foam, and tank mixes superbly with other products.

It comes in a range of pack sizes, from the all-new OHS 15 litre pack, all the way up to the larger and 1000L pod potions.

• For more information, talk to your rural retailer.

SIMPLIFIED WEED CONTROL FOR PASTURE AND CROPS OVER SEVERAL SEASONS HEADSTART has proven itself as a solid performing broadleaf weed control option for establishing high performing pastures and crops.

“Headstart is unique in that it offers growers a simplified approach to weed control in pasture. Headstart has built a reputation of far exceeding expectations over several seasons of use,” Lonza NZ marketing and business development manager Zack Taylor says.

Headstart is a uniquely formulated herbicide developed by Lonza for use on pasture, seed crops, lucerne, and chicory.

It features the active ingredient flumetsulam which provides unrivaled crop safety over crops at varying growth stages.

Lonza has formulated Headstart with its patented Oleo technology, which provides growers with the added convenience of a liquid product for measuring at the time of application.

Oleo technology removes the need for further adjuvants and surfactants to be

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October 2021

added to the spray mix as this ratio has been precisely pre-formulated.

Headstart has nine further weeds on label that other products with the same ingredient don’t. This superior efficacy is thanks to the optimized surfactant to active ingredient ratio in each spray droplet, Taylor says.

“Oleo technology ensures the active ingredient getting delivered to the weeds is working to 100% of its potential thanks to a superior delivery system.”

This crop safe nature of Headstart prompted the field science team at Lonza to explore earlier application timings in order to target weeds when they are at a size that the highest level of control can be achieved.

“Having to wait until slow-establishing species like clover are at a certain growth stage often means the optimum herbicide timing is missed.”

“This leads to weeds out-competing a crop and growing past a growth stage where they cannot be controlled with selective chemistry.”

Headstart can be applied to red, white

Headstart can be applied to red, white and subterranean clover, ryegrass and chicory at any time after emergence.

and subterranean clover, ryegrass and chicory at any time after emergence.

This simplifies weed control in pasture for growers as they can target weeds when they are at an early growth stage providing increased levels of weed control, without compromising on crop safety.

• For more detail talk to your rural retailer or visit www.lonza.co.nz.

183

SOLUTIONS

Natural balance in hill country

A new set of cattle yards were built in the past year on the station.

L

ocation, scale and scope to lift production is on offer from a 1275-hectare Gisborne hill country station for sale by tender, closing on November 3.

Maunga-O-Rangi Station, Whangara, less than 30 minutes north of Gisborne, has wintered an average of more than 10,650 stock units in a 45:55 sheep to cattle ratio over the past three years.

Bayleys agents Simon Bousfield and Stephen Thomson say the station has huge aesthetic appeal through planting and the natural balance of medium hill country through the centre surrounded by steeper country.

PAGE PHONE

ION 56 LOCAT 5383 73 447 027 8857 81 NAME 06 374 8154 Otane virke 06 855 3343 BREED Danne u 07 863 P Tod ’s Bay Takapa PAGE Hawke mbe t W Philip Waihi Tennen PHONE Hollyco D&R s 7740 4139 ION Anui 06 307 7570 J Kuizina LOCAT 03 522 5772 Pahiwi rston 06 307 7718 03 685 7707 l Feathe apa Nelson Eshere rston NAME 06 372 7875 Wairar 03 415 1843 Feathe Fairlie Meade Island/ Matthews ton 06 372 C n er 06 374 4191 David North Master Clinton Munru Shop Lower ton dville The Manag iam Ram 03 236 4383 Philip Master Ormon McWill Waio One Stop Ram Shop Jeff Moss J&A 06 858 papa 3754 Winton Whare ta 03 542 2729 One Stop Ram Shop Colin Burlace M Wyeth 69 Otane ater Te Tauma 03 543 One Stop Ram Shop Dave Riddell Brightw 7804 88 Mana e One Stop Ram Shop R Forsyth 06 388 5576 Mouter Stop Island One e M Irvine Upper 244 06 376 South r Texel Taihap 935 Upper Hills Premie ille P Moore e ury 021614 8388 Woodv Chrom Downs X L Illston 03 e 7267 M& DALE Nth Canterb 9412 98 Mouter nt Point 03 303 M Poulton PEREN 03 358 7829 7030 M& Pleasa Hills ton 03 303 6186 Minda hurch H Taylor s 06 362 8849 bury Ashbur 81 Christc Nth Canter ton 03 685 0284 Wairiri I William son 03 614 4827 boy reeders Palmerston Ashbur Dough T Sheepb 03 308 2704 nt Point 06 328 K Donald e Fairlie DORSE 7080 Soc NZ 80 Pleasa Waidal l ton 03 302 3771 POLL lton Breed G & D Timms P Lowe son 03 248 2818 Ashbur Kimbo Warriga ton 03 318 6886 Poll Dorset en E Lauren 07 873 3661 rd S McCall Ashbur Lumsd Pratt ll Lynnfo rlaw ld 03 686 8516 Ashby anga D Wyllie 06 374 2818 B&R Sheffie ock Otoroh Mitche Lamme Park 03 304 4056 Castler rvirke G Letham 06 328 1087 G & M Rapley Timaru rry Danne 227 Gatton 027 Glenga lton D Wason ton 09 235 B&W g Akaroa Kimbo Hermis Glenrae S Miller eld a S Proutin Lincoln eam Waiuku Snowle d Park Goldstr B Masefi r 7181 A Clifton 3623 Plains Irwin Jesmon 03 434 4124 High F Gardne 06 372 6591 69,89 u C&M Okarur pe u 03 441 9067 Te Kawa ton 06 327 4383 Oamar town ine Master Roseho 03 415 1919 Woodb 06 858 Queens TEXEL Marton x ha Tatham T CHB 03 465 9063 B Rae A&J Balclut DORSE Otane, Otago ston 03 444 1753 POLL ta Farm D Moffat e E Sherriff Palmer 3573 Ragniu a ly 03 418 8545 Kaiwha G King son 03 447 R Forsyth Ranfur Park Ellensle ha 03 448 Pine u D Robert owne Balclut r Texel Omaka Kingsd dra Premie I Smith n Alexan 6285 Aurora A Paterso B Everett 03 315 9090 4885 Leith ARTH orpe Glen r Valley 03 446 03 225 6851 POLW nui Rockth M Skelton Hill 3664 Chedda View u 03 207 8324 Mataka gh 03 445 ald Peaks Otauta Roxbur Silver McDon 03 203 3741 ell ald Jason R Gore Cromw McDon ald 03 203 1808 RANGE r Valley N Minty son and Glen Gore 79 Southl h McDon 03 207 9563 Chedda r Valley J Robert John Gore 7034 Rannoc 03 208 7649 Chedda r Valley D Irwin ll 09 423 0749 ale Gore Merryv unt 439 03 248 6851 Chedda rd NZ A Mitche ing 09 Gore 7820 ERS Wellsfo Paramo en 03 207 8932 ille M Cumm y 09 411 1273 Bank Lumsd EY BREED Dargav Eden 149 03 248 8063 ROMN nd/Auckland G Levet uku H Macka 021 le Gore 1933 Waima ey Korova en 03 203 4925 Northla e G Senior son 09 401 8266 nk P Morres Lumsd geo Kaikoh Braeba 03 206 8952 Kikitan e B Robert 09 431 M Finlay Hill Gore ale Kaikoh Ram am 03 204 9570 Paddyv le aturoto R Hore zien owns R Carter Wyndh Maung i Merryd 03 236 5655 Riverda ne H McFad lea M Quinn y Tapanu 5755 Helens 03 225 Hurrica G Smith 07 828 7823 ore S Roadle Winton 34 Acham ere ai Argyle W Deveryon 07 877 4763 44 Tuatap Ohinew Tamlet 825 Anders Aro T 07 w rooke ikato nd 72 4847 Aria Pikovie rn nd/Wa Crawford Auckla 0883 wahia D Addenb 07 895 5715 M 40 Auckla 93 Ngarua Blythbu i Nth Island 03 204 South go 159 07 828 9859 D Tucker Upper t 159 78 Owhan ai i Ruakiw 463 Reeves s 0508 7847 74,83 Hillcrof 027 J&A Tapanu 6102 e Vendor Ohinew 06 307 7820 Aria Multipl ell 07 896 6777 EY M Forlongale 74 i Raglan ROMN 06 372 6671 Waima runui L Brenss der Linden Featherston 07 825 C Trousd f Tauma van ARDG ton 06 372 8097 Fernlea Dr D le K Abbott Master 19 e Hume Raglan s Fernva ton Murval a 06 867 2700 B&D Genetic C Brears Master e 97 8951 Croker Focus s Waiteik 06 874 8768 G&B 06 354 9738 C Swann Gisborn ank William s Gleniti w Brookb anui 06 862 6513 ston Nth 06 328 G&L 67 Hasting e 9760 Palmer Hain atu Glenvie Waipap 06 327 6334 g S&G 06 328 7829 ndale Manaw Gisborn h 52 Feildin s Grasse Island/ d’Ath 07 377 3871 g berg D Hildret 06 362 5772 W Genetic Marton l North Feildin Hain & L Teuten Centra 06 857 ston Nth 06 328 h R Brown Taupo a s B M & C Smith 8050 Palmer Hildret Karere g D, 06 322 8400 i Genetic R Brown Waipaw a Feildin r 2019 Hinenu Bankle nk P Lowry bie 06 376 0262 Octobe G Timms Farm Marton a Holly i Morton Sheep Roseba D McRob 06 388 5999 S&A -Wide ds Pahiatu Kiwitah Ashby Country 06 328 1801 J Rowe n/D Reynol Taihape Mahoe 323 Paki-iti g 06 T Jackso s ston 9890 Feildin Merchi ui g 06 328 C Thoma w Feildin Totaran g R Pettigre i Feildin Kakata T Clare rey Te Ohu Point Humph R Stormy eld Brookfi

Directory Breeder

BREED

“There are plenty of highlights with this property, but what stands out most is its exceptional location given its scale. You would struggle to find another 1000-plus-ha farm this close to Gisborne,” Bousfield says.

Whangara is a highly respected farming district thanks to its productive clay loam soils, warm climate and good rainfall.

Maunga-O-Rangi Station receives about 1700mm annual rainfall and has received annual fertiliser applications, including 313 tonnes of superphosphate applied in the 12 months to June this year.

Bousfield says the station is private and secure at the end of Glenroy Road which runs inland from Whangara on the main

Pacific Highway and also offers great hunting, mostly Red deer.

Its infrastructure is well maintained and includes a new set of cattle yards, six-stand woolshed and covered yards, plus three sets of satellite yards and a dry weather airstrip.

The station is well tracked for quad bikes.

Natural water sources feed dams in each paddock and a stream through the eastern to central country also provides healthy stock water. A spacious five-bedroom modernised homestead is set in established grounds at the entrance to the farm and a second, three-bedroom, home is beyond the woolshed.

Soil tests prove the property has been well fertilised and there is scope to lift production further.

Natural shelter and warm winter conditions at the station are reflected in the performance of the ewe flock which has lambed at close to 160% for the past two years. The cow herd has achieved 90%-plus calving for the past three years too.

“To the south of the farm, is steeper hill country which provides excellent shelter for breeding across a lot of the farm’s more central medium hill country,” Bousfield says.

“And, to the north of the farm, eastwest ridges also provide excellent warm and sheltered breeding country. So, it’s got strong appeal.”

• For more information, contact Simon Bousfield, 027 665 8778, or Stephen Thomson, 027 450 6531.

NOW E N I L N O BREEDER DIRECTORY 2021

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FARMING IN FOCUS

Top left: Harvey, 7 and Monty Morrison, 9, with their pet deer. Top right: Vebz and Ben Morrison with Monty and Harvey. Above left: On Moanaroa and Ware Ware stations Dan Ramsden lifted the quality of the wool, especially colour. Centre right: Pressing at Moanaroa. Above right: Moanaroa Romney.

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Top left: There are 450 cows on Kepler Farm. Top right: Drench time: Kepler farm technician Bella Taylor. Centre left: Farm manager Daniel Clayton with the pump for Mangara Farm in Marton. Centre: Essential workers on Kepler. Centre right: Kepler runs 4500 ewes. Above left: Well-made in Masterton: The vintage Donalds Sandow wool press at Mangara. Above right: Daniel Clayton whistles-up the dogs.

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