AginED
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FOR E FUTURIA G R R S! U E N E R P
Volume 70 I August 23rd, 2021 I email: agined@globalHQ.co.nz I www.farmersweekly.co.nz/agined MASSEY UNIVERSITY’S TOP TIPS FOR LAMBING SUCCESS
HI AginED READERS!
STRETCH YOURSELF: 1 According to these tips, what is the ideal stocking rate for ewes? 2 They talk about the ideal kg amount of dry matter per hectare, what do they mean by this?
Have a go: 1
Go to https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/ about-massey/news/article.cfm?mnarticle _ uuid=AAD8B30E-0475-D943-5B1A-CB6C78176F10 Watch the video “Top tips for lambing success” from Massey University and read the accompanying article.
3 Reference is made to light ewes having a body score of 2.5 or lower. What is a body score? Can you find a sheep condition body score chart and work out the body score of a medium-good ewe and a very good ewe? 4 Their research has shown that grazing ewes on a herb mix has multifaceted benefits, what are these? What is in the herb mix that they refer to? 5 What could happen to ewes which have been lambed down on herb mix, if they are suddenly changed to other forage? What causes this problem?
2 When does lambing season usually start in NZ?
My name is Harriet Bremner; I am an author, speaker, farmer, ex-primary teacher and advocate for health, safety and wellbeing in agriculture. I have been on a journey of grief, trauma, finding my grit and why, changing my career and following my dreams for the last 4.5 years.
This graph shows the average prices at the recent Feilding and Marton Hogget Fair.
Have a go:
Through this I have great pleasure in helping others based on my own personal experiences. In this space in the AginED page, I am aiming to give our teenagers quick tips on a wide raft of topics from how to identify stress and manage it, how to talk about grief, suicide and trauma, working with anxiety and how to always put yourself first, just to name a few. When I grew up we still wrote letters and didn’t see people for 6 weeks over the summer holidays, there was no social anxiety attached to this as none of us knew what each other were doing. Now, things have changed in the world we live in. Every second of every day we are influenced by our devices and what we are seeing on them. We are exposed to all things, good and bad and can be made to feel like we aren’t achieving or that we should constantly overachieve. It can seem as though we are missing out or not good enough and the list goes on - as do the repercussions that come with feeling like this as it builds over time.
1 What does the term ‘hogget’ mean? 2 How do 2021 values for both male and ewe hoggets compare to 2011? 3 How do values compare to the previous year? 4 In what year were the average values at their lowest on this graph?
2 What is the percentage difference between the average male hogget in 2021 and 2015?
So join me in talking about the ‘tough stuff’ and learning how to follow that gut feeling while finding your own ‘why’ in life. Life is full of wonderful and also really tough times but we must remember that we all have our own path to walk in life and the only person who can find it is you.
3 Why do you think the average male hogget is worth more than the ewes? (Think about how each sex matures)
‘Without speaking out there is no voice. With no voice there is no hope.”
4 In previous weeks we have looked at how strong lamb farmgate values are. Do you think this has impacted the market at this year’s hogget fair? Why or why not?
See you next time.
STRETCH YOURSELF: 1 What are some factors that caused values to dip last year?
Herbicide resistance in weeds has always been seen as something that will likely occur in the future. However, it appears to have already become a reality. AgResearch scientist Dr Trevor James stated that the instance of resistance was more than 10 times greater than had been estimated. It was estimated that around 5% of properties would have weed resistance but their survey found that 54 out of 87 properties had herbicide resistance in weeds. Researchers are exploring methods and alternatives that may help to rectify the problems weed resistance poses. To read the full article head to: https://farmersweekly.co.nz/section/agribusiness/view/herbicide-resistance-surging
Harriet
FILL YA BOOTS: Pick another country that farms sheep such as Australia or the UK. How do farming practices differ between countries? Are there any similarities?