Refining management on light land farm

Press, 11 July 1980, Page 15

Refining management on light land farm

The accompanying item has been written by Paul Clark, a farm advisory officer with the Ministry of Agriculture at Lincoln? It is the latest in the series on aspects of animal production that have been appearing on these pages periodically throughout this year.

“Aly aim is to use my grass better and manage my 7; stock for the highest production,” says Mr Alex Dun- *- lop, of Burnham.

Regular weighing of his *sheep and pasture assesss,rnent, combined with a Change to an all-grass grazing system ..have given him tighter -Control of his farming sys**tem than ever before. •-* Alex farms 97ha near running almost -1700 ewes, 470 ewe hoggets ••and 132 rams. The flock 2'includes a Coopworth stud •Ttif 250 ewes. With lambing ‘‘-at around 155 per cent, wool weights of -.4.5 kg per ewe and all ’-lambs being sold as production is al--.Leady fairly high. X' The light Lismore and Xpyre soils on the farm ■-mean that the summer is Xjhe period when feed becomes critical. Some 28 ha *’is irrigated with a centre irrigator which ■fallows more stock to be '•carried over this period. paddocks of CjVlatua prairie grass are '-also incorporated into the as Alex feels this •►jshows great potential as a '-high yielding pasture. “It 'continues to grow vigorously whereas the rye- ■ grass packs up as soon as .it turns reproductive. I inMend to establish even ?more in the irrigated area -Ito further lift my summer --carrying capacity,” he > Good growing conditions last summer and -..autumn meant the farm ■‘Went into the winter with ya large bulk of feed. This -'made it possible to flush .’-the ewes well with bodyH'weights being lifted from X. 57 to 6'4 kg before and -during tupping. It also, •.’however, provided ideal ivconditions for the porina. '■‘which has been a serious

problem in the area. “My winter stocking rate this year is 12.6 stock units per ha and three porinas per square foot,” is how Alex expresses his concern about this problem. Paddocks that he sprayed for porina back in April are dramatically better now in quality and productivity. Once the rams were

withdrawn he began a big pasture clean-up programme aiming to bare paddocks off rapidly with high intensity stocking. To facilitate this Alex was prepared for the ewes to lose weight over this period. By estimating the dry matter present he calculated the number of days feed in each paddock to feed the ewes at maintenance or just below. With stocking intensities of 2500 ewes per ha (1000 per acre) for 24 hours, the pastures were bared right down to ground level. No hay’ is being fed at all this winter. With the limited number of ewes available this winter. Alex has had to organise intensive subdivision to achieve the stock densities required for the job, by using grass fencing and Flexinet.. Alex states: “I have

few problems with breakouts or sheep not adjusting to the system, but it is important to backfence to keep ewes off areas of regrowth. The secret of good stock control is to keep those fences live at all times, otherwise you are inviting trouble.”

“The ewes have done a tremendous job baring off the rank pasture and in doing so lost only 4 to skg in live weight over about eight weeks. My aim now is to give them a boost before lambing, which is in early September, by feeding them I.2kg dry’ matter per day and even more as the lambing date approaches.” The hoggets have been on their own separate rotation being fed at levels calculated to give them a slowly’ increasing liveweight through the winter. To achieve this they have to be given larger breaks and are expected to eat less of what is available than the ewes. This practice at an early age also serves to train them to electric fencing as well as the stock densities required to make this system work.

With the large amount of feed available in the past autumn and winter, Alex has realised that even though growing hoggets at this time of year can be difficult, it is better i’or this feed to be utilised than wasted. Thus his hoggets should require less growing over next summer to reach adequate two-tooth mating weights. This in turn will serve to relieve some of the pres-, sure on his summer feed supply.

“The feed planning we have been doing enables me to identify feed surpluses or shortages well in advance and plan my’ stock feeding to best suit each situation. This,, along with weighing of the stock, gives me an indication of what the exact situation is; not the rough idea I have had to put up with in the past.” Alex states that other advantages are:— “I know exactly what weight the sheep are. Before it was just a guess, which I don’t think is good enough these days. “1 can match more closely what is actually fed to the sheep with what they' require at various times of the year. This, however, is onlypossible with intensive subdivision and daily shifting. “My pastures are improving and with the 'on/off’ treatment are growing a lot more Tin they used to. With this, more prairie grass, and the better control and efficiency which comes with the system, 1 will be able to carry more sheep and rr > a more profitable operation.

“The scales enable me to see whether I am feeding the right amount to the sheep and are in fact mv most valuable tool.

“I am far happier with this system and the peace of mind it brings. In the past I have had t> fly by the seat of my pants.” Alex is one of several farmers working in close co-operation with Ministryfarm advisers. The farms are monitored closely with the aim of developing local example; of improved management systems. Advisers are very grateful to all farmers who assist so willingly' with these types of projects.