Setting up for next season
As the season draws to an end for spring calving systems, increased attention and planning should be focused on next season.
Maize silage has long been critical to livestock farmers' conservation choice for winter feed, so it's no surprise to see harvester manufacturers looking at new ways to make the crop more productive.
In the early days the crop needed to be cut extremely short to ensure all the kernels were cracked and digestible, then the corn cracker systems of the late 1980s allowed an increase in crop length, while achieving the same result.
A silver medal will go to Claas at Agritechnica in Germany in mid November for its recently launched MCC Max maize silage conditioning system for its Jaguar range of self-propelled forage harvesters.
Using a pair of rollers with a saw tooth profile and 30 angular segments, the system combines friction, cutting and shearing to intensively condition the grains and release the maximum amount of digestible starches (which increase energy levels), as well as shredding the stalk material at chop lengths up to 22mm.
This can increase feed value, and there advantages in the ensiling process, not least by achieving better levels of consolidation at longer chop lengths.
Surplus maize silage could find buyers in the burgeoning AD gas production industry from a common silage clamp.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.
OPINION: European farmers are going to extreme lengths to have their message heard.
OPINION: The hustle and bustle of one of Bangkok's most popular fast food outlets may feel a world away from…