The interest in the self-shedding Wiltshire sheep has prompted Massey University to run a special field day at their Riverside farm near Masterton on 1 June.
New animal welfare regulations come into effect on 9 May. These will affect many common procedures carried out on farms, such as tall docking and treatment of bearings.
Bioeconomic modelling, published by Massey University PhD student Lydia Farrell in 2020 and more recent work by the team, has shown that adding hogget breeding to a North Island hill country property would increase cash operating surplus.
Rubber matting for cow comfort is well established in the northern hemisphere, where dairy herds can be housed for up to 180 days during the winter.
Facial Eczema (FE) is caused by spores of a fungus growing on the litter in the base of the sward.
Sheep farmers adopting fodder beet for winter grazing are being warned that it could result in serious under-nutrition in multiple-bearing ewes.
Ewes that gain condition before and after mating have higher lambing percentages than ewes that simply stand still.
Live animals trapped in a truck for six hours in Auckland's summer heat is not acceptable in anyone's view.
Sheep farmers in many parts of the country have the next few weeks to lift the condition of their lighter ewes before the ram goes out.
MPI is doing a double check of farms that have been infected with M.bovis in the past.
Farmers discovered that there are many ways to protect and enhance mahinga kai and biodiversity values while visiting Waimak Farm in Eyreton recently.
The average sheep farmer is in their late 50s and the labour-intensive task of drenching lambs becomes more physically demanding with each passing year.
Ministry for Primary Industries director general Ray Smith says his organisation absolutely supports a review into the handling of the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak.
New research has shown that dry stock farmers are just as likely to be infected with leptospirosis as dairy farmers.
The demand for Wiltshire sheep is “incredible and unbelievable”, according to the country’s major breeder of the sheep that sheds its wool.
MPI says a significant amount of work is under way this year to update animal welfare codes and provide updated advice to farmers for issues such as heat stress.
While most rams have yet to go out, farmers are being encouraged to book their sheep scanners in early.
Hawke's Bay dairy farmer Rose Galloway rejects any suggestion that mastitis in cows isn't contagious. A trained nurse, Galloway and her family milk 550 cows near Norsewood and says mastitis is caused by pathogens entering the cow's udder through the teat canal and can pass onto other cows. She explains:
Facial eczema (FE) spore counts in some parts of the country are particularly high for this time of year and Beef + Lamb New Zealand is urging farmers to be extra vigilant.
Early weaning of lambs can be a valuable management tool that can advantage both ewes and lambs.
Warm wet weather in many areas of the country creates the perfect conditions for the production-limiting diseases flystrike and facial eczema (FE).
Scabby mouth is common and the infection rate in some sheep flocks can be as high as 90%.
A promising new test for Johne’s disease in dairy cattle has been developed at the Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) and School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast.
Sheep farmers should be investing in proven, worm resistant genetics this breeding season to future proof their businesses’ bottom lines.
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