Better hoof health, better cows
The fledgling New Zealand hoof trimming industry has about between 25 to 30 active professional hoof trimmers.
Despite the potential advantages of mating hoggets nationally, only about one third of these young ewes are put to the ram each year.
However, before doing this, farmers must set out some guidelines for deciding whether to put their hoggets to the ram and how to produce any extra lambs without sacrificing a ewe’s lifetime production.
Managed correctly, hogget mating has the potential to enhance the productivity and profitability of the future ewe flock. But the opposite is also true.
Not all farmers will be able to breed from their hoggets and for those that do, it should be a flexible policy based on feed availability.
Farmers should only consider mating hoggets when:
Key Considerations
Benefits and Risks
Benefits
Risks/costs
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford is claiming “some real success” on the 12 policy priorities it placed before the Coalition Government.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.