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Simple steps to zone management

SHOULD YOU be tweaking inputs as you, or your machines, traverse your paddocks?

Boosting beef without borrowing

STEPHEN AND Jane Hayes run 348 sheep and 734 cattle on their 583ha property near Kaeo, just north of the Bay of Islands. For the past three years they’ve been Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Far North monitor farm during which time they’ve lifted gross farm revenue $43,850, not to mention having better pasture covers and stock condition across the farm.

Antibiotic use in spotlight

VETS HAVE called on rural New Zealand communities to work with them to ensure antimicrobial medicines are used wisely.

Mandatory BVD controls unlikely

A COMPULSORY control programme for Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) in New Zealand is unlikely in the near future despite a growing number of nations, mostly European, adopting such measures, says the chairman of a national steering committee on the disease.

Lamb crop down 4.7%

BEEF + LAMB says the number of lambs tailed across New Zealand is down by 4.7% compared with last spring.

More accuracy in fert spreading

ELECTRONIC MASS control (EMC) on Kuhn hydraulic-drive Axis fert spreaders, and new GPS-linked technology, raises the machines’ performance at headlands and field corners, says the New Zealand distributor.

Little maintenance needed

A NEW effluent pond stirrer to be released soon will require limited maintenance and carry a two-year warranty – almost unheard of in the dairy industry, says manufacturer Plucks Engineering.

Feeding out made easier

WAIKATO FARMERS Rebecca and Len Walling are dishing out 10 tonnes of feed daily using an Irish-made Abbey VF (vertical feeder) 2850 mixer wagon, reports the supplier, Farmgard.

Be on alert for facial eczema

WHILE HOT humid weather across the country has provided the perfect conditions for lush pasture cover this spring, farmers need to stay alert for an increased risk of facial eczema through summer.

Wandering stock warning

THE NZ TRANSPORT Agency and Police are reminding rural property owners particularly in Canterbury to ensure their properties are adequately fenced to contain their livestock.