Focus on feeding – vet

He told Rural News that if farmers can feed and keep ewes and cows in good condition the battle is essentially won and all else is peripheral. 

Some people will have problems with bearings and he’s seen a bit of milk fever, due to changing the nature of the feed, whether from new to old grass paddocks or from plantain back to grass, but he says most farmers are aware of that issue now.

“Some issues that need to be addressed relate to multiple lambing ewes. Especially among the younger ewes, internal parasites may require attention so farmers need to get some idea of the worm challenge in the ewes and get the requirements for pre-lamb treatments.” 

Farmers should make sure there aren’t any underlying things like liver fluke that can be a winter problem and may follow through to the spring. They should also be monitoring trace elements to ensure these are under control.

“The trace elements and the liver fluke apply to the cows too. The one difference for cows in hill country is that magnesium can be an issue, possibly grass staggers and possibly milk fever in cows – especially if they are calving early in hill country.” 

In the lower North Island, the impact of a cold winter is starting to show, though Walshe says stock are in reasonable order. This year a string of frosts and a lot of rain have left pastures sodden.

“So we are going to get pretty average pasture growth for the next few weeks, putting a bit of pressure on the lambing properties that are highly stocked; so putting nitrogen on is probably going to be a valid option. But farmers can’t put this on until the soil temperatures come up. 

“If farmers in the hill country are short of feed now and are stocked at, say, 10 SU’s/ha, the feed shortage is not going to go away until well into October-November. The feed budgets are indicating that things are marginal so putting nitrogen on where you have a high performing ewe flock would seem to make sense.” 

Walshe says with good prices being fetched for cattle, beef farmers should consider selling some stock if they are pinched for feed, rather than penalising other stock by underfeeding them. This may be a bit more difficult for sheep farmers, with the in-lamb ewes not making a fortune.

“But getting rid of some might be an option and farmers shouldn’t be worried about getting rid of some ewes, even if the price is not the best. It still might be the best option for some.” 

Another option may be to try to get off-farm grazing for dry hoggets during September-October, to allow a little more space for lambing. Farmers should have good understanding of the feed requirements of their stock, how much feed they have available and how this compares with previous years.