Lamb preferred Christmas Day meat!
Lamb has claimed victory as the preferred Christmas Day meat of choice, according to a new survey.
Now is the time for sheep farmers to start warning their Christmas visitors that dogs need to be dosed for sheep measles or be left behind says Dan Lynch, project manager of Ovis Management Ltd.
The Christmas holidays are a period when throughout the country many farms play host to visitors or family members, many with dogs.
Unless farmers know the sheep measles treatment status of the dogs an unpleasant surprise might be waiting for them in a few months when lambs going to processing show up with infection.
Lynch says that while the national prevalence for the past season remained low at 0.66% in line with the previous season, significant infection levels among lambs from a small number of suppliers has resulted in meat inspection staff condemning stock at processing.
One line of lambs had 155 infected with eight condemned while another line had 120 infected and 16 condemned.
While many farms are dosing dogs monthly and farms are tightening their on-farm biosecurity, maintaining downward pressure on this parasite, the influx of external dogs over the holiday period is a significant risk, which must be addressed before dogs arrive on farm, says Lynch.
“Sheep measles’ eggs spread in the wind and can survive 4-6 months on pasture so ask about dogs being treated now,” stresses Lynch.
Reducing the risk
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.
Rural trader PGG Wrightson has revised its operating earnings guidance, saying trading conditions have deteriorated since the last market update in February.
It's been a bumper season for maize and other supplements in the eastern Bay of Plenty.