Jeffries Front Flat is being grazed again with 350 ewes and their triplet lambs. This mob will be removed from Front flat once they had been weaned (end of November). The plans for this paddock is to have one more graze within the rotation, and then it is shut up for certified seed production. There … Read more
North Face was direct drilled on the 17th October in perfect sowing conditions. You can see in the photos below the slight dust coming off the back of the drill indicates that the soil tilth is perfect for maintaining seed to soil contact through the use of the chain harrows behind the drill. Maintaining good … Read more
I visited the Tempello site (Bottom Tomlinsons) again on the 24th October. David and Jo had just put some trading cattle on the block to graze. They were hoping to be able to shut this block up and allow it to set seed, and replenish the sub clover seedbank. This was the plan early on … Read more
Warwick and Lisa Lissaman’s farm (Breach Oak) is located just out of Seddon, Marlborough. Warwick has chosen two annual clover species: Gland and Balansa for us to focus on within our blogs. We will discuss the various management issues and techniques he uses to maximise production from his hill country using these two legumes, both … Read more
The Pyramid is owned by Chris and Julia Dawkin’s, who have kindly agreed to let us visit their property on a regular basis to report on their management of Arrowleaf clover mixed species dryland pastures. The Pyramid is a 415 ha dryland farm in the Waihopai Valley, Marlborough, and is situated at the confluence of … Read more
Fraser and Doug have got the cull ewes and their lambs grazing on Glen Erin at the moment, plus a handful of Friesian bulls. The paddock is currently split into two with an electrified break-fence. The Avery’s are developing their stock water system to increase trough numbers, so that they can subdivide paddocks by break … Read more
The journey to a new paddock of Bonavaree mix (Prairie Grass, Lucerne, Plantain) is well under way now. We visited the North Face paddock again last week, and it was looking vastly different to last time, see photos below. From this to this Plans for this paddock from our last visit went according to schedule … Read more
Jeffries Front Flat has been spelled from the grazing rotation for 40 days to enable the Avery’s to apply a weed spray, and re-grow before the next grazing. The paddock was grazed down to an approximate height of 2 cm before applying the chemical. Because this was a late spray the stand was not grazed … Read more
This field day is another Beef + Lamb issues based Field day for Canterbury. I have been to the Marlborough based days, and they are truely worth attending. The theme for this field day is highly topical for dryland farmers: Profitable Lucerne and Lamb production. Derrick Moot (Lincoln University) and Tom Fraser (AgResearch) will be available … Read more
David and Jo Grigg own Tempello Farm which is situated in the Brancott Valley, Marlborough. Tempello is 4,800 ha (2,600 ha effective) and lies between the Awatere and Wairau Valleys. Tempello could be characterised as a “warm” farm with a late-August start to spring pasture growth, and often growth through winter. The pasture growth curve … Read more