Jeffries Front Flat – the results of harvest and use for lambing feed?

The countdown to lambing is on at Bonavaree when I visited in late May. Doug and Fraser have had a really successful year with Jeffries Front Flat, and it is still looking like a productive paddock that is geared to produce well again this spring. Seed Harvest The lucerne seed harvest from this paddock was … Read more

Glen Erin House Paddock – Bonavaree Mix

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

Bonavaree – Lambing onto Lucerne (Jeffries Front Flat)

Lambing in Jeffries Front Flat has now finished. It is certainly not a normal season at Bonavaree. Having had the total annual rainfall in only 8 months (200 mm since lambing started) has delayed a few things. The lightly set stocked ewes on this paddock, and many others, would usually be mobbed up into larger mobs … Read more

Bonavaree – Lambing onto Mixed Species Paddocks (Glen Erin House Paddock)

This season has been incredibly wet at Bonavaree, the total average rainfall has been reached already, and there are still 4 months to go! The ewes and lambs have shown remarkable resilience to this wet, with very high lamb survival rates, even when the weather was at its worse. The ewes have lambed in very … Read more

Bonavaree – Lambing onto Omaka Barley (North Face)

Omaka Barley is a great crop to use at Bonavaree. Barley is used here because it really fits in well with the Avery’s system. The Omaka variety has been bred locally, and is very suitable for reliable dry matter production in a Marlborough dryland environment. It is a multipurpose crop at Bonavaree, in that it … Read more

Bonavaree – Lambing onto Lucerne (Jeffries Front Flat)

This paddock of Torlesse is currently grazed by twin lambing ewes. Lucerne/Prairie Grass/Plantain, and Annual Ryegrass paddocks are also used for multiple bearing ewes to provide maximum nutrition in late pregnancy and lambing. Single bearing ewes are not grazed on lucerne, as this is better utilised for multiple lamb production.  Fraser uses lucerne paddocks to … Read more