News

Good management of the ewe flock leading into tupping has significant impacts on next season’s weaning, with potentially an increased number of lambs weaned and heavier weights. The cost of feeding an ewe is fairly constant, but what is often overlooked is the lost production from those ewes with...

Water is a crucial nutrient. It makes up approximately 87 to 88 percent of milk on a volume basis. But how often do we pay care to the quality and quantity of water available to livestock? Water helps animals cool body temperature through saliva, sweat and breathing. Without the cooling effects of...

In New Zealand, our pastoral/cropping soils are usually slightly acidic. Over time, soils become more acidic due to a variety of factors including plant uptake of essential nutrients, leaching, decomposition of organic matter by microbes and the application of certain fertilisers such as elemental...

Forage brassicas form the cornerstone of forage cropping in New Zealand, because they are fast to establish and relatively cheap to grow. The ability to grow a fast establishing abundant feed, high in protein, energy and digestibility for livestock, as well as, in many situations, forming a useful...

Fly struck ewes are unlikely to get in lamb, while other losses come from reduced growth rates and deaths. While effective prevention and treatment of flystrike involves many factors, the cornerstone of any flystrike prevention programme remains the use of effective chemicals. Elanco have developed...

Fruitfed Supplies has made an academic scholarship available to one third year Massey University student studying horticulture. The Fruitfed Supplies Horticultural Scholarship, worth $5,000 to the selected applicant, is intended to help promote excellence in horticulture by supporting future leaders...

Peter Moore joins Mark Leishman on Country TV for the first Livestock Roundup of the year. Drought With temperatures soaring around the country, drought is on the mind of farmers. A lot of stock is being traded where farmers are starting to destock with a longer dry spell potentially on the horizon...

Sheep & Beef Shane Gerken - South Island Livestock Manager As the new year starts, the main focus for the next 6 weeks is store lamb sales, as there is a number of lamb sales calendared throughout the South Island. Over the last three weeks schedule pricing for lambs and mutton have fallen due to...

This season’s ram sales have been particularly positive, with breeders breaking records throughout the country. PGG Wrightson Livestock National Genetics Manager Callum Stewart says the ram sales to date have lifted prices by around ten per cent, with some sales resulting in prices increasing...

The farming industry is uniting to help Shaun Bradley and his family through one of their biggest challenges. Bradley, 28, is a Tapanui farm manager battling cancer. He has stage four B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. West Otago communities have rallied around Bradley, his wife Olivia and their...

Returns at record levels despite lack of rain. The effects of drying feed became clear during November and December at Stortford Lodge. However, the first ewe fair of the season on December 13 was a strong indication of the present confidence in the sheep industry. The big yarding of more than 8000...

Mild winters can result in higher insect pressure in spring and if these conditions turn into a hot and dry summer, then Diamondback Moth (DBM) thrives. Unfortunately, this can mean damage to the leaves of valuable winter feed crops. DBM is a pest which feeds on brassica plants including forage...

When growing forage crops, there are usually weeds, pests and disease competing, consuming or destroying valuable feed. The natural ecosystem keeps pests in check and stops them becoming an economic issue. However, sometimes with favourable conditions, they increase in numbers and start having an...

The Country's Jamie Mackay wraps up this year with PGG Wrightson's South Island wool procurement manager Rob Cochrane. Cochrane brings in some good news with joint North and South Island sales of about 13,500 bales in a day. The market is going strong, lifting from 31 to 33 micron for crossbreed...

Peter Moore has a powerful incentive to put health and safety front and centre. He knows first-hand how it feels to knock on a family’s door to let them know a loved one won’t be coming home again – that they’ve been killed at work. The PGG Wrightson livestock general manger says he’ll never forget...

PGG Wrightson Livestock General Manager Peter Moore joins Mark Leishman on the daily report to discuss the 2019 year in review for the livestock market.

Monique and Kyle Smith are turkey and duck farmers who do things a bit differently to others in their industry, controlling all aspects of the supply chain from when the egg hits the ground to the packaging and selling of their product.

Sheep & Beef Shane Gerken - South Island Livestock Manager There has been a number of livestock sales going on through December as there is always the mad rush before Christmas. Farmers are busy weaning, to capture the good prices for lambs and ewes. Historically schedule prices start falling back...