A Few Ideas on Seasonal Farm Management

A Few Ideas on Seasonal Farm Management

Stocking rates and management practices can and do indeed differ greatly from country to country and from farm to farm. 

Photo credit – Karen Zasloff

Altitude, northern and southern terrains, contours and exposure, all contribute greatly to the climate variations over the country and your farm in particular. What your neighbour does on their farm may not always work as well on your farm.

So as much as people can supply you with ideas and tell you what they do, you need to experiment a little to see what works best for you, your location and situation.

Always keep accurate records to help you to not repeat the failures but to learn from them, as well as seeing your successes and expanding on those.

When raising livestock, you are continually preparing for the future and for the seasons ahead. This includes feed, animal fertility and animal health.

Autumn 

Photo Credit – Bryan Garnett

Ensure that all your livestock are in excellent condition. If your stock are not in absolute tip top condition prior to the beginning of Autumn, then you need to boost your feeding program so as  to ensure that your stock are in the very best condition that they can be in before winter arrives. Their fat reserves at this time of the year will ensue that your stock remains as healthy as possible and in the best possible condition throughout the winter months.

If you are carrying surplus stock numbers, extra to your needs or what your farm can comfortably carry, then reduce these numbers by selling any surplus stock that you have. 

You are going to need a good reserve of grass as winter approaches and grass growth slows right down or stops altogether. The more standing grass that you have then the less your winter feed bills will be.

Slow down your pasture rotation schedules and make sure that you have more than enough hay or silage stored on hand to deal with your winter feed needs and any unforeseen weather issues like extended frosts, flooding, unexpected snow falls etc.

Bloat can be a problem at this time of the year, especially in the warmer climates where an autumn growth flush (similar to the growth flush in spring) is prominent. Mating of goats and sheep occurs in the autumn months in readiness for spring birthing.

Early autumn is a good time in warmer climates, to top sow your pastures or sow new pastures before the cooler weather arrives.

Winter 

Photo credit – Ian Britton

Ground temperatures cool dramatically at this time of the year and are more often than not, are not at all compatible with grass growth. Shorter hours of daylight, coupled with severe drops in temperatures slow down your pasture growth and therefore you need to slow down your pasture rotations and feed out either silage or hay.

Sheep should be crutched in preparation for lambing at this time when other farm chores are reduced. This entails removing the wool from around the sheep’s anus out to the back legs. This procedure also greatly reduces the incidence of fly strike in all sheep so don’t forget to crutch the wethers, hoggets and rams also.

Drench your ewes prior to lambing so as to ensure that they are worm free before the taxing process of lambing begins. This will help to ensure that your ewes are strong enough to go through the lambing process and will ensure stronger and healthier lambs also.  

Treat all your cows for lice prior to calving.

Work hard to get all your other farming jobs done before the onset of spring and before calving, lambing and kidding starts because you will be far too busy when this begins.

Ensure that your building and equipment maintenance has been completed.

Make sure that all your supplementary feeding equipment is spotlessly clean and fully functional in preparation for orphan feeding or cafeteria feeding with calves etc. Have all your milking equipment serviced and cleaned to ensure that it is in tip top condition and ready for use.

Spring

Photo credit - Dan

There is an increase in the number of hours of daylight now in spring, and the air and ground temperatures are warming up quite rapidly. Your farms are coming to life in many wonderful ways. There will be a great increase in your grass growth now.  Depending on your location and farm management practices, calving, kidding and lambing will also begin.

Sow new pastures with a good pasture mix including a few beneficial herbs such as clover, dandelion and chicory.

As the ground temperatures warm up and the spring rains irrigate the land, grass growth accelerates. Bloat can be a real problem so strip graze where ever possible or restrict access to rich new grass growth to help prevent bloat occurring. Continue to feed out hay as it contains vitamin D which has benefits for pre-birthing for cattle, goats and sheep.

NOTE: Calving cows should NOT be eating large amounts of lush grass for 3 weeks prior to them calving. This is where strip grazing is most beneficial ad should be implemented and monitored closely.

Cattle:

Separate mothers and their calves from the pre-calving cows. It is very important to give post calving cows plenty of feed to eat so as to promote better lactation. Just when that lush grass appears so can bloat so be watchful and again utilise strip grazing practices, as spring progresses.

Rejuvenate your pastures by the addition of lime to sweeten the pasture if you think it is necessary.

Consider applying some fertiliser to your pastures once they have been grazed. Cattle mating will be coming up soon after calving so be sure they're in the best possible condition which helps them to cycle. Record the cows that are” bulling” and have then introduced to the bull or have then Artificially Inseminated within the next 4 days to ensure the best pregnancy rates. Cows are only in heat for 4 days, so your timing is vital or you will need to wait another month before mating can occur again. A cow’s average gestation period is 282 days or 9 months, just like a human.

Mid-late spring onwards:

Dock lambs later on in spring but prior to weaning.

Excess pre-seeding grass is ready to be made into silage or bailage. If your grass has already gone to seed, then just reserve it for hay.

Consider applying an annual fertiliser.

Make sure that all your livestock are fed well. As the calves grow their demand for more milk increases and this means that more feed must be available to the lactating mothers. All stock, need to increase their body weight prior to the heat of summer arriving. In places that experience high climatic heat, feed becomes short in supply and the animals begin to use their fat reserves. It is important that this does not happen as the animals will drop too much weight coming into the colder months again. You are also going to be looking for optimum weight gains for any stock that you are wanting to sell, remembering that the greater the animals weight is, then the greater the price you will get for your stock.

Now is the time of year also to shear your alpacas, llamas and sheep etc. before the heat of summer comes. Prepare to sell what you do not require for your own needs.

Consider Artificial Breeding (A.I.) or make use of your bulls, bucks and rams. If pasture contains a lot of 'dead plant material' consider topping (mowing) so as to encourage better grass growth.

Summer 

Photo credit – Christine Barraclough

It is time to drench your weaned calves, kids and lambs now and put them onto good pasture if at all possible. If not then supplement feed with the best quality hay or silage that you have. Immediately after weaning their body weight will drop as they are not getting the same nourishment as they would be if they were still on their mothers. Ensuring that they have ample good quality feed will ensure that they do not decline in condition prior to summer.

Hot weather and long days in some areas will promote very good grass growth. Breed any of your sheep or goats that you want to have autumn kids or lambs for. This practice must only be used where feed and weather conditions will be suitable so hence only in the warmer climates. This is a good opportunity to get in an extra few stock and especially if they missed out on the spring lambing and kidding.  It is also a good way to help replace lost calves, kids or lambs if you are in the process of building up your herds. Extra care will be required if you are in a colder climate though and will cause extra work at a time of the year when maintenance becomes the priority. Look at your own situation carefully before embarking on an autumn breeding program.

Early summer:

All calves 3 months of age should now be weaned, as is the case with kids and lambs also.

Summer is the time to make your hay while the weather is fine and get it stored away properly before any rains come into contact with it. Wet hay will mould causing severe illness to your animals and will even cause death. Wet or damp hay can also spontaneously combust as it heats up in the summer heat, causing fire. Many a farmer has lost their entire winter feed stores of hay in this way as well as their barns, so please do ensure that you never store damp of wet hay. It has also been known for hay to catch fire this same way while being transported so it really is vital that all care is taken.

Drench your stock if necessary and make sure that you drench and quarantine any new stock that you have purchased for no less than 35 days. Most worms have a 30 day cycle so by quarantining them for this period, you will ensure that any worms that they may have had will be long dead and not able to infest your other stock. This is vital if you are requiring to keep your drenching costs to a minimum.

Late summer:

Make a note of any cases of bloating, foot rot or facial eczema etc. Identify the animals tag number, number of occurrences and severity for each case. Some animals are more susceptible to these ailments than others and keeping records will ensure that you can easily identify those animals that need to be culled from your herds. This is most important with such ailments as eczema and foot rot etc. Bloat is caused more by the consumption of too rich grass pastures and is not generally hereditary, but rather through gluttony by the animal and very easily managed by simply reducing pasture availability.

Clean out all cafeteria equipment and store for next year.

Late summer through early autumn is a good time to plant forage crops such as Chou Moellier: Turnips: and Swedes etc. for winter feed. These crops provide for a far better nutritional value for your stock, and require no harvesting, processing or storing.

Chou Moellier:

CHOU MOELLIER – 1929 Article

I came across this very old newspaper article while I was researching an old fodder crop that we used to grow back in New Zealand a few decades ago. There may still be a few errors as the photocopy was not at all very clear and many words were just totally unrecognisable or totally whited out. But all in all I think that most will be able to get the gist of what was intended for the reader back in 1929.

Giving an indication of the plants height.

Published in The Advocate, Tasmania on Saturday, March 2, 1929

A Desirable Fodder.

Farmers who make a practice of growing rape speak highly of its qualities, especially for sheep. It is contended by some, that Chou Moellier, another member of the Brassica family, gives ever better results. Mention was recently made of the success which had been made of Chou Moellier cultivation by a Deloraine experimenter, Mr. A. G. Warneke.

A paddock was owned by Mr. Warneke some two years ago, and the crop allowed to seed, with excellent results. The wonderful growth shown by the Chou Moellier - in appearance a gigantic cabbage - has attracted much attention, and farmers are deciding in numerous cases to give the plant a trial. It might be mentioned that the seed should be sown this month at latest for autumn, though it may also be sown in the spring time.

Mr. Warneke supplies some information regarding Chou Moellier which will be read by those interested in what is certainly a remarkable fodder.

Sow about 2 lbs. per acre in drills 28 inches apart on land well prepared and worked down in a turnip paddock. Thin out plants to about 12 inches apart in the rows, when about six or eight inches high. Start feeding off lightly with sheep and lambs when the crop is about three feet high. Then shut up the paddock for a few weeks for the second crop of leaves to grow. After that Chou Moellier will stand any amount of hard feeding by any sort of stock, yielding an amount of fodder which might be described as enormous over a 12 months' period, say from August to August. Later it is desirable to feed the crop ''own hard, stalks and all, as they get tough and run to seed in the second year.

Chou Moellier is slower to grow than kale, but it grows to a greater height, and is frost resistant, as well as blight-proof, and gives more successive crops of leaves, while the marrow stems are relished by pigs and cows. Mr. Warneke finds that the plant responds to nitrogen, and so advised farmers to SOW with the seed half a bag of sulphate of ammonia, per acre, with an equal quantity of super. The seed needed is not more than 2 lb. per acre, and the preferable plan is to mix the seed needed for an acre with a kerosene tin full of dry earth, and then place in the drill, blocking up three out of four of the seed cups. The manure should be freely sown in the ordinary way, through all the spouts of the drill. "

Swedes:

Southland (NZ) Swedes Photo credit – Alister Anderson

Photo Credit - thiavisa

Or Rutabagas, as known by the Americans, provide an excellent dual crop – once the stock have eaten the tops off the plants, then the swedes can be harvested. 

Swedes pulled ready for cleaning with just a touch of frost on them which will enhance the flavour. Photo Credit – Swede “Tweed”

Once harvested and trimmed of any excess top stalk or leaves, they can be sold as an additional winter cash crop. 

Photo credit – Sutton Community Farm

This added income opportunity comes at a time of the year when nothing much else is available. 

Photo Credit – Internet Archive Book Image

It is a crop that does prefer colder weather, and for the best flavour in the swede for human consumption, it does require a frost or two prior to harvesting.

© KB Barnes