Farming Diary for March

March smells of Autumn, so some very serious planning needs to be done.

Pastures

• After a long dry summer, many pastures will have to be resown. Pasture renewal is expensive, so get some good advice to find the most cost effective options.
• One thing is for sure - when the ground gets really wet again, weed seeds for the last 40 years will start to germinate. Make sure you can identify weeds in their early growth stages and know what's worth doing at this stage.
• It could be months before dried-out and dead pastures become productive again, and we will move from a brown drought to a green one. Feeding supplements will be essential - provided you have any.
• One big lesson from a dry summer is that everyone needs to have extra supplements on hand for emergencies, and hay keeps longer than wrapped silage bales.

Sheep

• North Island rams should be all at work. Make sure they are fit and not fat and keep an eye on them to make sure they're doing the job properly.  Watch especially for lameness.
• Fitting a harness on the ram will show which ewes have been mated and have not returned.  If using more than one ram at a time, change them over after the first cycle (17 days).  A cycle may vary from 14 -21 days.
• If using multiple-sire groups, make sure the rams don't spend all their time fighting, or if one dominant ram doesn't stop the others working. Rams can also be racists so any ewes of different breeds will be left to the last.
• Don't dip ewes or rams for a month before mating and for 6 weeks after mating, as there have been cases of poor embryo survival, which may have been the dip chemicals.
• Lambs/hoggets are a concern. Any surplus should be sold (with little prospect of profit) but at least it leaves feed for your flock replacements.
• If hoggets start to scour, don't drench before you've checked with your vet about the cause and the correct product to use. Don't drench any mature ewes.
• Facial eczema will still be a risk so maintain prevention right into May.  Watch for ryegrass staggers too.  Cull all sheep that have been consistently daggy through the season and with chronic footrot.

Cattle

• Cows will have lost a lot of condition during the drought so try to get some weight back on them. This will mean feeding supplements of some sort.
• It takes 280kg of Dry Matter to replace one condition score - and this is feed needed about its daily maintenance requirement.  So that's a lot of feed needed each day and if you don't have it on the farm, you will have to face the cost of providing it. Getting condition back on a cow can take a much longer than you think.
• Dairy weaner stock should be growing steadily at a minimum of 0.5kg /day but this may not be achievable if feed is short.
• If calves are scouring, don't dive in and drench them without checking with your vet as to the cause and the best treatment. It may not be worms.
• Keep up Facial Eczema precautions - and don't be talked into stopping because spore counts may be dropping.  They can rise quickly at any time and watch for ryegrass staggers in cattle (and horses).
• If you send any cull cows to the works, arrange through your vet to have liver samples taken to check for mineral and trace element status.
• Pregnancy test any cows you are not sure of their status - you can't afford to keep empty ones.

Management

• Get a soil test done this month to see what fertiliser is needed to kick-start autumn and winter growth. Be wary of products on the market where there are little data, or where you cannot find out farmers who have used the product and what their experience has been.
• Avoid spreading fertiliser (especially Nitrogen) near drains, creeks or wetlands.
• Keep checking the water supply for leaks.
• Do a feed budget to see how you are placed for winter feed and if you need to get rid of some stock.  If you are not sure how to do this, then get some help.
• Check financial budgets and cash flows and pay accounts monthly.
• If 31 March is balance date - lodge books with accountant by 1 May.
• Use our website for information and benefit from the mass of experience we have access too.