Thanks to the availability of facial eczema (FE)-tolerant rams, BJ and Annabel Holdsworth rarely see the effects of this debilitating disease.
BJ (Bernard) remembers how it once was when he had to drench all their sheep in autumn with zinc oxide strained through women’s stockings.
A huge amount of wastage was normal in their ewe flock, particularly when it was under pressure and the offal pit was often full following a warm, wet autumn. Sheep performance was poor with the flock struggling to average 100% lambing.
Now, 15 years after introducing FE-tolerant rams the Holdsworths are regularly docking 138% without having to concern themselves with the disease.
“The percentage could be better. However, the dry summers over the last five years have prevented us from putting the required condition on our ewes but at least we’re still in business,” BJ says.
BJ, his wife Annabel and their two children Georgia and Luke farm Waikohu Station, a 1797ha (1644ha effective) sheep and cattle breeding and finishing farm 45km northwest of Gisborne.
The Holdsworths’ sheep flock once struggled to make 100% lambing but is now regularly achieving about 140%.
