Country-Wide March 2017

Wool may be a shrinking part of sheep farmers’ income but it still has to come off the animal. This makes shearers and woolhandlers still an integral part of the sheep industry and what better way to celebrate this than the recent World Shearing Championship which features in Country-Wide March. The shearing champs were an outstanding success and it was also a good time to check up on how the shearing industry’s latest training provider, Te Ako Wools, is faring. This issue also covers farm business plans, governance and succession including how Tim Mudford was called back to his family farm after the unexpected death of his father. The wet, cold weather has been a common theme among our home block columnists though British farmer Rodger Hodgkins focuses on what are likely to be major changes to farming subsidies there. The Deer Farmer focuses on South Island West Coast farm manager Gavin Cederman’s development of pasture out of swamp, rushes and gorse. In our livestock section we examine Rob Kirk’s Manawatu farm and its many operations which make it a complex business but one that keeps the bank manager happy. These and many more stories in Country-Wide March.   Home block: New house, pity about the rain After 29 weeks living in a caravan, parked inside a shed on the farm to protect her from the Owaka wind, Suzie Corboy moved into our new house on January 3. The idea of a caravanning holiday will not appeal for a number of years. The Genetic Taste test Selecting on meat quality could be a reality for terminal sire breeders by this spring. AgResearch senior scientist in the animal genomics group Shannon Clarke says a genomic test is being developed to predict which terminal sire rams are likely to prod