This sentiment was echoed by a number of farmers at a recent Beef + Lamb New Zealand field day in North Canterbury last year who said that while grazing may seem expensive, by the time the cost of supplements and time is taken into account it is not. It also protects both the performance of capital stock and drought-ravaged pastures.
A number of North Canterbury farmers have found palm kernel to be a valuable feed for ewes. Cheviot farmer Henry Shields says he fed palm kernel to ewes from mid-February last year and while it took a while for the ewes to get used to it, the feed helped build body condition going into mating.
“It helped us a hell of a lot.”
He continued feeding the ewes palm kernel right through lambing at an average allowance of 250-300g a day, which is close to one-third of their maintenance requirements.
Shields says they had no problems feeding the supplement through lambing, although they did need to provide a number of feed stations.
At a cost of $240-$250/tonne, the cost of palm kernel is rising but it is still a cheaper and safer feed than barley, although livestock still require a long-fibre supplement.
Fodder beet has proved to be a life-saver for many farmers in Canterbury this year. The crop allowed them to winter a large number of animals in a small area, allowing pasture covers to be built going into lambing and calving.
Maxwell grew 3ha of fodder beet this year and while it was intended for trading cattle, it was used for wintering ewes.
He says they ran 1000 ewes on to the 3ha crop in June and it lasted 55 days – although they did feed a lot of supplement with it.
Several other farmers at the field day had also wintered their ewes on fodder beet with no animal health problems. One farmer had his ewes on the crop right up until lambing without any issues.
Bert Oliver, manager at Mt Somers’ Inverary Station, says he and owner John Chapman are trialling the establishment of fodder beet crops using a cross-slot drill, primarily to prevent seed and soil loss through wind.
Being exposed to the nor’west wind is a real problem with cultivated soils, particularly since many of the soils on the farm are very light.
This year they have direct-drilled 53ha of fodder beet into paddocks that had been sprayed and fallowed for seven weeks. They have had a good strike and are pleased with the results so far.
Being able to establish fodder beet with the direct-drill will open a number of possibilities for fodder beet on the hill-country farm.
“There will be no stopping where we can plant it,” Oliver says.
Early weaning was a management strategy adopted by a number of farmers last year, including Tom Maxwell and Inverary Station.
Oliver says they chose to wean five-year-old terminal sire ewes early – at 60 days – rather than be forced to sell ewes and lambs.
In 2014 this strategy gave them the ability to sell cull ewes early and they were worth $30/head more than if they had been sold last January.
Last year the early-weaned lambs, which averaged 21kg at weaning, were put on to a 28-day rotation around newly-established plantain and clover paddocks.
Off-farm grazing and fodder beet crops allowed Tom Maxwell to build pasture covers for lambing.
Palm kernel toxicity
It is important that young lambs cannot access palm kernel because it can be toxic. Noel McGirr from North Canterbury Veterinary Services says some people had no problem getting their ewes to eat palm kernel, while others had more difficulty. One farmer at last year’s North Canterbury B+LNZ field day suggested adding ag-salt to the feed to encourage sheep to eat it.
While palm kernel is associated with copper toxicity, McGirr says he had not seen any animal health problems associated with the feed, although he suggests farmers who have used palm kernel get processors to check copper levels in cull ewes.
