Calving Downunder East

[Putangitangi]

First off the block this season is one of the two-year-olds, with a tiny bull sired by a yearling bull I used because he was born easily enough to his own 2yr-old mother.
Always reassuring when the first calf is easy.

The heifer is 3/4 Angus with some Hfd/Jersey back a bit. Her mother has produced some lovely cows and is about to calve in the next day or two as well.

The R2 heifers are in better condition than I feared, after a tough, cold winter and spring hasn't warmed up much at all yet. I'm grass-only.

I don't reckon you can tell much at all from a calf photo, other than their prettiness because they're new.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Nice! Its always nice when the beginning is smooth. I hope it stays that way.

I especially love that second picture, very cute!

 

[regolith]

It's been a very tough winter/spring.

Great calf photo. This year, I think you've picked a far more appropriate start of calving date Mine are nearly done, waiting on three cows.

 

[slick4591]

Nice!

 

[Putangitangi]

Thanks.

Regolith, I always calve October/November because at least it's usually about to dry out, the grass is about to start growing and in a really good year, both have already happened. This year is way behind. I don't know where the R3-4s are going tomorrow! We keep getting 20mm afternoon "showers" which fall in about two hours and everything is swimming again. At least the last few days have started warm and sunny, but we could do without the cold nights and rain every afternoon.

 

[Nesikep]

Nice pictures,.. hope things go smoothly for you!

 

[regolith]

This year is way behind. I don't know where the R3-4s are going tomorrow!

Do any of us? That are feeding all grass.
Is that calving date normal for your area or are you just especially nice to your cows?
We're early country here and usually reach 'balance date' in early September - we pretty much did, but this farm at least reached it at a very low pasture cover and we haven't gained any since with the continuing wet/cold weather so there's no silage out of the rotation, and a bunch of calves ready to wean that I won't wean till there's grass for them. Cows calved faster than usual so normal rationing meant they were underfed compared to a normal year, while the extreme wet just exacerbated the situation. I so wanted a cowhouse and some TMR rations...

We're certainly due some fine weather, and it's much more likely you'll get it calving now. There's been days this spring you didn't find newborns alive unless you were right there to pick them up and bring them indoors. Could've stayed in Scotland if I wanted to farm under these conditions.

 

[Putangitangi]

...Is that calving date normal for your area or are you just especially nice to your cows?...

I've been calving 'late' for years. I used to aim for the calves to reach six months by the time of the weaner fairs (mid-March), but it's just so stressful on all of us, me and the cows, when they calve on too little feed in mud - although mud is exactly what we have right now between the puddles formed by every hoofprint.

Most around here still start earlier, but there's a relatively local supplementary weaner fair in April which is gaining more clients every year, so I think many are shifting. I usually manage to sell my crop of weaners privately and the buyer takes them when they're ready in May, usually, already fence-weaned and set to go out and grow without any hassles for her.

I could change everything by supplementary feeding, but we're small and remote and getting contractors at the appropriate times would be tricky and we're in a little spot where it'll rain when it's dry everywhere else ... This whole deal is about the quality of our lives which is measured more in stress balance than bank balances. I haven't met a bank manager in years!

My oversowing a few paddocks on the flats with a rye/clover mix last autumn, combined with mowing with the new slasher, has probably carried the young stock through the winter and I'll do more of that next April/May as well, since it has worked so well. I used to put Italian Rye across the flats, but it doesn't persist and its growth was actually not as satisfactory as the cheaper option I've recently tried. It'll be interesting to see how long the positive effect of this grass lasts. Kikuyu is an interesting grass to farm around and Autumn mowing had a far greater effect than I thought it would.

 

[regolith]

From all I hear, it's very challenging country to farm North of Auckland.

I think I just figured out your thread title - we're East of Australia?
May's not a bad time to shift weaners, I actually thought the weaner sales were still going till about then. It matches up with when dairy weaners/heifers move so there's opportunity there for famers that are adjusting numbers or going out of dairygrazing to pick up stock when the heifers leave.
Haven't heard from Waihou on the boards for a while - I believe the Manawatu has had a much worse winter than here in Taranaki (mainly due to their heavier soils) and wondered if that impacted their area too.

 

[Putangitangi]

Yeah, something on a TV quiz the other night referencing "downunder" as Australia made me add the East. Don't want to be confused with the West Island!

I used to think it was pretty easy up here, being warmer and so on, but the soils are heavy and watching the dairy farms nearby, I've concluded it's a lot more difficult than I used to think and I'm probably not, for all my lack of original farming knowledge, doing too badly these days.

I think some weaner fairs down south are still going that late, aren't they? Up here they start in February right up north, because they need to shift the stock around Houhora before there's no grass in the summer dry.

Waihou is around and her stock are looking fantastic as usual. Her calves are a couple of months ahead of mine. Yes, I understand there's been an extended feeding out period down there.

 

[waihou]

Yes I'm still around Regolith, if I may join in this NZ thread! Yes it seems a very extended winter, and although we started calving on July 7th, the grass is just not getting going as it should be down here! Far too many frosts and wet weather down here. Almost reached the full year total average rainfall with 3 months to go. We've got a bit of baleage and hay left-enough for about 3 weeks if I ration it!
This was a fresh paddock of grass this morning.

My rotation at the moment is about 2 days a paddock and lasts a week till I get back to the same paddock.
Calves are looking good though and the cows not exactly skinny!

A couple of the July born bull calves AI to an Aussie bull, looks to have the carcase traits we need.

Good luck with the rest of the calving season to both NZ'rs here! I've got 2 heifers left to calve.

 

[regolith]

Looking good indeed- your calves are wa-ay better than mine.
Those short rotations are tough. Fed out the last of the silage and hay early this month, but even in a year like this we get good growth rates fairly early in spring here.

 

[regolith]

Yeah, something on a TV quiz the other night referencing "downunder" as Australia made me add the East. Don't want to be confused with the West Island!

I used to think it was pretty easy up here, being warmer and so on, but the soils are heavy and watching the dairy farms nearby, I've concluded it's a lot more difficult than I used to think and I'm probably not, for all my lack of original farming knowledge, doing too badly these days.

I think some weaner fairs down south are still going that late, aren't they? Up here they start in February right up north, because they need to shift the stock around Houhora before there's no grass in the summer dry.

Waihou is around and her stock are looking fantastic as usual. Her calves are a couple of months ahead of mine. Yes, I understand there's been an extended feeding out period down there.

Your cattle show that you're 'not doing too badly'.
I don't pay huge attention to the weaner sales, but I'm pretty sure there's some advertised April and carrying on through May. I sold some autumn-born dairybeef weaners at the beginning of this month through one of the regular sales - sort of thing where you take your chance on there being buyers that day, I hung on to them till I was pretty sure there was enough grass around that they'd be sought after.
The market certainly goes flat if there's no grass around, doesn't matter what class of stock is selling.

 

[regolith]

This is what my July-born calves look like:

 

[Putangitangi]

R. that's a bit like chalk and cheese though. Your calves look content and thriving, despite the tough season. What breeds are in them?

Waihou and I met on a forum years ago and her cattle have shifted my own perception of acceptable body condition and how I've farmed. I started out on the "managed starvation" trail, like all the farmers I observed around me and now run far fewer, far happier, far healthier cattle.

 

[regolith]

That group are all Jersey sired except the goggle-eyed brown and white heifer who is Ayrshire sired. Cows are Jersey and Jersey cross - there's a bit of Swiss, Ayrshire in the herd as well as Friesian.
I've also dropped the stocking rate significantly over the years, trying to feed the cattle better while still on all-grass. A winter like this will throw a spanner in the works though... sure am glad not to have twenty more cows to feed.
I took that photo trying to show the wind in their coat (it was gale force at the time) but their hair isn't really long enough for a still photo to show that.

 

[Putangitangi]

...I took that photo trying to show the wind in their coat (it was gale force at the time) but their hair isn't really long enough for a still photo to show that.

Their ears are obviously blowing in the wind! :lol:

 

[waihou]

Luckily we cut down cow numbers from 30 to 23 this year too. Just as well as the dry autumn lasting into late April didn't give much time for autumn grass growth before the frosts started.

How did you fare in Taranaki with the rain and floods in June?

Your calves look fine Regolith, as Putangitangi said, you can't compare cow-fed beef calves beside man- fed dairy calves! As long as they are bright eyed, healthy and growing is good enough. We sold some straight beef weaners at a weaner heifer fair in Fielding in April and very pleased with $2.98/kg or $720 for 8 month olds.

Our winter feeding regime is a bit like Putangitangi described-'managed starvation' although I read if dry cows eat for 2 hours per day they get enough to survive on! We strip graze the cows from June, giving daily hay or baleage. Shed them off to more grass once they calve and continue strip grazing with baleage through to September. Only trouble is now there is very little feed ahead, mating starts from 16th Oct and it looks like we are in for an El Nino summer. Cold wet and windy on the West coast, hot and dry in the East.
Waiting for their daily baleage, feeder on hard pad just inside the gate for ease of access in the mud.

The dam of the brown bull calf posted earlier, 11 days before calving -she went 6 days over her due date. Not exactly starving on restricted rations!

Calved cows at the end of August, not sure where all the calves are hiding out of shot.

 

[regolith]

The three cows I'm waiting on calving are big and fat in spite of restricted rations - 2 hrs is about right, I think it might be 2.5 hours for a dairy. At 3.5 hours grazing a heavily pregnant dairy cow can maintain weight.

We had some minor damage from the flooding, nothing too serious. The annoying bit was where I fixed up the tracks and most of the new metal got washed away again a month later.
In June the cows were grazing the driest part of the farm, much to my relief, That relief soon evaporated when we started calving in July and the rain never stopped long enough for the soil to dry out, so in spite of best efforts there's significant soil damage around the farm which will likely reduce growth for the next several months. Two paddocks that got damaged early on were designated sacrifice paddocks, the older calves live in one and the other the cows overnight on every time it's really wet, to protect the rest of the farm.

You'll be glad of that hard pad. Just driving the tractor around in these conditions, anywhere I go every day that doesn't have metal underneath it has been torn right up. Usually I move the calves to a new paddock every two or three days but this year I just fed them on a big patch of mud in the gateway of two paddocks, one for the older calves one for the younger.
And of course, after a few days fine weather and some nice firm ground at last, we got around an inch of rain today.

 

[Backbone Ranch]

I am glad to see that you are still on these boards, Waihou! Are those your calves sired by Wallawong Under the Radar?