Down in the South we are coping, it rained a little bit last night but before that it had been well over a month since the last precipitation. The irrigation is doing its job mostly, and the grass cover is pretty good at the moment (average is about 2350 kg DM/ha).
You can see the effects of irrigation very easily in this paddock. The brown strip is too steep to move the K-lines, and therefore doesn't receive any water.
In another paddock, here is the residue 4/5 days after grazing that has not yet had irrigation on it:
And here is the grass that has been watered since grazing, some good regrowth!
I think this highlights how vital irrigation is.
Mowing the lawn has recently got much easier, a little bit because of the weather but mostly because of the arrival of this beast:
Due to the lack of grass in the North, farmers there are drying off, selling and culling cows much earlier or in greater quantity than usual. We have sent 14 to join the food chain, most of them were chronic sub-clinical mastitis cows that also had other problems such as lame or low production. That has resulted in cell counts of 166 - 180 in the last week and at the moment there are only two cows whose milk is being dumped.
Next week we have the final pregnancy test for the remaining 12% not confirmed in calf. Any remaining after that will also be sent to produce dog food or McDonalds. We are all a bit worried for everyone's favourite cow 1280, or 'Ginger' as all ginger cows are called.
She is either 14 or 16 yers old, I can't remember, either way very old for a dairy cow. She is a pretty average producer with a cell count that is a bit high, but is definitely the friendliest cow in the herd. She loves a cuddle in the morning whilst she is waiting to be rowed up for milking.
The imminent pregnancy diagnosis will determine her fate, if she is empty we will miss her poking her head through the gap at the back of the shed to get a pat and a rub on the neck.
In other news, Daniel, my Irish work and bungalow mate is leaving today to milk on a flat farm in Canterbury. I think his main reason is the 20-odd Irish also from Cork who work up there. He has been replaced by Stephie who is from Germany and has been working on cattle stations in Australia. Apparently, with a choice of wall decoration, she would not put a German flag up but a Bavarian one. I had a look on Google to see what it looked like and it turns out it is a pretty awesome flag:
Daniel's departure will free up a load of freezer space, which is always good. On the subject of freezers, I learnt this week to never put the meat on top of the bread or you will end up with very small but dense sandwiches.
That is all for now. See you later.
(Twitter: @FLawder)
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