Archive: February 2023

With the rain still coming and mother nature playing a hand this summer, autumn is upon us, the firming of stock prices will continue.  The weaner sales of beef calves are beginning over the coming months in addition to the lack of calf numbers, will reflect in a strong buying bench.  

What weaner cattle that have been offered over the last week in the saleyards, were in strong demand.  

The autumn calving has begun on the dairy farms. Calf rearers in the market have significantly decreased, therefore there be a increase in stock prices on the market.

Good weaner heifers 130 kg dairy beef are selling in the price range of $650 to $750 with mean of $700 for the Waikato and South Auckland regions. This reflects the week of the 20th February to the 25th February, 2023.

For over a decade, the world has had a focus of being a clean green image. It has had advantages & disadvantages where in the Pig Industry, pig farmers are constantly under pressure to update, modify & change their farming practices on farm.

The pig farmer is under pressure to up date and change to a more suitable farming practice. 

But at what cost to the industry and the consumers? This has raised some significant issues. I will discuss these issues in the attempt to raise awareness in the readership.

Contrasts show, in the poultry industry, companies couldn’t meet the deadline to move to a more substantial farming. The transition from caged poultry to free range has dropped many poultry farmers out of the industry, significant numbers of what was once in multitudes of poultry, that now has diminished. Supermarkets shelves are mostly empty due to the shortage on egg supply & eating supply. Prices of eggs & chicken has significantly increased. This type of transition has been observed & has been occuring in the pork industry for sometime now.

The death rate of removing a sow from a furrowing grate will be on average 50%.

This will lead to short-term shortages and higher prices paid by the consumer.  Supplying of bacon is outweighed by demand, therefore farmers are unable to keep up with supply.

This has caused rising tensions resulting in outrage across the country where the general public care enough to hold protests to the New Zealand Government to account.

The general public need to weigh their understandings, broaden their base knowledge, inform themselves of the pig farming industry. Out there on the land is a daunting experience when compliance is constantly under review by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI), resulting in pig farmers & poultry farmers are constantly fitting the bill.

Ourselves as the public, we need to be confident that we can rely on qualified media outlets, newspaper articles, credible internet sources & websites, articles & reports, past & present so that we can assess all issues on an even scale. We need to feel confident that we can give a conscious & balanced view & still be able to hold different Government agencies to accountability.

Our Health & Food Safety is a world class system which New Zealanders can be proud of, from the gate to the plate.

New Zealand’s reputation world wide, to provide the best quality food, in this case, pork, is second to none. We are a country that can be proud of the quality practices on farms, to knowing what the animals eat being grass fed and outdoor rearing of the animals grazing free range, allowing New Zealand to continue to uphold it’s proud heritage.

Soil testing and soil sampling is critical to improving the quality and mineral balance of your soil.

The vital point of soil testing is to determine if there are sufficient levels of the essential elements for plants and livestock to grow at their best.

All physical things in the universe are made from 92 naturally occurring chemical elements. Living things such as plants and animals are mostly made of certain elements, depending on the life form. These are known as the essential elements of life, meaning that if all the other elements are present, but if one of these elements is missing, then the organism will fail.

There are 13 elements were needed for plant and animal growth, not just nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). A further three elements (cobalt, selenium and iodine) are essential animal health and nutrition. If your soil is deficient in one or more nutrients, your livestock and plants are not going to be able to receive enough of those nutrients to grow properly.

If farmers are injection or bulleting animals for any deficient nutrients such as Cobalt, Selenium , Iodine or any nutrient it is a soil borne disorder. Injecting, bulleting or supplementing nutrients to animals overcomes the problem short term rather than fixing the cause, which is a soil borne disorder. Its equivalent to taking medication rather than fixing the root cause.

Testing of soil, pasture, clover only or animal bloods is relatively cheap. Coming in at less than 1% of your total fertiliser costs, it is a cost-effective investment in the health and wellbeing of your plants and livestock.

When it comes to your livestock, if the pasture they are eating does not contain correct amounts of the right nutrients they will not grow in a healthy manner, or worse, become sick.

Most dairy farms probably need only about 13kg/ha of P per year to maintain their phosphate levels, but more than 70kg/ha is sometimes applied, leading to massive expenditure. This money could be diverted to overcome any deficient nutrient.

Accurate soil testing also provides a significant management tool in creating an efficient soil fertility programme, as well as watching out for potential soil issues.

Dr. Gordon Rajendram
Soil Scientist
Soil Fertility, Agronomy & Farm Environmental Consultant