September 25, 2017
Steve Wyn-Harris is well known in farming circles in New Zealand, with his weekly newspaper column, speaking engagements and radio show. For a change he is the subject of an interview, and we are discussing his thoughts and lessons learned about farming successfully. Steve is an entertaining speaker and writer, and at the same time achieving very high levels of performance and personal satisfaction from running a family farm (a version of the Farm Profit distribution graph Steve refers to can be seen here: http://www.rmpp.co.nz/page/about/)
August 24, 2017
Lambing hoggets can be an effective way to increase flock productivity and profit – if it is done well, and in the right circumstances. Professor Paul Kenyon is Head of the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences at Massey University and has led research into successful hogget lambing for over 15 years. He joined us on the call to share what he has learned. For more details, check out Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s guide to hogget lambing at www.beeflambnz.com/knowledge-hub/factsheets/hogget-performance
August 22, 2017
Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Chair and Farmer Director for Northern North Island James Parsons joins us to give an outline of B+LNZ’s refreshed strategy, and proposed priorities for the future. For more details, and to give your feedback, head to www.beeflambnz.com/consultation
August 13, 2017
"Break-Feeds" are 5 minute podcasts from Beef + Lamb New Zealand. Will Morrison was recently elected National Chair of the B+LNZ Farmer Council, which is the key group that provides advice, and a connection with other farmers, for B+LNZ directors and staff. At the National AGM 2017 he talks about the purpose and activities of B+LNZ Farmer Council and what he intends to achieve in his role. Make sure to follow Will on Twitter: @morrisonfarming
August 13, 2017
The majority of New Zealand’s beef has dairy genetics in it, and most of that comes from calves born to dairy cows. Can the industry use improved beef genetics to safely and profitably produce calves from dairy cows, improve dairy farm profit and at the same time produce a fast growing, great eating animal? Doug Lineham and Bob Thomson were part of Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Dairy Beef Integration Project and join us to talk about why the project was funded and what it found – opportunities for dairy farmers, calf rearers and beef finishers. The full report and a summary factsheet are available on the B+LNZ website.
July 30, 2017
‘Break-Feeds’ are 5 minute podcasts from Beef + Lamb New Zealand. Lynley and Matt Wyeth are well known for pushing the boundaries with their on-farm trials and running an intensive sheep and beef farm at large scale. This year Matt also nearly died from a leptospirosis infection. They join us to talk about the experience, the symptoms – and the silver lining with Matt forced to spend time working ON the business rather than in it.
For more information on protecting people on farms from leptospirosis, visit http://www.saferfarms.org.nz/guides/prevention-and-control-of-leptospirosis/
For more information on the Wyeth’s Innovation Programme projects, visit www.beeflambnz.com, call 0800 233 352 or email enquiries@beeflambnz.com
July 27, 2017
Neil Aitken is part of the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Innovation Farm Programme. In the next couple of years, he is going to trial remote vehicle monitoring (for management and for Health and Safety), virtual fencing cattle via electronic ear-tag, and electric motorbikes. On this ‘Break-Feed’ podcast, he gives a quick overview of each technology and how he hopes to use them.
July 26, 2017
‘Break-Feeds’ are short podcasts from Beef + Lamb New Zealand to let you know about interesting things happening. Scott Linklater is part of the B+LNZ Innovation Farms, and has been looking at using Fodder Beet in sheep and beef systems. He gives us a quick 5-minute overview of the positive results to date of grazing lambs in autumn on Fodder beet. For more information on this project, contact B+LNZ on 0800 233 352 or resources@beeflambnz.com
July 24, 2017
What impact will synthesised meat, from either plant proteins or animal cells, have on the market for meat from animals? At Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s 2017 FarmSmart conference, Rosie Bosworth (Pure Advantage) and Caroline Saunders (Lincoln University) joined farmers Mark Zino and Mark Warren to ponder the Future of Our Food. Disruption is coming to New Zealand’s sheep and beef farmers – how large will the impact be, and how should we respond?
June 22, 2017
Ross Monaghan, Soil Scientist at AgResearch, joined us to talk about taking care of stock, soils and water in winter. Winter grazing of forage crops is an important issue for farmers. It can be a good source of income through setting finishing animals up for high margins or through taking on grazers. It can also come at a cost from pugging, through loss of nutrients and topsoil and by pollution of water. In addition to all that, lots of animals on wet soils in winter can be a concern for the community. Recent research from the collaborative P21 programme has come up with some answers to improve animal performance while at the same time avoiding, remedying or mitigating the negative impacts.
