The Kowhai is a widespread tree throughout the Rangitikei region and on occasions it does appear to cause poisoning in cattle. We recently had a case where 3 friesian bulls died while grazing river bank sidings. It is uncertain how the toxin in Kowhai works however the seeds and leaves appear to be the most […]
Archive | Deer
RSS feed for this section
Safer Farms – Free Meeting In Bulls
Safer Farms The rules have changed What do we have to fear? What do we have to do? What do we need know? David Kirk -from Work Safe, who has great empathy with farmers and Paul Sharland -an Independent Health and Safety Advisor will have answers and practical advice. FREE at […]
Lepto in Weaner Deer
We are currently dealing with a significant outbreak of leptospirosis in weaner deer. For those few deer farmers now out there this is a disease you should be thinking about. Work out of Massey demonstrated that many deer herds are infected with lepto. This poses a threat to the deer and those who handle the […]
Theileria Update
A number of our vets recently attended an update seminar on Theileria. The major points to come out of this seminar were: Where large tick populations exist this disease will become endemic in herds. Some degree of immunity seems to develop and provided farmers learn to manage this disease and minimise stress levels in cattle, […]
Spore Count Update 19.03.15
Spore counts early this week have revealed varying results from 0 to 70,000 from multiple sites. (Counts over 100,000 are considered dangerous.) Rainfall has been very variable in our region. If you have received significant rainfall and farm in warmer, low altitude areas, it is likely counts will have risen to some extent. Tuesday and […]
Spore Count Update 16.02.15
Last week spore counts taken from a Turakina Valley hot spot were 5000. This is a low result but indicates spores are now present. Warm weather and moisture could cause elevations in counts. We will continue to monitor this site and others if climatic conditions are suitable for spore development. If members feel they […]
Look After Vaccines
Many farmers will be administering vaccines to 2.2ths or hoggets over the coming weeks. With the very hot sunny conditions that we have experienced over recent weeks it is worth reinforcing the point that vaccines must be handled carefully to avoid the damage to vaccines that heat and sunlight can cause. Keep vaccines cool, store in […]
Spore Counts
While a hot, dry January meant that spore counts have been very low, rain in recent days could potentially kick start spore count rises, if further moisture is accompanied by warm temperatures. Pastures that are now short with some dead matter in them that is breaking down will pose the greatest risk. To check […]
Hot Dry Weather Improves Feed Quality
While the recent very hot sunny weather probably isn’t what most farmers were hoping for, one cloud has a silver lining. At the time of the sunny spell’s arrival most farms had pretty good pasture covers with a ‘good bottom’ in it. The heat has essentially ‘snap dried’ this feed meaning the feed quality to […]
Work and Safety Changes
Many of you are probably aware that changes are planned in the area of health and safety in the work environment. Work Safe NZ has been formed to replace OSH and they appear to have a much more aggressive and focused attitude in terms of enforcing regulations (especially pertaining to farming) if a recent meeting […]