The sheep and beef farm where the placement was completed is located in Mangamingi, in the province of South Taranaki. It has an area of approximately 2000 acres and employs a self-replacing system.
The farm measures to be in the vicinity of 800 hectares. Soils managed by the farm are predominantly of the orthic brown variety have nitrogen levels ranging from low to moderate, with a pH in the 6.3-6.4 area. The farm owners minimise use of harsh synthetic fertilisers in order to maintain a high level of biological activity in the soil. The terrain of the area is hilly in nature with the presence of several flat paddocks; part of the farm is situated in a valley. During the time of the placement, temperatures averaged around 15-20 degrees Celsius. …show more content…
Lambs are weaned in mid-December and shearing occurs in February and August. Heifers are mated partway through December and January, going to the bull for a maximum of 5 weeks. Calving is aimed to be finished by the 1st of December, though during the time of placement, there were still two heifers remaining which had yet to calve.
The farm carried 1000 more ewes than the neighbouring farm. This was to maximise usage of the pasture available. Lamb sales were nearing 3300 this year and weighed an average of 16.5 kg per lamb. This is on the smaller side of prime lamb sales in the North Island (which average at approximately 17.5 kg per lamb) but they are sold at these weights to make room for the replacement stock units in order to better enhance their performance. The average stock unit produced approximately 4kg of wool, resulting in a total of 19,000 kg of wool produced over the year.
Beef cattle (mainly cull cows and dry heifers) were predominantly sold in March. A portion of livestock units were sold in later in the previous year, this created a niche for the enterprise as less beef units are sold at this time. Cows generally weighed 550-650 kg while the bulls weighed 800-900
The farm measures to be in the vicinity of 800 hectares. Soils managed by the farm are predominantly of the orthic brown variety have nitrogen levels ranging from low to moderate, with a pH in the 6.3-6.4 area. The farm owners minimise use of harsh synthetic fertilisers in order to maintain a high level of biological activity in the soil. The terrain of the area is hilly in nature with the presence of several flat paddocks; part of the farm is situated in a valley. During the time of the placement, temperatures averaged around 15-20 degrees Celsius. …show more content…
Lambs are weaned in mid-December and shearing occurs in February and August. Heifers are mated partway through December and January, going to the bull for a maximum of 5 weeks. Calving is aimed to be finished by the 1st of December, though during the time of placement, there were still two heifers remaining which had yet to calve.
The farm carried 1000 more ewes than the neighbouring farm. This was to maximise usage of the pasture available. Lamb sales were nearing 3300 this year and weighed an average of 16.5 kg per lamb. This is on the smaller side of prime lamb sales in the North Island (which average at approximately 17.5 kg per lamb) but they are sold at these weights to make room for the replacement stock units in order to better enhance their performance. The average stock unit produced approximately 4kg of wool, resulting in a total of 19,000 kg of wool produced over the year.
Beef cattle (mainly cull cows and dry heifers) were predominantly sold in March. A portion of livestock units were sold in later in the previous year, this created a niche for the enterprise as less beef units are sold at this time. Cows generally weighed 550-650 kg while the bulls weighed 800-900