6 th August Nutrition Tips Autumn Supplements Time Management Climate Outlook

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1 Hard Yards The first week in August has traditionally been the coldest time of the winter and this year is proving no exception. A cold southerly blast has brought snow to low levels on the east coast of the South Island and had the Tararua/Hawkes Bay regions in its sights for this weekend. Not great for the early lambers but if you re going to get snow, better now than at the end of this month! 6 th August 2016 Nutrition Tips Autumn Supplements Time Management Climate Outlook A very busy time of the year, with the last of the pre lamb shearing to do (some has been deferred), vaccinations, breakfeeding and set stocking. Southland has been hammered by cold, wet weather for the past couple of weeks. They are the wettest they have been all winter; 200mm rain for July with no drying and no pasture growth for the month and 5 days of negative soil temperature. There is still a lot of dairy grazing swedes available, and some farmers are wondering how they are going to graze their swedes/winter crop. Farmers are resigning themselves to the prospect that lamb prices may not be much better this year. They ll need an exceptional lamb survival to get the books to balance. In North Canterbury and Marlborough, they ve had 50 mm of rain for July so still very dry. They ve hardly been out of 2WD all winter! Stock numbers in the region are at all time low levels but feed is still short. The boys are hoping that snow ploughing doesn t get in the way of watching the Super Rugby final in Wellington! In Central, Mid and South Canterbury, pasture cover pretty good, stock in good condition, plenty of winter feed about after the dairy boys pulled back on buying crops for wintering cows. A light snow now won t do much harm and will perk up the bars in Methven. Ground water levels very low in irrigation wells. Irrigation consents with an adaptive management condition are subject to water levels in September so could be on immediate restrictions unless there is good rain for the first time for a few years. Stock Prices Over lambs met firm demand at this week s Marton Hogget Fair at Feilding. Most lines sold for over $3.00/kg. Ewe lambs made $90 $120, male lambs $115 $140. Cattle prices remain strong in the North Island, with yearling bulls making up to $3.60/kg. Beef schedules largely unchanged this week. Lamb operating prices $5.70 $5.80/kg. Ravensdown Profit & Rebate Ravensdown has announced an improved operating profit of $62million for the year ended May and will pay a total annual rebate to shareholders of $41 per tonne. In June, the co operative paid out an initial rebate of $21 per tonne in cash to shareholders. Last year, Ravensdown achieved an operating profit of $51.9 million and paid a $50/tonne rebate to shareholders. AT A GLANCE (NI) 3 weeks 2 week This Week Trend Change Store Lambs 2015 (28 35 kg) $2.90 $2.95 $ c Export Lamb $5.50 $5.60 $5.60 $5.70 $5.70 $ c Yearling Store Steer $3.55 $3.55 $3.55 = P2 Steer (295 kg) $5.50 $5.60 $5.60 = Bull (295 kg) $5.45 $5.50 $5.50 = Local Trade Beef (220 kg) $5.40 $5.50 $5.50 $5.55 $ c Strong Wool Indicator = 90 day Bill Rate 2.31% 2.30% 2.3% = US Bull Price (c/lb US) = $NZ/ UK % SNZ/$US %

2 Wairarapa FFP Workshop Day Tips Around 90 local farmers attended the Beef+LambNZ Farming for Profit workshop in Carterton last week. We provide here summary tips from three speakers: 1. Sheep and Cattle nutrition Natalie Hughes Nutritionist 2. Supplementing through a dry autumn has paid off Richard Tosswill Local farmer 3. Time management and team leadership Local farmers & Reg Gartris SHEEP AND CATTLE NUTRITION As a rule of thumb, 4% KGLW/day of body weight is required to fully feed sheep for optimum growth, for example over lambing time; in comparison dry ewes only require 2% of body weight to maintain condition. A 60kg ewe at 4% = 2.4kgDM/day demand or 22 33MJME/day (single or twin lambs at foot). A ewe carrying multiples can produce up to 30 50% more milk than a single ewe, therefore she requires more energy and therefore more grass converted to milk produced. If ewes are fed rough low energy pasture they require a higher intake to reach their requirements. Are we physically fitting enough kgdm into our ewes? The picture shows 10kgDM for each product. A ewe requires 2.4kgDM/day so you can see how hard it would be for her to actually eat that much grass! Therefore, if the 2.4kgDM/day is provided in a condensed form such as grain supplement, this can provide her with adequate amount of energy. Supplementing on Crops Feeding supplements and crops can fill in the gaps that may be missing from the diet. They are high in energy and can give more efficient utilisation. However, crops can also have their own deficiencies and there can be higher wastage of feed. Up to 40% of baleage can be trampled in wet conditions, which means even cheap feeds make expensive fertiliser! Feeding in racks, feeders, or under fence lines can be reduce wastage significantly. What s the best form of supplement? Straw vs Baleage ME content is higher in baleage, supplementing stock that are targeting fast growth requires high ME so baleage is best. Unless growth rates are important then the type of fibre isn t that important, what is important is that they have something available, fibre helps to slow the gut down and therefore increases utilisation of the feed. To bulk up the feed and add fibre to the diet (e.g. with fodder beet), then straw is the best option, it provides gut fill and increased digestion which increases body heat. Sheep Feeding Transitioning ewes onto barley the longer that they can have pasture available the better. Ewes need to be on a rising plane of nutrition around tupping, the starch in the diet is going to be driving the ewe to be converting everything they need into energy. It is not necessary to be feeding anything fancy around this time, they just need to be on a rising plane. Crushed barley is a good option, as it is easier to break down in the gut and allows the good nutrients on the inside to be more easily available for energy. Crushing breaks the hard shell to allow a larger surface area to be absorbed. Feed that is in a pellet form is more favourable again (multi feed) as it contains a mixture of balanced components in one small pellet.

3 Useful Resources: Feed planning for cattle: Feed planning for sheep: Pasture growth and Nutrition: %20feed%20sheep%20and%20cattle%20smarter.pdf Supplementary Feeding Paid Off Autumn 2016 The FFP group caught up again with Richard Tosswill, farmer from Gladstone Wairarapa, who reviewed his experience with supplementary feeding this autumn. All his cows have been away grazing since February they came home for weaning and have gone off grazing again to Mt Bruce area. There s very little water in dams, due to lack of winter rain. Richard has been feeding his ewes Barley and Alka Barley over this period, selecting the light ewes out and feeding around 8 tonne of barley costing around $460/tonne and 50 bales of baleage. In total costed approx. $2.85/head. The result of this feeding has been a scanning for MA ewes of 172% and 2ths 170%. Richard truly believes that it was worth the value of supplementary feed. All ewe hoggets (850) are out on grazing, all were run with the ram. Richard put his hand up to accept the earlier decision made to mate the hoggets may not have been the best decision. They were 43 kg at mating however they were still 43 kg at the end of June. The decision to send out grazing has meant the cost of the dry season has hit now, rather than the cost of a light hogget at weaning and that impacting all the way through that ewe s life. The farm is 250kgLW/ha down compared to average for this time of year and 200 kgdm/ha down on average cover, meaning that they won t reach the optimum target of 1400kgDM/ha covers for set stocking. Time Management A couple of local farmers and Sully Alsop shared their tips on getting the best out of your day: Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life Make lists. Nail the Gnarly Bastard first. That thing that you least want to do do it first. Otherwise it s a blockage. Let people do their own job, work to people s strengths. Take holidays! Have mental down time. The value of professional advice is not just the number crunching, it s also about having your ideas challenged and proven, and being accountable to someone else. Sometimes a corporate structure isn t best create a strong personal culture. Have an office, not just the kitchen table! Urgent vs Important get tough on disciplining yourself to do the important stuff. The 80/20 rule. You ll get 80% of your result from 20% of the things that you do. Know what those 20%ers are. Don t over commit your time. Understand your body s natural cycles through the day. Are you a rooster or an owl? Make time for exercise.

4 About Team Leadership (Extracts from Reg Gartris, management consultant, BakerAg seminar 2015) It s important to catch your staff being good (CBG), and to compliment them on it. Communication if like making love to a 200 kg gorilla. You don t stop when YOU want to. It s important to make an appointment with yourself every now and again. You are your most important client. You need to give yourself time to stop and think about where you re going and how you re going to do things. Good leadership isn t about doing things right; it s about doing the right things. Make sure you re not Majoring in Minors. For good time management, do the big things first (the really important things or the things you don t like doing). There will always be time to fit the little things in later. On always being positive: Remember that weather forecast of Partly Cloudy actually means Mainly Fine. Phoney joy will always beat genuine depression. Seasonal Climate Outlook: August October (NIWA) SOI neutral conditions are currently present in the tropical Pacific: International models still favour development of La Niña conditions (50% chance) over the next three month period (August October 2016), but this probability is lower than this time last month. The likelihood of La Niña conditions becoming established in the Pacific increases slightly later on, reaching 55% in November January 2016/2017. This La Niña event, if it develops, will be characterized by a relatively late onset, short duration and weak amplitude. High ocean temperatures around the country mean warmer and more humid air masses are likely to affect New Zealand, especially the North Island. Consequently, there remains an elevated risk for significant rainfall events and severe storms. Temperatures August October 2016 temperatures are very likely (65 70%) to be above average in all regions of the country. Nevertheless, frosts and cold snaps will occur from time to time in cooler locations. Sea surface temperatures are forecast to remain above normal over the next three months, especially to the west of New Zealand. Rainfall August October 2016 rainfall totals are about likely to be in the near normal range or above normal range in the north and west of the North Island and the west of the South Island. Seasonal rainfall is most likely to be in the near normal range in the east of the North Island and the north of the South Island. In the east of the South Island, rainfall for the August October 2016 period is about equally likely to be near normal or below normal Soil Moisture August October 2016 soil moisture levels and river flows are most likely to be below normal in the east of the South Island. In the west of the North Island, soil moisture levels are equally likely to be near normal or above normal range, and river flows are most likely to be in the near normal range. Seasonal soil moisture levels and river flows are equally to be near normal or below normal in the east of the North Island and the north of the South Island. The doctor that had been seeing an 80-year-old woman for most of her life finally retired. At her next check-up, the new Doctor told her to bring a list of all the medicines that had been prescribed for her. As the doctor was looking through these, his eyes grew wide as he realised Grandma had a prescription for birth control pills. "Mrs. Smith, do you realize these are BIRTH CONTROL Pills?'' "Yes, they help me sleep at night." "Mrs. Smith, I assure you there is absolutely NOTHING in these that that could possibly help you sleep!" She reached out and patted the young Doctor's knee..."yes, dear, I know that. But every morning, I grind one up and mix it in the glass of orange juice that my 16year old granddaughter drinks. and believe me, it definitely helps me sleep at night." You gotta Love Grandmas!!!!

5 OTHER INDICATOR PRICES SI Lamb Schedule $5.20 SI Bull Schedule $5.30 NI Local Trade Beef $5.55 NI kg M Cow $4.50 NI kg P Cow $4.50 NI Venison 60 kg stag $7.95 PGG Wrightson Ltd Wool Sale Report 21st July 2016 US $ % Napier STRONG SEGMENT INDICATOR c TYPE QUOTES SALE PRICE YIELD SALE PRICE CHANGE ON (Clean) (Greasy) LAST SALE H Fleece 33m 2-3" % 346 = H Fleece 35m 2-3" % H Fleece 37m 2-3" % Ewe Fleece 37 m 4-6" % 399 = Ewe Fleece 38m 4-6" % nd Shear 39m 3-4" n/a 80% -64 2nd Shear 39m 3-5" n/a 80% 2nd Shear 39m 2-3" % Lambs 29m 2-3" n/a 80% Lambs 30m 2-3" n/a 80%

6 NOTICES EAST COAST RURAL SUPPORT TRUST is seeking a new Co ordinator for the Tararua District. Applications close 24th August. Send to; ECRST Co ordinator Position, C\ Box 42 Dannevirke For information contact Bill Wallace. bpwallace@xtra.co.nz or phone minutes north of Masterton. Available from mid August to mid December. Phone Paul Brexit BBQ Wednesday 24 August 2.30pm 6pm. Carterton Events Centre, Holloway St, Carterton Why? Because you deserve a break, something to get you off farm for a couple of hours and something apart from the rain to look forward too. More information: bbq Ewe Hogget grazing available at East Taratahi for up to 1000 head. Available immediately. Phone Sam on or Brandon on STORE MARKET REPORT Southern NI prices quoted in saleyards unless otherwise stated. SOUTHERN NORTH ISLAND CANTERBURY OTAGO/SOUTHLAND Store Lambs (2015) Male & MS kg $2.90 $3.10 $2.75 $2.80 = $ kg $2.90 $3.20 $3.00 = $ kg $2.90 $3.20 $3.30 = $2.80 Ewe Lambs kg $2.90 $3.10 $3.30 = $2.80 Works Ewes 22 24kg $2.90 $3.00 = $3.00 = $2.80 = Heavy Export Ewes 28kg $78 $83 = $87 $90 = $75 $84 = Local Trade Ewes Heavy 28kg $75 $80 = $84 = $75 $85 = Medium 25kg $70 $75 = $75 = $70 = R2 Steers Traditional $3.00 $3.30 $3.10 = $3.00 $3.10 = Cross $2.90 $3.10 $2.90 = $2.80 $3.00 = R2 Heifers $3.00 $3.20 $2.80 = $2.70 $2.85 = R2 Friesian Bulls $3.10 $3.20 = $2.75 = n/a = R1 Steers $3.50 $3.70 = $3.40 = $3.30 $3.35 = (Traditional) $3.50 $3.65 = $3.45 = $3.30 $3.50 = $3.60 $3.80 = $3.55 = $3.50 = (Exotic) $3.40 $3.60 = $3.45 = $3.40 = R1 Heifers $3.30 $3.40 = $3.10 = $3.00 = $3.50 = $3.20 = $3.10 = R1 Friesian Bulls kg $3.65 = $3.40 = $3.20 $3.30 = kg $3.50 = $3.30 = $3.15 $3.20 =