Summer management of sheep on summer-wet hill country: insights into decisions made by an "expert" farmer

Abstract

Although summer is a critical season for sheep production on summer-wet hill country, little is known about how high-performing farmers manage livestock and pastures during this period. If their practices could be captured and disseminated, it would provide the opportunity for other farmer s to increase productivity. The decisions made by a high-performing summer-wet hill-country farmer over summer were investigated using a single-case study design. This study highlights the relative complexity of summer management on hill country. Farmers must consider key strategic decisions such as when to wean, when to sell, what to sell, how many to sell, where to sell and at what weight. In this study, the answer s to these questions were found to be a function of the conditions (summerwet versus summer-dry) under which one farms and the amount of finishing country one has. Under summerwet conditions, the need to control pasture quality dictates important strategic decisions. To control pasture quality, the case farmer runs a high stocking rate (SR), high performance, later lambing system with a low sheep:cattle ratio. This system, particularly with a low proportion of finishing country, is not conducive to lamb finishing and a store policy is a more profitable alternative. As such, the case farmer's focus over summer is on ensuring the potential for high ovulation and conception rates in his ewes and ewe hoggets rather than lamb finishing. This is achieved by ensuring his ewes are in good condition (2.7 condition score (CS)) with adequate feed (1400 kg dry matter (DM)/ha) at flushing and his ewe hoggets reach 41 kg live weight (LW) by May 1st. These nonnegotiable targets are central to the farmer's consistent high performance. Minimisation of the distribution of LW (or CS) a bout the mean of different sheep classes through preferential feeding of younger, lighter and thinner stock was also found to be a critical element. To achieve high lamb growth rates, low priority stock and older finishing cattle were used to ensure pastures remained actively growing, of high quality and with low levels of infective larvae. A late weaning date and a high proportion of cattle and older stock were also important in maintaining pasture quality on summer-wet hill country. A critical feature of summer grazing management is area allocation and the use of post-grazing residuals to achieve animal performance targets. Pasture monitoring, microbudgeting and the use of this information in conjunction with market related data, to help decide the appropriate timing of stock sales was central to coping with uncertainty and achieving pasture and animal targets. Keywords: farmer decision making, grazing management, sheep productivity