You'll never guess what I did for my birthday. No big bouquets of flowers, ribboned packages or candlelit dinners. And having breakfast in bed is not a treat for me since it makes feel that I must be sick as over all my years the only times I ever ate while propped on pillows was when I couldn't make it to the kitchen table. I spent my special day sharing "quality time" with Jock on a team building exercise.
Let me explain it. You need a decent sized mob of sheep of any breed or age. Muster these into a set of yards which needs to have a race with a drafting gate at the end. Our activity involved about 1000 well grown composite lambs which we ran into our woolshed. There are 2 drafting gates at the end of our race creating a 3 way option which increases the challenge slightly.One participant feeds the sheep from the pen behind, into the crush pen and funnels them up the race to the other participant operating the drafting gate.
The basic calls used are "first one", "last", "next 2 ", and occasionally "all of them". The aim of this exercise is for the team to work cooperatively to sort the whole mob into 2 groups with all 'dirty" lambs in one pen separate from all "clean" ones in another pen.
To increase the challenge for the team you can add dogs. This causes sheep to run much faster resulting in surges, rushes and pile ups in the race. Dogs also add noise with barking followed by participants loudly yelling instructions for dog to be quiet. This higher level of difficulty may cause the drafter to miss some calls so lambs mistakenly head out into the wrong pen.Break down of team cohesion can follow.
Level of difficulty can also be raised by introducing more imaginative calls like "now", "the one on the right", "third one", "the big one", "next...no not that one, the one after". Adding other stock, like ewes or rams, which need to be drafted out into the spare pen also lifts ability level.
Skills required for successful teams are focussed listening, good interpretation, an ability to not be distracted by any mistakes and an understanding humour.
The reason for this exercise is so lambs sporting messy bums are identified and smelly crutch wool shorn off. Flies love dags and shearers don't.Both are good reasons to get rid of this stinky stained stuff. No matter how careful our parasite control is there always seem to be some sheep needing to be dagged.
This Clean/Dirty activity can be achieved by other means and often by a single operator. Lambs are run into the pen, then the farmer works through them inspecting rear ends and identifying daggy ones with a chalk raddle mark on the lambs' head so they can be drafted off pen by pen. Occasionally innovative farmers have a strategically placed mirror set up at the entrance to the race so they can see for themselves which lambs need drafting into the dirty mob.
So how did our birthday team building effort go ? . ...Successful completion of task with bonus points for both still smiling. Usually it's a father/son job with Jock and Johnie together and they are familiar with their working partnership. Johnie was away shearing so back to the husband and wife team . Jock adapted well to change of partner and showed great patience, waving his white wand to keep lambs moving at a respectable speed for me.On the drafting end I focussed hard and didn't take long to figure out which lamb was the "now" one to exit out my gate. This exercise requires trust in the caller and no checking of the backside of lambs as they run out into the pen. That creates job distraction resulting in following lambs running out the wrong gate into wrong pens, and that's when fluster flourishes and more lambs go where they are not supposed to be. Admittedly there were a few "dirties" to be caught and put through in to appropriate mob but we didn't unpack whose fault those mistakes were. Blame is definitely not helpful in a team.
After the final lamb passed through the drafting gate the real dirty work began. Jock cranked the dagging plant up and he and his dogs ran the "dirties" through, plus a few surprise" cleans" that were inadvertently mixed in. Once tidied up the whole mob was shedded up for the night ready for shearing next day. Meanwhile I headed home to relax, put my feet up with a cup of tea and a delicious slice of birthday cake which Mary had baked.
I feel like a bug biting the bum of an elephant in the room but I am going in for a chew anyway. The pachyderm in this picture which I am provoked to take a poke at it with my humble proboscis is the emotional untruthful propaganda which has now become common and is so disturbingly and divisively anti-farming.
Peace is defined as "the state existing during the absence of war; a state of harmony between people or groups". One very prominent outspoken movement is sadly and ironically labelled.It blazons this word "peace" in its name and yet words they use are fighting talk and activities of members create confusion, disharmony and discrimination. A meeting invitation I received from the ""eco Agriculture crew" uses loaded words like "extreme proposal," " toxic","they are coming for...". One advertisement on television made and paid for by this "peace" organisation implied that all dairy farmers are vile polluters. That rash incorrect message is as bad as stereotyping all members of a certain religion to be radical dangerous extremists as one well known politician is currently suggesting. He is receiving world wide ridicule for this stand and protests against his bigotry, and rightly so. Groups who use labels and misconceptions to create misunderstanding and incite division among people in our own country are no less bullies. There is a saying "don't let the facts get in the way of a good story". These anti-agriculture communications are only opinions and they certainly don't let facts get in the way of a good stirring.
If "dangerous" is the opposite of "safe" then there is another radical ill informed group also contradictorily named. One campaign lobbying against wool showed a sheep nearly skinned and dead. The truth is that shorn sheep are alive, healthy and sustainably producing another fleece. A recent campaign saw trespassers illegally skulking around on farms planting hidden cameras to record supposed mistreatment of calves. They were unable to find significant breaches. Undeterred they shrewdly merged old footage to make dramatic images and didn't let facts get in the way of a good stirring. Disappointingly this was publicised as "news" with media not checking how authentic, reliable and current the "news" was. The presumed aim of this group is protecting animals but there could be a hidden agenda with letters standing for "Send All Farmers Extinct".
On a local level we have gatherings of people who call themselves "Friends "of whatever, which has the unfortunate inference that those of us not subscribing must therefore be Enemies . Many of the activities of this group are not particularly friendly and neighbourly either. One example of their mischievous miscommunication was when a farmer felled some trees to clear a paddock. "Friends" made an outcry with pages of letters in the local paper and graffiti on the road. The 100 trees were willow with a few totara, which iwi had been consulted about, but those facts were lost in the ensuing drama and emotion.Those 100 trees became 100 totara trees, and soon 100 100-year old totara trees.
It is so easy for the public to get caught up in these sneaky ploys of disseminating false information, insinuations and allegations. It is called propaganda and it's damaging, dangerous and divisive. In a school yard it would be recognised as bullying and not tolerated because of the fear, disrespect, isolation and mistrust it builds up. This year being an election year will no doubt mean we endure more of these underhanded non factual attacks taking up radio and television time and space in papers. Warning.....Please be careful not to swallow too much of this stuff dressed up truth .It is poisonous and causes severe cases of negativity and suspicion.Overdosing results in self-righteousness, an empathy deficiency and a tendency to forget that people who are set up as targets are not just objects with labels but are actually humans with minds and emotions who are a valuable part of our community and country.
Much better to work more positively and cooperatively. If that peace group really was concerned about rivers then better to spend time and funds building fences and working with farmers and councils. If the animal group really was concerned about what is going on behind farm gates then a friendly approach to get to know a farmer and his/her family would be helpful. If the media really wanted news there is plenty of positives to report about progress on management of water and soils, environment, stock and farm practices and kilometres of fences.
One bug on its own can be ignored, or even squashed, but a cloud of bugs may make even an elephant change position, especially buzzing in the ears.
The word "busy" is one I try to keep out of my vocabulary. This time last year my very first Kaihoka column started with the question people often ask "what do you do out there in the country?" .The dictionary defines "busy" as "actively or fully engaged; occupied" and juggling family, farm and community involvements does create actively occupied days in this late summer season.As the day length shortens I'm out of bed in darkness again and, along with most farmers, February is a month we are fairly fully engaged with a variety of activities.
Number crunching to make those all important decisions when to sell lambs is a big focus as this is our main income.The first lot returned $95 each and we were quite pleased about that which, sadly, shows how cautious our expectations are now. The good news from the "Commodities Report" states that "lamb prices have bucked their usual February trend " and, calculator in hand, we continue to carefully study the Friday night schedule from our meatworks. With grass growing, plantain crops flourishing and animals gaining weight we still have most of our lambs on board figuring they will produce more kilograms each week faster than any drop in price per kilogram.
Kaihoka summer has been warm and wet so paddocks are lush green.Those weather conditions have created a great environment for parasite larvae survival on the pasture so lambs are drenched regularly to keep worm burdens down. Flies thrive in these conditions too and prevention of fly strike is much better than treatment so all the sheep have been dipped as well. Looking ahead to mating and next year's lamb crop we have vaccinated the 2 tooths going to the ram for the first time to provide them protection from the 2 main abortion causing diseases.
Honey harvesting has happened and the beekeepers have taken truck loads of boxes away for processing. The manuka and clover both flowered amazingly well but unfortunately weeks of wet windy weather did not suit our poor hardworking little bees and their hives were not very full. When I commiserated with the disappointed apiarist he commented that all farmers experience good and bad years and understand the uncertainties of seasons no matter what size livestock we manage. Fortunately for him honey prices are still on a healthy high.
School has started so we are back into morning and afternoon routine of heading out to catch the bus and now Mary has an "L" plate I am usually in the passenger seat. Swimming sports was an opportunity to line up with other parents and be involved in our student's day at school. Being a member of our Board of Trustees is an off farm "interest" which also has demands at the beginning of the year and I attended meetings to discuss annual plans, health and safety issues and develop our school charter. It is a big responsibility and commitment of time and I take my hat off to anyone who has put their hand up to serve on any school board for any length of time.
Summer is also the season of weddings and Jock jokes that I am "never at home" as I dress in my pretty clothes, apply some makeup to head off to another much anticipated celebration. It is a great privilege to be a marriage celebrant and I love being part of happy occasions with wonderful couples and their families in beautiful places around Golden Bay.
Having a day "off" to go to a sheep and beef farmer discussion day may seem like a busman's holiday.There will always be plenty to do on our own farm but it is so worth while for so many reasons to visit someone else's farm. This month our group met at Turimawiwi where 4 wheel drive vehicles were essential to cross the 2 rivers, then bikes were unloaded off utes to head down the beach for a tour around the hills and tracks over the farm. Great to enjoy the views from someone else's "office", check out their stock, discuss figures, compare pasture cover, talk about policies and plans, figures, fertiliser and feed. We always learn something new and benefits are just as much about a valuable social chat, a picnic together and sharing common concerns and interests.
Dog trial season has started for Jock, Johnie is full on shearing, visitors are still booking the holiday home, our house spring clean is way overdue, weeds in my garden are out of control and shearing is around the corner. There certainly is plenty on, I am Thankful that I can be involved and I guess I would like it no other way.
An innovative initiative has been introduced to Kaihoka. We have diversified into interesting new livestock which have been imported to assist our farm productivity. After reading about these beasts in a recent farming magazine we placed our order with a modest fee plus a donation to the Red Cross. Now these latest additions to the Kaihoka enterprise have been shipped all the way from Northland and we hope they settle, breed and become well established in our top corner of the South Island. We don't have a tally of how many of these critters were unloaded but the plan is that as their population builds up the population of their favourite food will decline.
Our new introductions are insects, delivered in a courier package containing 4 nets.In each net there were about 50 heads of scotch thistle, and in each of those are hopefully between 5 and 20 larvae of the Scotch Thistle Gall Fly. Instructions for release of our 6 legged helpers advise finding a shady site near where thistles grow , not too windy and out of the way of mice. No problem finding paddocks growing healthy thistles but we needed to choose places where spring westerly winds don't distribute our newly hatched flies to drown in the inlet instead of spreading them over our paddocks of prickles. So, after family discussion, sites were decided on and precious nets were carefully attached to selected manuka branches to wait until our wee warriors emerge and discover they are no longer in the warm Wellsford climate of their parents generation. These wee bugs will stay in their spikey seed head hideaways for the winter until they crawl out in the spring to become little black thistle seeking missiles. The cautionary note on the information sheet enclosed with these wonder workers states "Don't expect over-night miracles". If the miracle takes a few years I am fine with that.
Jock often tells our kids "when I was your age I was out grubbing thistles no matter what the wind or weather. I walked for miles and there were always thistles to grub ." These days the battle continues using poison prills sprinkled from a dispenser and usually a motorbike is involved. Maybe the next generation of Kaihoka kids will simply be encouraging the spread of infected thistle heads as Urophora stylata attacks the weeds for them. No more blisters or chemicals, just a silent killer.
These Scotch Thistle gall flies are native to Europe and were imported to New Zealand for biological control by Landcare Research back in 1997. The flies have been released at a number of sites and found to become readily established. The male of the species sets up a territory on mature Scotch thistles and displays his stripy wings to attract passing females.After mating she lays eggs in unopened green flower buds which hatch a week later. You can't see anything as the larvae burrow down to where the seeds develop and feed on the tissue for about 5 weeks. This is when the damage is done as the amount of viable seed produced is reduced by about 80%. A hard lump forms around the larvae and having destroyed immature seed they settle in this woody "gall" for the winter to repeat the cycle next year attacking up to 90% of flower heads. Autumn images of clouds of thistledowns floating in the breeze, white "fairies" against the blue March skies, could become a thing of the past. I can cope with that.
However, there have been thousands of those thistledowns poetically floating in Kaihoka breezes for many years, to settle on banks and bushlines, tracks and roadsides.Those pesky seeds can wait up to 20 years before germinating. So with new plants still growing it will take some years for the impact of our new little parasite partners to become evident. Again the accompanying notice warns " don't expect to see any early reduction in thistle plant numbers, it will be difficult to scientifically quantify.". We will be watching to see if our new "employees" become established by the looking for obvious signs of distorted flowers, buds that don't develop and plants which go brown and die prematurely. Wonderful to think of a workforce out there with free accommodation already provided and needing no OSH regulations, equipment requirements, accrued holiday pay, maternity leave, PAYE forms, or employment contracts and wanting no more reward than access to their favourite food.
Now if we had more of these industrious insects getting stuck into gorse, manuka, ragwort, blackberry, californian and nodding thistles, foxgloves and dock then that would make a major impact on our weeds , wallet and work load.
A big day on our social calendar is Show Day. This year was the 120th Golden Bay Agricultural and Pastoral show and the promotion states that there is something for everyone. I agree and it strikes me that to make all that "everything" happen for "everyone" there is a huge team of "someones " working together planning, creating and carrying out a massive and varied list of jobs.
There is a line that has appeared in songs from artists as wide ranging as Clyde Fitch back in 1896, to The Hollies, Madonna and recently Jennifer Lopez which claims that "Love makes the world go Round". One parenting guru advises that love is spelt "t-i-m-e" and time generously given by volunteers with their sleeves rolled up certainly makes things go round.A small country town A and P would not get on to the show grounds without hundreds of people freely donating skills, talents, energy and days of work.
Our son, Johnie, competed in the junior shearing so we spent time in that busy corner of the show grounds. It was a well run event with a willing team to help and nobody paid. Judges were on the board scoring each shearer as well as out the back marking the quality of the shorn sheep. There were people timekeeping, giving commentary on the loudspeaker, handling the fleeces coming off, bringing woolly ewes off the truck and loading shorn ones back on. All cheerfully putting in a great effort over the day. Spectators came and went and loved the action, took photos and enjoyed the chance to talk with folk who are usually sweating in a shed off the beaten track somewhere. The unseen volunteer is the farmer who provided the sheep for the competition. Those ewes had to be dagged, selected to be fair and even and, most importantly, they must be dry on the day. The persistent wet weather this year meant a week of worry running sheep into the shed and letting them out for a feed, with constant checks on forecasts and sky.
I entered contributions in the "domestic " section with a range of baking. Cakes, biscuits, pies, steamed pudding and lemon honey were cooked, placed in plastic bags with appropriate ticket then carefully delivered to the industries hall and arranged on labelled tables. Stewards helped set out splendid exhibits in flowers, vegetables, photography, children's section, cooking and crafts. Goodness knows how judges select winners from 15 jars of beautiful marmalade, 10 "New Era cakes" looking equally delicious or the novelty cake category with a magnificent rainbow, a cat on a ball of wool and the snowman from "Frozen".They voluntarily take on this serious responsibility and make the difficult decisions. Prizes were awarded and my goods taken home to feed our family and put in the freezer for next unexpected visitors.
With my experience of breast cancer I support the special craft category titled "Billies Breastscreen Challenge" which aims to promote awareness of regular screening to ensure early detection of abnormalities. This year the challenge was to adapt a bra to promote breastcreening. Our daughter, Mary, helped brainstorm our winning entry of a bra wrapped around a half inflated, globe coloured beach ball. Our message was "You mean the world to someone in the world so please get a mammogram". We received a bottle of wine with cheque and hopefully someone may have received a reminder to have their important check.
Jock took a ute load of prime lambs and hoggets along for the sheep section where there is friendly rivalry between neighbours and friends. Again volunteers had erected the portable pens and judge and stewards gave their expertise and time just as they do for assessing the dairy cows, goats, horses and trade stalls.Without these generous people there is no show, and without an agricultural and pastoral show we would loose another opportunity for that vital connection between town and country, rural and urban.
Unfortunately it rained this year so about 1:30 pm many were heading for their cars and homes. Usually people stay all afternoon enjoying the side shows, the horse events, the axemen, the band playing on, the trade displays, sales tents, food stalls and that really valuable social time. Show day is a good day on our calendar and and we look forward to it. I give tribute to the dedicated committee, and appreciate all those volunteers who together make it happen. Soon they will start planning for next year's event just as hundreds of helpers have done over all those 120 years . What a wonderful effort. These volunteers may not be making the whole world go round but truly are contributing to rounding out our community .
kaihokablablabla@xtrablablabla.co.nz
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