November 2023

As I write this again parts of the North Island have been hammered by the remnants of an ex tropical cyclone after a couple of weeks of decent weather and abundant pasture growth in most areas. 

This year for various reason has seen very staggered kidding with some growers docked and other still kidding! Overall, there appears to have been considerable variation in kidding percentages for the early kidding flocks, but as long as the weather plays ball I expect the latter flocks to be better. Of these kids I am excited see and keep an eye on some of the F3 progeny that is on the ground now. 

As we move deeper into spring toward summer now is the time to be running a flock of goats through better finishing blocks for weed control, where you can. This will not only reduce weed control cost but also increased average pasture quality as the goats nip out the seed heads as they emerge. From an agronomy point of view many of the new ryegrass cultivars feature low aftermath heading – meaning once the plant has produced a seedhead they return to vegetative state producing more tillers rather than more seed heads. Thus, resulting in more higher quality leafy grass for your growing / finishing stock rather than high dry matter stem. 

The added benefit of removing lower quality pasture species and weed is more light getting into the bottom of the sward and space for clover to grow. 

A highlight for me in late September was a fibre classing session with renowned fibre classer John Woodward at Woolyarns in Wellington. This was an introduction about training the eye to access cashmere fibre micron and yield in the fleece. We will be having a follow up session as we head into shearing next year so I can assist with some classing in sheds. 

I am looking forward to the series of road shows we are running around the North Island in Hawkes Bay, southern King Country and Wangamomona later this month on Nov 29th and 30th. See the section in this newsletter, check out the event page on Facebook and come along as we look to engage with more farmers interested in feeling the potential of New Zealand produced cashmere. 

Cheers

Duncan Steans