Christophers Comment

Posted by on 16 July 2012 | 2 Comments

Christopher’s Comment for July 2012

Where has the year gone!! We are now past the shortest day and in theory we are heading for spring – not that it feels like that yet.

We are now only a month away from lambing which will be a challenge this year as we scanned a near record 200% plus a 128% in our hoggets.  The ewe percentage included just over 200 ewes having triplets and 4 having quads. This is not what we are really aiming for but it reflects on what a great summer and autumn we had and what good condition the ewes were in. Hugh is very good at condition scoring the ewes and priority feeding the lighter condition ones which all helps in keeping the ewe production up.

We changed over our dairy grazing heifers on the 1^st May and now have on 364 dairy heifer calves. This year we have included in our charges the first 4 drenches which makes it a lot easier for us to plan our whole program.

Looking back on the past year we would we have to say that it has been one of if not the best years we have ever experienced. Lamb prices were at a record high, wool prices the best they have been for years, grass grew over the whole summer and autumn with rain arriving when needed etc.

There are a few clouds on the horizon for the coming year but one never knows.

At the moment we have a fencer fencing off another 4.5 ha of native bush. We have planted aprox 100 native trees in open areas of the bush left by where we placed the fence. When completed this should bring our total bush area fenced off to nearly 20 ha.

Off the farm we have other interesting challenges facing us. We have finally committed to rebuilding our villa in Cambridge and this is due to start in mid October and be completed in 6 months. Then we will be moving from the farm and living in town which in itself will be an interesting challenge for one of us!  Because of all the decisions that we will be required to make on site throughout the building process we decided we should make a quick trip to Australia to see our family as now might be the only chance for a while. So we headed off toward the end of June and although our timing was bad for wet and cold it was lovely to see them all and hear and see their plans for the immediate future.

Closer to home we are waiting for one more mark on what could be Janet’s final paper at Waikato University.  A pass in this paper will then give her a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in English which will be an amazing achievement  and one we  will be celebrating big time at her graduation. Stay tuned!

Finally we have celebrated the following birthdays so far this year. Kate who turned 4 in Feb, Janet who turned ? in May, Harry who turned 5 in June, Alex 3 also in June and on the same day Ellen 39, Tom who was 5 in July and Charlotte 6 also in July. Unbelievable that we now have half our grandchildren at school!

One other  final thing. Please keep placing your comments back on this page.  We love your feedback.