- Where possible, spray out with an appropriate rate of glyphosate four to six weeks before your intended planting date. Add an adjuvant and a broadleaf weed companion herbicide to help with control. Remember, this spray targets perennial weeds, so do not compromise the glyphosate dose rate.
- When using glyphosate in hard water areas, note the cation impurities in the water that can lock up glyphosate and cause some of it to be inactive. This is particularly a problem when using spray water from a borehole or creek, or filling the sprayer with water stored in metal tanks over a long period of time.
- Remedy by adding a water conditioner such as X-Change®. Add X-Change to the water before glyphosate.
- Walk and monitor autumn-planted cereal crops of wheat and barley. Check the growth stage and apply T0 fungicide at Zadocks GS30 (terminal spikelet) onto leaf 4. Add the first growth regulator now and a herbicide, if required.
- Soils are generally nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) deficient in late winter and early spring. Products that apply N and S are a good option to boost early growth.
- When walking paddocks identified for spring-sown crops, dig a hole in the soil 20 to 30 centimetres deep to look for signs of compaction. If present, ripping can help improve crop yield.
- Farmers striving for high lamb growth rates while still suckling on ewes are often grazing highly digestible pastures or crops. This increases the risk of clostridial sudden death diseases such as pulpy kidney.
- To help prevent this, many lambs receive the first dose of a sensitiser 5-in-1 vaccine at docking.
- This starts the lamb’s own immune response to clostridial disease protection as any passive protection from the ewe wanes.
- For a complete vaccine programme, give a booster four to six weeks later to achieve long-term protection.
- Correct vaccination technique is important for an optimal response by the animal and to minimise tissue reactions.
- Clostridial vaccines require refrigeration between two to eight degrees Celsius. Opened packs have a shelf life of six weeks.
- Use clean, sharp needles – either 18G 1/4 or 3/8 inch. Change regularly and discard any blunt needles. Inject subcutaneously by pinching the skin high up on the neck behind the ear and inserting the needle so that the bevel of the needle is facing up. Insert into the space under the skin.
- Avoid injecting into muscle when using 5-in-1 vaccines as this causes muscle reactions and carcass downgrading.
- If wool is wet or dirty, either delay injecting or ensure the frequency of needle changing is greater. Choose a clean area on the neck to inject.
- Reaching peak pasture production in spring can see supplementary feeds reduced or stopped.
- With good grazing management, pasture intake is normally sufficient to meet the requirements of moderate production but will be insufficient to meet the requirements of higher-producing cows.
- The first limiting factor in milk production, when only high-quality pasture is fed, is often energy supply.
- Time available to graze fresh forage, ruminate, rest, and water supply are factors that constrain daily dry matter intake of pasture.
- The main objective of supplementation of grazing dairy cows is to increase total dry matter and energy intakes relative to that achieved with pasture-only diets.
- In October, fibre levels increase in pasture as it goes reproductive. This further reduces the cow’s total intake of grass.
- Prior to and throughout mating, the cow must have a positive energy balance for good conception rates.
- To support production and good reproduction outcomes, consider continuing to feed some supplementary concentrate for high-producing dairy cows.
- If pasture is in excess supply, lock paddocks up for making good quality grass silage.
