No images? Click here 12 June 2020: Regular update for rural communities in NZ's 2020 drought. Please share with farmers, growers, small block and hobby farmers, and rural professionals in your networks. Advice on managing post-rain pastureDrought-breaking rain has many farmers breathing a sigh of relief – but it is too early to put the supplementary feed away just yet - B+LNZ. Farm systems scientist Tom Fraser says the two to three weeks after a drought has broken is a real danger period, as feed quality can crash, good pastures can be ruined and livestock performance go backwards. He urges farmers to carry on with their supplementary feeding regime for at least a further two to three weeks following the rain to allow pastures to recover. He says desiccated pastures can maintain feed quality – but as soon as it rains, the cell walls of the plants collapse, feed quality disappears and the plants rot. Hence the need to carry on feeding stock, especially ewes over mating to maintain ewe condition. “So long as they have plenty of water, stock generally do quite well in a drought because feed quality is OK from drought pastures, it’s when the rain comes and quality crashes that stock will go backwards.” Fraser says the best pastures will always be first to recover after a drought, and while it is tempting to graze them, it is important the plants are given time to build up the reserves they will need to draw on in the months ahead. “Hold off, continue supplementary feeding and feed the poorest paddocks first.” https://beeflambnz.com/news-views/welcome-rain-brings-new-management-challenges Free Federated Farmers' webinar: Options to use forages for drought recovery and planning Ahead for 2020/21.If you are interested in giving oats and triticale a go, this free Federated Farmers webinar is for you! Featuring Brian Cornish, Charlotte Westwood, and Monty White, and hosted by Jim Galloway, Federated Farmers Hawke's Bay Provincial President. The feed shortage in the Hawke's Bay is going to be around for the best part of the next 12 months. This webinar has ideas on how you can utilise crops through this winter and spring, like the oats and triticale, what to do when they’re grazed/ harvested, and follow on options for another dry summer, planning perennial ryegrass sowing and crucially, paddock selection. They'll also cover the animal health component of these crops (e.g. oats and milk fever, transition requirements, and issues like nitrate toxicity that can arise from new grass. Join us here next Wednesday night. Meeting ID: 974 0580 0262, Password: 940748 Feed coordination service statsFree feed planningTalk to feed planning experts now:
And with your plan done, you can use the feed coordination service: You can buy and sell feed directly here: Feed Noticeboard - AgriHQ Urgent feed solution foundHere's the sort of thing the feed coordination service, working with the local Rural Support Trust and Rural Avisory Group, has been pulling off behind the scenes: A group of Hawke’s Bay farmers needing an urgent feed solution for their early lambing ewes have been thrown a lifeline from Manawatu. Lambing ewes cannot be fed daily with hay, balage or grain because as soon as the feed is distributed they run to it and in some cases won’t reconnect with their lambs afterwards. However, fodder beet can be put into paddocks just before lambing so ewes can nibble on it during lambing, meeting their feed needs and not disturbing their lambs. Rural Directions managing director Brent Paterson, part of the Hawke’s Bay Rural Support Trust team, knew a group of 11 farmers with early lambing ewes urgently in need of feed before they started lambing. He found a solution on the other side of the Ruahine Range. A Feilding farming family lifted, loaded and co-ordinated transport of just under 600 tonnes of fodder beet, which was sent to Hawke’s Bay. Paterson organised a Zoom call with a Canterbury farmer who has fed in-lamb ewes fodder beet in the past so he could pass on feeding logistics and rates he has used to the Hawke’s Bay farmers. A message from Doug AveryA thought to share. If you sell one third of your poorest performing stock, you dont lose one third of your income. You do three things: 1. You save more than two thirds of your income, because those left do better. Take care. Winter Grazing: Early InterventionWinter crops are gradually being opened up to stock around the region and although the weather has been kind so far, we all know that winter will arrive before long. Most farmers really want to do the right thing, and often education or fresh ideas are all that is required. A supportive approach will be essential this year. The Southland / Otago group is already meeting regularly, and groups will be stood up in other regions as required. Best Practice ToolsLevy bodies Beef + Lamb New Zealand and DairyNZ have some great tools for best practice winter grazing. If you do need additional help to get it right, do not hesitate to reach out to them for advice and support. FARMSTRONG: Coping with uncertaintyClinical Psychologist Sarah Donaldson from the East Coast Rural Support Trust has strategies to help people cope with stress and pressure. Learning to live with uncertainty is top of mind for many New Zealanders at the moment. Whether it’s covid-19, drought, or flood, it pays to have strategies for managing stress when you’re confronted by unexpected events. Sarah Donaldson is a clinical psychologist from a farming background in Wairarapa. She also works for the Rural Support Trust. Farmstrong asked her for some pointers for farmers, their families and teams who might be feeling under the pump. Build in recovery timeEveryone has different levels of capacity to deal with the extra stress and pressures. The easiest way is thinking about it as your coping capacity. When we have multiple things coming at us we can feel squeezed. For different people this can come out in different ways. Some people can get emotional and more tearful, irritable or intolerant and let this out on things happening around them or the people they are closest to. Also when we are stressed, we tend to speed up or slow down. The stress hormones in our body can pump us up to go faster and work harder and be more alert but they’re only built to do that for distinct periods. You need to give your body a release from all those stress hormones so they can then function and peak again. It’s important to realise that when we speed up we actually start to become less productive and more inefficient. We become a bit like headless chickens running around trying to do lots of different things. The thing is to be aware of this and slow down.And how do we slow down? It’s doing things away from the farm that aren’t farm tasks and give us a release. The antidote to stress is leisure and pleasure. So that could be moving our body by doing some exercise or sport, it could be spending time with other people and talking about things that are non-farming. If we are mentally busy and our head is full of worries and what-ifs that can also be very fatiguing. We need to recognise that and tell ourselves we haven’t got a solution for this mental chatter right now so need a break from it. If you can distract yourself mentally or physically and do something else there’s less ability for that little voice in your head to be chipping away. Another good technique is helpful thinking.Focus and ask if this thinking is actually helpful right now. If it’s not going to help you achieve or solve something then often it’s not. Ask yourself if you can’t get the answer to that right now, ask what you can solve and put your energy into. So instead of thinking next year’s looking pretty bleak in terms of the forecast, think about that situation in a different way and tell yourself that’s the ups and downs of farming but if we plan ahead early we might be able to mitigate some of those losses. Here’s what some dairy farmers have to say about what helps them: Kane Brisco 50:50 sharemilker, Ohangai, TaranakiKeeping everything in balance is a constant challenge but what’s really helped me is the notion that I can’t help anyone else unless I’m in a good place myself. As much as I love farming and spending time with my family I also need my own time, even if it’s just 30 minutes a day. It’s just about getting out and doing something you like. Angela Reed dairy farmer, Waikirikiri Farm, CanterburyIf people’s lives have balance and they’ve done something they’re passionate about in the weekends they come back to work with renewed energy for learning and doing a great job. It’s also important to ask people how they’re feeling, to look out for signs of stress and fatigue and help them understand that it’s okay to talk about these things. Everyone has times when they are feeling overwhelmed. It’s nothing to feel afraid of. The important thing is to ask for help, if you need it. Blake Marshall, dairy production manager, CanterburyOften there’s an event on farm you can’t control – that’s like the first kick and you can’t change that. But you can stop yourself getting kicked twice, getting stressed all over again, by having a good response to it. https://farmersweekly.co.nz/section/dairy/view/farmstrong-coping-with-uncertainty What financial support is available?Inland RevenueTalk to your advisor and IR about tax flexibility and income assistance options Phone Inland Revenue on 0800 473 566, Monday to Friday 8am-8pm, Saturday 9am—lpm. MSD – Work and Income- COVID-19 Wage Subsidies support employers, including sole traders, impacted by COVID-19. Go to https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/covid-19/wage-subsidy/index.html or call Work and Income. - Special needs grants include for filling your household water tank. - Rural Assistance Payments, equivalent to the Jobseeker Support benefit, if farmers are in hardship for you / your family (separate from your business costs and assets). Phone Work and Income on 0800 559 009 or your Rural Support Trust for Rural Assistance Payments. Rural Support Trust Farm Business Advice Support Fund- With a focus on debt management, the fund will provide up to $6,000 to pay for financial or business advice from an independent consultant. - Managed by Rural Support Trusts and agreed with ASB, ANZ, BNZ, Heartland Bank, Rabobank, SBS Bank, TSB and Westpac. - The RSTs will provide up to $3000, depending on an assessment of need, and the relevant bank will match that dollar for dollar. Ask your RST for more information 0800 787 254 (0800 RURAL HELP) http://www.rural-support.org.nz/what-we-do/Financial Don't tough it out aloneHelp is available: whether your challenge is finance, farming advice, health... try chatting with your local Rural Support Trust on 0800 787 254 (0800 RURAL HELP) www.rural-support.org.nz You might want to check in about yourself, a friend, a neighbour or employee. Their services are free and confidential. Key contact information and support Inland Revenue: 0800 473 566 DAIRYNZ: 0800 4 324 7969 Farmstrong: www.farmstrong.co.nz MPI adverse events: www.MPI.govt.nz/drought Share this link for people to sign up to this newsletter directly: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/18E3859FDF24CDBF |