Agbrief: NZ Agriculture News

A 'Must-Read' for People in the Primary Industries of New Zealand

If you need to regularly review the agricultural sector in NZ, and don't have hours to spend searching the internet or reading all the magazines (the average farmer gets several freebies a week in the mailbox these days!), then your first port of call should be the long-established and well-respected publication AgBrief.

Publisher Matt Bird is one of New Zealand’s most experienced agricultural journalists and editors, and the key feature of AgBrief is its integrity and reliability as a news source.

AgBrief provides a weekly summary of events in agribusiness, trade, livestock, horticulture, soil, land, water and air, industry and forestry.

It’s published 48 times a year on an old-fashioned subscription basis, and can be delivered as a handy PDF document in your email.

For a few dollars a week I'm happy to let Matt and his team do the leg-work and scour the back paddocks of the internet and other global media for important information about our industry. You know the old story about "I'm writing you a long letter because I don't have time to write a short one..."?

It's published by Inventas Media. Contact agbrief@inventas.co.nz or phone the subs team on (04) 472-9791. Tell him I sent you.

New Zealand Farm working Dogs. Part 1. What's a workding dog worth?

What's a working dog worth? 

  By Dr Clive Dalton

 

Dog team - top: huntaway, middle: cattle dog, bottom: eye dog

Some folk say a good dog 's worth a good part of a shepherd's wages. This is surely wrong.  A working dog, if you really stop and think about, is worth much more. Think how many people you would need to muster a hill country farm, and then multiply the total time needed by an average hourly rate of the shepherds. A dog could do the job in half a day - for a handful of biscuits and a pat on the head at the end of the day.






 We currently have about 200,000 working dogs in New Zealand and sad to say, there are many that currently need a much better "employment contract" with their boss. The dog cannot negotiate its side of the contract so its owner has to do that. 

 The dog will never complain, will never go on strike, work to rule, and hates weekends and holidays. The highest reward it will ask for is a pat, and it'll come back to you even after a good swearing and a kick in the ribs.

Without the working dog, New Zealand's past economy and present high standard of living would have been delayed 100 years! It's time the working dog's monument by Lake Tekapo was moved to parliament grounds, and a duplicate erected in every New Zealand town and city.

Few shepherds think about the capital value of their team of dogs until one has to be retired or dies, and they go to a dog sale to check the prices. Folk think of paying only $50 or $100 for a weaned pup and are shocked when they see a top fully trained dog go for $3000 or $6000.  These prices are very fair value when you add the dog's breeding potential as well as its working ability.

Copyright Statement for this Blog

Copyright Status – Creative Commons

The intellectual property rights of authors and journalists have been changing dramatically with the advent of the internet. As information has become abundant and accessible, its economic value has changed, so we shouldn't be surprised the animal welfare of the average author as a sub-species of homo-sapiens has been impacted as well.

As an author and editor, I am philosophically resigned to the need to set content 'free' and to look for income 'because' of the quality of that content, rather than simply 'with' that content. A simple example being that someone, after reading this blog, likes the tone and might engage me to write something new or a variant on that theme. As an aside, a good starting point for understanding the 'because effect' can be found here on a blog called Confused of Calcutta.

With the abundance of information on the internet, good information can still be hard to find though, and it is hoped that this website will provide an easily accessed source of high quality reference material for students, journalists, farmers and animal owners to decades to come. There's little money to be made by publishing houses printing general animal behaviour guides for wider audiences for example, and as a result a great deal of useful information is lost. That's exactly why this website came to life.

The web does not mean that copyright as a concept has disappeared of course. The majority of the documents on this website and the accompanying knols are published under Creative Commons Attribution (Non-commercial 3.0 Unported). If you're not familiar with it, a full human-readable explanation of this agreement can be found here.

In simple terms this means you are free to Share (copy, distribute and transmit this work); and to Remix (adapt the work) under the following conditions:

1. Attribution: you must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor ie Clive Dalton (but not in any way that suggests that I endorse you or your use of the work). It would be appreciated if you provide a reference link to this blog at this address: http://woolshed1.blogspot.com;

2. Non-commercial: you may not use this work for commercial purpose. If you are a business wanting to use this material, or you want to make money from it, you'll need to talk to me to get permission:
• For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a simple link to this web page.
• Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder – please feel free to contact clive.dalton@gmail.com.
• Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights.

Cat Behaviour and Welfare

Don’t ever think you keep a cat!

This section on Cat Behaviour and Welfare explains how your cat allows you the privilege of sharing its territory, in what you may think is your home environment.

Cats were very smart and got themselves domesticated to take over humans around 130,000 years ago, on the promise of working - catching vermin and being good companions. Some believe they conned man before dogs did.

They had more devious plans for a life of luxury spending most of each 24 hours snoozing in comfort. In ancient Egypt they even got themselves worshipped!

For humans to survive with cats, it’s important to appreciate to understand their incredible senses and how these make them ruthless and cynical predators of native fauna as well as vermin.

Knowing how cats communicate with cats is very important, as they have also worked out how to communicate with humans to get what they want. Knowing this is vital in understanding their social and reproductive behaviour which humans may not like, and have to find ways to modify.

So the information on so-called “cat-human” problems and their resolution is important, as long as you realise that cats have no problems, it’s the humans in our modern lifestyle who cause them, especially when humans forget that cats are cats!

This leads on to cat feeding issues, and confusion between what cats need and what humans think cats need. Then there’s what the advertisers of cat foods think the owners think cats needs!

To read all about Cat Behaviour and Welfare, click this link: Clive Dalton Cat Behaviour Knol.
For a simple introduction to the language and terminology of animal behaviour and welfare, readers should review Clive Dalton's Animal Behaviour and Welfare: basic principles.

Dog Behaviour and Welfare

People and dogs got together 15,000 years ago for very sensible reasons – hunting, guarding, rubbish disposal and warmth. Since that time dogs have had plenty of time to work out how to stake a claim in the human family hierarchy, manipulate pack leaders, and suffer the abuse (both intended and accidental) that humans have heaped upon them.

This hasn’t stopped, and there are more professional “therapists“ and “dog whisperers” sorting out so-called dog problems today than ever before. There are NO dog problems; they‘re all problems inflicted on dogs by humans who don’t understand that dogs just want to be dogs.

So to survive with a dog, you need to understand dog senses and how important these are in social behaviour. The dog lives in a world of odours, which homo sapiens left behind – probably relying on the dog for this service. Smell has special significance in reproduction which is covered.

Poor socialisation of pups from 4-12 weeks is vital for a happy man-dog relationship and is a reason for nearly all the problems discussed in this document. This is all valuable information for understanding the dog training principles touched on in the Dog Behaviour Knol and the Working Pup training knol as well.

Chapter 2 in Clive Dalton's Knol series on animal behaviour and welfare is now available by clicking here. Read it to understand the simple science of dog behaviour, and find out how it can be applied to practical dog behaviour problems - applicable to farm dogs and town dogs alike.

You might also read the first chapter in this series, an introduction to the Basic Principles of animal behaviour and welfare, to gain an understanding of the key concepts and principles.

Animal Behaviour and Welfare: basic principles

Humans have been watching animals since the dawn of time - to hunt then to farm them, and then keep them as companions. But to farm livestock successfully, it soon became apparent to modern man that the art and science of animal husbandry had a large component of animal behaviour and concern for the animal's welfare, which many countries have now built into their laws to respond to society's concern over modern farming methods.

There have been some massive changes in farming over the two decades driven by economics, with fewer but larger farms and where the identity and concern for the individual animal has often been lost. As well as this trend, there are now many more small farms using up land that has not been merged into large units. There are many animals on these "lifestyle" farms and their owners often lack knowledge and experience with livestock.

So the difference between what were once traditionally "companion" animals (e.g. dogs and cats) and "farm" animals is now less clear, as pigs, poultry, lambs and kids are kept as pets in both urban as well as rural environments. The information that is linked from this post is provided in response to these changes, and to help improve the well-being of animals on farms wherever they may be.

Before studying the detailed behaviour of each farm animal species, it’s important to understand some basic principles. Start by studying what animal behaviour is, why it’s important in the 21st century, and who cares. Many groups claim a stake in this, and it’s interesting that the animals’ concerns inevitably come last.

Animals in New Zealand have legal rights under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 so this must be understood, along with how to deal with anthropomorphism and questions about the “rights” of animals. Appreciating the impact of domestication on our modern stock is important, to understand the practical and financial implications of the stress and distress we impact on them.

It is controls on animal's social behaviour which humans regularly under-value in pursuit of profit. The science behind learning and teaching in animals is important, especially if you have to reprogram any to solve problems created by humans. Issues differ at each stage of an animal’s life, so knowing how to analyse and solve animal behaviour problems is the basis of a successful “domestic contract” between humans and animals so it has a win-win outcome.

Click here for a link to Chapter 1 of a series on Animal Behaviour and Welfare, covering species from dogs, to sheep, cattle, donkeys and cats. This introduces the many principles that are referred to in the other chapters now online in Clive Dalton's blogsphere. It is essential reading to understand basic frameworks and concepts used across this unique set of knols.

Other chapters will include (grey chapters are currently under construction):

Basic Principles
Dog Behaviour
Cat Behaviour
Sheep Behaviour
Goat Behaviour
Cattle Behaviour
Deer behaviour
Horse Behaviour
Donkey Behaviour
Pig Behaviour
Poultry Behaviour
Rabbit Behaviour

The Shepherd's Crook - a brief history

By Dr Clive Dalton

History
A crook, staff or stick has been a shepherd’s multi-purpose tool-of-trade since man first herded sheep. It has even become a religious symbol for high-ranking clergy to show their responsibility for their flocks.

A stick has many uses. It’s a support for walking over rough terrain as in New Zealand high country mustering; a means of catching ewes and lambs around the neck or legs, and a defence weapon against flock predators.

Photo shows me at The University of North Wales, Bangor (1956-59) during a lambing collecting data for my Ph.D. My trusted Hazel stick with Blackface ewe's horn handle never let me down. I did have problems with the dog though, as it worked to commands in Welsh!


Few shepherds ever had money to buy a stick, even if they were available. Sticks in shops were for sale to tourists, so unless an old shepherd and stick dresser gave you a stick, the only option for a young shepherd was to start and make their own, hoping they’d get some help from a local expert who would reveal his secrets!

I was lucky enough to be given my first stick at age13 by a noted Border Shepherd, Michael Anderson, when I plucked up enough courage to ask him how to bend a sheep’s horn. He was generous with his knowledge and honoured me with a stick. It was a memorable visit to his workshop with few tools but much wisdom.

But a shepherd’s stick is more than a tool of trade; it also makes a personal statement about the owner so you‘d never criticise a fellow worker’s stick, no matter how ugly it was.

So it’s easy to see how the craft of stick dressing developed into a competitive art form, with one shepherd trying to beat his mates on the next farm, in the next valley or in my birthplace in Northumberland, across the Border. There was intense competition among shepherds for sticks to be presented to Royalty, so their secrets became even more jealously guarded.

This all changed, thankfully for the better in 1951, by the formation of “The Border Stick Dressers Association (BDSA) at the home of Mr J. McGuffie in the College Burn valley in the shadow of “The Cheviot” hill on the English side of the Scottish Border.

Their first patron was the Duke of Northumberland, and the first president was Mr George Snaith. George without doubt was the most famous stick dresser of all time who turned the craft into a mind-boggling art form. I had the enormous privilege of visiting his workshop with few tools and no electricity. He did all his intricate artistic work in a cold shed illuminated by a paraffin lamp, with a pocket knife he made himself. Some of his massive stick collection is now housed in Alnwick Castle while his relatives hold the rest.

The BDSA aims were to keep alive the dying craft, to help fellow stick dressers obtain horns and shanks, and to have demonstrations and competitions (for prize money) at shows and to appoint judges.

Contacts:
Border Stick Dressers Association. Contact Wilf Laidler (see below).
Laidler, W. (2007?). Border Stick Dressers Association. The first 50 years.
Contact Wilf Laidler, 18 Crumstone Court, Killingworth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE 12 6SZ.

Phone 0191 2682224,
Email wilf@wlaidler.freeserve.co.uk
Website http://www.wlaidler.freeserve.co.uk/webpage

This Association fortunately has widened interest in the craft far beyond shepherds who are a dying breed world wide, but in 1996 the European Union nearly regulated it out of business. They brought in a regulation which deemed that the head of all sheep and goats (with the exception of the tongue) had to be incinerated to prevent the spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).

However, a massive stick dressers’ campaign in 2000 won the day with the British and EU parliaments, so the use of tups‘ horns was still allowed. What sweetened the victory was the acceptance of the Prince of Wales to be one of the Patrons of the Association.


Stick types
1. Straight staffs. Made from stout sticks of native timbers such as Manuka or Lancewood.
2. Thumb sticks. These are made from sticks with a natural V near the top used for the walker‘s thumb. Deer antler is sometimes used to make the V and it’s joined to the shank with a spigot on the shank fitting a hole in the horn.
3. Wooden headed sticks. These are cut out of a solid block of wood from which the sapling shank is growing.
4. Horn headed sticks. These are made from animal horns, usually rams but goats and cattle horns can be used.

Horns in New Zealand
1. Merino. These are good but tend to be thin and don’t have the mass of horn seen in the Drysdale or Dorset Horn.
2. Drysdale. Ideal horns but very low numbers available.
3. Dorset Horn. Ideal horns but low numbers available.
4. Goats. There are large numbers of feral goats and horns of bucks grow very long. There is not a great bulk of horn to work on.
5. Cattle. Not very suitable to work on as there is very little solid end.

The stick pictured I made from a Wiltshire Horn ram's horn. It would be classed as a 'plain stick' in contrast to a 'fancy stick' .
The shank is Hazel wood.

The Hazel (Corylus avellana)
The hazel is the 'Rolls Royce' of stick shanks. It's very light to carry and use, but the fibres in the wood make it very strong and will bend a long way before it will break. If a stick shank does break, it's usually not a clean break but more of a split and tearing of the fibres, and you see many old shepherds' sticks rescued with electrical insulating tape.

Hazel trees showing their growth form which encourages suckers
from the base and lower branches. The suckers make the stick shanks.

The main advantage of the Hazel is that it is very easy to coppice and produced new growth from the base. So traditionally this was used for barrel hoops and hurdles for folding stock. They were also used in hedging where they were easily bent to bind and keep the top branches of the Hawthorn hedge in place once it had been cut and bent over.

In early British history Hazels were use in wattle-and-daub huts and half-timbered buildings in areas (with chalk areas) where timber, stone and clay were hard to come by.
See H.L.Edlin (1949). British Woodland Trees. Batsford Ltd.

A good day's stick hunt
Below is a mouth-watering heap (to a stick dresser) of Hazel shanks cut from the trees in the above picture. They will take a year to dry. It's very important not to tell anyone else where you got them from.


A stick in good hands
This is Arthur Cowan, aged 94, an icon of a Kiwi. He fought in North Africa to get rid of Romel then in the Italian campaign in WW11, spent time in a German prison camp. He returned to farm hill country near Otorohanga in the North Island of New Zealand and has dedicated his latter years to conservation. He is never idle, planting native trees, preserving bush, and educating others to the wonder of New Zealand landscape.

I was very proud to make him a stick - which as you can see is in very good hands.


More information
Google 'Shepherd's Staves' for more information on the history of the shepherd's stick.

Soil and Fertiliser Glossary

Acidulated: Fertiliser manufacturing process where acids are used.
Aeration: Process where air gets into the soil pores.
Aggregate: Cluster of soil particles (sand, silt and clay).
Allophanic soils: Soils containing aluminium and silicon formed from volcanic ash.
Alluvial soils: Soils deposited on land by water.
Ammonium nitrate: Inorganic fertiliser with 33% or rapidly available N.
Ammonium phosphates: Inorganic fertiliser containing N(33%).
Ammonium sulphate: Inorganic fertiliser containing N(21%) and S(24%).
Ammonium nitrogen: Inorganic soluble form of N.
Anion: Ion carrying one or more negative charges.
Anion storage capacity (ASC): Measure of the capacity of soil to store nutrients e.g. P and S: Previously known as phosphate retention capacity.
Ash soils: Yellow-brown loams, brown granular loams and clays, and red brown loams, derived from volcanic eruption.
Available nutrients: Nutrients in soil easily absorbed by plants.
Available water: Proportion water in soil that is easily absorbed by plants.
Available water-holding capacity: Sum of available water capacity of each root-containing layer.
Bare fallowing: Fallow leaving bare soil.
Base saturation: Percentage of cation exchange capacity of a soil saturated with basic cations.
Base cations: Calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na) and potassium (K).
Biomass: Living organisms in the soil.
Borax: Trace element fertiliser containing 11% boron.
Boron: B.
Border dyking: Levees or borders to control flow of water on to land.
Brassica crops: Cauliflowers, cabbages, turnips and Swedes.
Brown earths: Aerobic soils with brown colour due to iron particles on soil particles.
Buffering capacity: Ability to resist changes in pH; also changes in concentration in nutrient concentration.
Bulk density: The mass of a standard volume of soil.
C:N ratio: Concentration of carbon in organic matter divided by the concentration of nitrogen.
Calcareous: Containing calcium carbonate (limestone).
Calcined magnesite: Inorganic fertiliser containing 50-55% magnesium in rapidly available form.
Calcium sulphate: Gypsum. Inorganic fertiliser containing S(20%) in rapidly available form.
Cation: Ion carrying one or more positive charges.
Cation storage capacity (CSC): Measure of capacity of a soil to store nutrients e.g. Ca, M.G., K and Na. Also called cation exchange capacity.
Chelates: Trace elements combined into organic molecules which makes them readily available to plants.
Clay soils: Soil containing fine mineral particles no bigger than 0.002mm in diameter.
Clod: Large dense lump of soil.
Co: Cobalt.
Coarse soil texture: Soil dominated by sand-sized mineral particles.
Cobalt sulphate: Trace element fertiliser containing Co (21%).
Compaction: Soil where heavy machinery of stock have destroyed air-filled pores.
Concretion: Soil particle composed mainly of a single chemical compound e.g. Calcium carbonate or iron oxides.
Copper sulphate: Trace element fertiliser containing Cu(25%).
Cover crop: Crop planted to protect the soil surface or seed planted after it has started to grow e.g. Grass seed in crop of barley.
Crop residue: Unharvested part of a crop (roots and straw).
Crop rotation: Sequence of different crops grown on an area of lad which could include a fallow.
Crumb structure: Small, rounded, porous aggregates in soil.
Denitrification: Reduction of nitrate or nitrate nitrogen to gaseous form.
Development fertiliser: Fertiliser applied to boost the overall fertility of a farm.
Diammonium phosphate: Inorganic fertiliser containing N (18%). P (21%) and K(0), S(2%).
Dolomite: Form of limestone containing calcium or magnesium carbonate. Has 10% Mg in slow release form.
Effective root depth: Depth of soil before root penetration stops.
Elemental Sulphur: Inorganic fertiliser which is 100% S in slow release form.
Equivalent acidity: Weight of pure calcium carbonate (limestone) to neutralise the acidity caused by applying 100kg of fertiliser.
Erosion: Loss of soil by wind, water or ice.
Essential plant nutrients: Chemical elements essential for normal plant growth.
Eutrofication: Enrichment of surface water with plant nutrients causing weed and algal growth, and anaerobic conditions.
Fallow: Period when no crop is grown.
Fe: Iron.
Ferrous sulphate: Trace element fertiliser containing 19% Fe.
Fertiliser: Any organic or mineral material added to soil to supply essential nutrients for plant growth. (Not the legal definition).
Field capacity: Soil water content 2-3 days after a saturated soil has been allowed to drain, and when free drainage has stopped.
Fine texture soils: Soils in which fine particles (clay and silt) predominate.
Fixation: Process that converts plant nutrients from soluble form to less soluble form.
Friable soil: Soil which breaks down with ease to desirable tilth.
Gley soil: Soil developed under poor drainage.
Granular structure: Soil with well-defined crumb structure.
Green manuring: Growing a crop e.g. oats, lupins to plough back into the soil.
Ground water: Zone below soil surface in which water can move freely.
Growing degree days: Number of days when air temperature is above 10ºC.
Gumland soils: Soils containing the resin from kauri trees.
Gypsum: Inorganic fertiliser containing 20% S in rapidly available form. Calcium sulphate.
Heavy metal: Toxic metallic elements e.g. Cadmium, mercury, arsenic, chromium, lead and nickel.
Horizon: Horizontal layers in the soil profile differing in appearance and chemical properties.
Hump and hollow: Reshaped land surface to help drain off surface water.
Humus: Stable form of organic matter in soil containing plant and animal residues decomposed by micro-organisms.
Impeded drainage: Condition where no free movement of water through soil is possible.
Impervious: Resistant to water or plant roots.
Infiltration: Entry of water into the soil surface.
Immobilisation: Reverse of mineralisation.
Inorganic: Mineral substances containing carbon only in the form of carbonates.
Intrazonal soils: Soils influenced when formed by parent material or temporary or permanent saturation.
Ions: Electrically charged particles formed when substances dissolve in water. Anions have negative charge and cations have positive charge.
Iron pan: Narrow layer of soil in which individual particles are cemented together by iron oxides.
Labile nutrients: Plant nutrients in soil that are able to replenish the soil solution rapidly to maintain plant growth.
Land classification: Grouping land into categories based on suitability for purpose.
Leaching: Removal of nutrients from upper soil layers by downward movement of water.
Limestone: Rock made up mainly of calcium carbonate.
Liquid fertilisers: Fertilisers spread in liquid form.
Loam: Soil containing sand, silt and clay-sized particles without any one type dominating.
Macronutrient: Element required in large amounts for plant growth.
Magnesium oxide: See Calcined magnesite.
Magnesium sulphate: Inorganic fertiliser containing 10% Mg in rapidly available form.
Maintenance fertiliser: Fertiliser applied to replace nutrients removed from the soil.
Manganese sulphate: Trace element fertiliser containing 24% Mn.
MAX: Maximum available water-holding capacity of soil root zone.
Mb: Molybdenum.
Melanic soils: Soils with dark surface horizon rich in nutrients such as Ca and Mg.
Micronutrient: Element required in small amounts (ppm) for plant growth.
Mineral nitrogen: Soluble N compounds in nitrate, nitrite or ammonium forms.
Mineral soil: Soil consisting mainly of mineral materials and less than 20% organic matter.
Mineralisation: Process where micro-organisms convert plant nutrients from organic to inorganic form.
Mn: Manganese.
Mole drainage: Dragging metal plug (mole) through soil to make drainage tunnels.
Monoammonium phosphate: Inorganic fertiliser containing N(11%). P(21%) and K(0), S(2%).
Mulch: Material applied to soil to prevent water loss by evaporation and suppress weed growth.
Nitrate nitrogen: Inorganic soluble form of N.
Nitrogen assimilation: Incorporation of N into organic materials by living organisms.
Nitrogen cycle: Process of how nitrogen is used in a grazing system incorporating N from the air, the role of N fixing by legumes, and return of dung and urine from the animal.
Nitrogen fixation: Conversion of nitrogen gas in the air by rhizobia bacteria on roots of legumes into forms that can be used by plants.
Nutrient budget: Exercise to balance nutrients applied with nutrients removed from the farm.
Nutrient cycling: Process of nutrients moving from soil to plants and returned again to soil.
Olsen P test: Measure of plant available P.
Organic soil: Soil containing more than 20% organic matter.
Over liming: Applying more lime than needed to achieve optimum pH.
Oxidation pond slurry: Content of farm oxidation pond used as organic fertiliser.
Parent material: Material from which the soil is formed.
Partially acidulated phosphate rock (PAPR): Inorganic fertiliser containing P in both soluble and slow release form. Total P content around 15%.
Peat: Soil formed by accumulation of undecomposed or partially decomposed plant residues.
Permanent wilting point: Water content of soil at which plants wilt and don’t recover.
Permeability: Ease which with water, gases or water can pass through a soil.
pH: Measure of acidity or alkalinity of soil.
Phosphate retention capacity: Soils capacity to absorb phosphate anions.
Plasticity: Ability for soil to stay in shape after being moulding with fingers.
Plough pan: Soil layer with poor permeability formed below depth of regular cultivation.
Poaching: Same as pugging.
Podzols: Strongly leached acid soils with clearly defined bleached horizon.
Porosity: Volume of pores as percentage of volume of soil.
Potassium chloride: Inorganic fertiliser containing 50% potassium in rapidly available form.
Potassium sulphate: Inorganic fertiliser containing 40% K and 17% S in rapidly available form.
Profile: Vertical section through soil exposing different horizons.
Pugging: Destruction of surface structure of wet soils by stock or traffic.
Pumice soils: Soils formed from volcanic pumice.
Quick test K(QTK): Measure of plant available K.
Quick test Mg(QTMG): Measure of plant available Mg.
Raw soils: Very young soils with no distinct profile.
Reaction: Acidity or alkalinity of soil expressed as pH value.
Reactive phosphate rock (RPR): Natural occurring, slow-release P fertiliser containing between 12-15% P. An unacidulated fertiliser.
Recent soils: Weakly weathered soils with little profile but with distinct topsoil.
Rhizobia: Bacteria live in root nodules on legumes that convert atmospheric N into plant available N.
Rhyolite: Derived from rhyolite, a fine-grained igneous rock that occurs in larva flows.
Rill erosion: Erosion forming small gullies or rills on soil surface.
Ripping: Same as subsoiling.
Root nodules: Small growth on roots of legumes containing rhizobia bacteria.
Root zone: Depth to which roots penetrate.
Run-off: Rainfall or irrigation water which flows off soil surface.
Saline soils: Salt-affected soils.
Sand: Mineral soil particles between 0.02 and 2mm in diameter.
Sandy soil: Soil with texture dominated by sand fraction.
Saturate: To fill to capacity e.g. Soil pores with water.
Se: Selenium.
Sedimentary soil: Soil formed by layers of material deposited by wind or water.
Sheet erosion: Small amounts of soil eroded in a uniform manner from soil surface.
Silt: Mineral soil particles between 0.002 and 0.02mm.
Silting: Deposition of water-borne soil particles in a stream or lake or on flooded land.
Sulphur leaching index (SLI): Index of likely loss of sulphate Sulphur from root zone by leaching.
Slow-release fertiliser: Fertilisers that release their nutrients over an extended period.
Sodium molybdate: Trace element fertiliser containing 39% Mb.
Sodium selenate prills: Trace element fertiliser containing 1% Se.
Soil cap: Dense layer on surface of soil.
Soil solution: Water in soil and materials dissolved in it.
Soil structure: Arrangement of primary soil particles (sand, silt, clay) into aggregates.
Soil tests: Chemical estimates of soil‘s ability to supply nutrients available to plants.
Soil water deficit: Difference between actual amount of water in soil and its water holding capacity.
Solubor: Trace element fertiliser containing 20% Bo.
Sorption: Combination of adsorption and absorption where ions are removed from soil solution by reacting with soil particles.
Subsoil: Soil below B horizon, below cultivated layer or below the root zone.
Subsoiling: Breaking the compact subsoil with tines and without inverting it.
Subsurface tillage: Cultivation with blade to cut plant roots to loosen soil without inverting it.
Sulphate of ammonia: See ammonium sulphate.
Sulphate Sulphur: Inorganic soluble form of S.
Sulphur leaching index: Empirical assessment of potential for sulphate Sulphur to be leached from soil.
Superphosphate(Single super): Rapid release inorganic fertiliser containing around 9%P and 12% S. A fully acidulated P fertiliser.
Superphosphate(Triple super): Rapid release inorganic fertiliser containing around 20%P and 2% S. A fully acidulated P fertiliser.
Surface drains: Reshaped land surface to help removal of surface water.
Texture: Relative proportion of solid primary particles (sand, silt and clay) in a soil.
Tile drain: Clay pipes in subsoil to remove surface water.
Tilth: Fine texture of topsoil required before sowing.
Topsoil: Uppermost layer of soil. The cultivated area.
Ultic soils: Strongly weathered soils with accumulation of clay in the subsoil.
Unacidulated: Process in fertiliser manufacture involving acid.
Urea: Inorganic fertiliser with N (46%) in rapidly available form.
Whey: Byproduct from cheese manufacture used as cow feed or fertiliser.
Virgin soil: Uncultivated soil.
Volcanic rock: Rock derived from volcanic activity e.g. Basalt, pumice and rhyolite.
Volumetric water content: Volume of water in soil as percentage of soil volume.
Water stress: Stress in plants caused by inadequate water.
Water table: Level below which a soil is saturated with water.
Weathering: Physical and chemical changes caused by atmospheric forces occurring near the surface.
Wilting point: Same as permanent wilting point.
Wind erosion: Caused by particles blown by wind.
Zinc sulphate: Trace element fertiliser containing 23% Zn.
Zn: Zinc.
Zonal soils: Soils in which climate and vegetation are the most important soil-forming factors.

Information source: I.S. Cornforth (1998). Practical soil management. Lincoln University Press. ISBN 0-909049-15-7

Sheep and Wool Glossary

Age mark: Piece taken from a sheep’s ear to denote year born.
All counted: Sale yard term for selling ewes with lambs at foot. The final bid is the amount paid for the ewe and each of her lambs.
Alpha lamb: An unweaned lamb too heavy for the beta trade, up to 18-20kg liveweight. Not usually tail-docked or castrated.
Bearing ewe: Ewe with an everted (pushed inside out) uterus and or vagina.
Bobby lamb or beta lamb: A lamb not yet weaned (one to three weeks old) going for slaughter at around 14kg liveweight. Not usually tail-docked or castrated.
Body wool: Wool from the main body of the sheep.
Brand: Identification mark on wool bale or sheep.
Break: Weak or tender part of a wool fibre that under tension breaks apart.
Britch: The lower thigh of the sheep. Britch wool is coarse fibres from that area.
Broken mouthed: Ewe that has broken or missing teeth.
Broken wool: Pieces of fleece wool from which the short and dirty ends have been removed.
Canary stain: Yellow stain in the fleece caused by high temperature and humidity.
Cast sheep: A sheep found lying on its back unable to get up, usually because it is heavy in lamb or has a heavy fleece.
Cast-for-age (CFA): An old sheep (usually ewe over 5 years) culled from the flock because of age.
Catching pen: Pen in woolshed sheep for the shearer to catch.
Character: A composite description of wool quality.
Chute: Ramp or race used for the sheep to exit the shearing board.
Classing: Grouping similar wools together for sale.
Clean wool: Wool that has been scoured or washed.
Cockle: Defect in sheep pelts.
Condition: State of fatness of sheep, or amount of non-wool constituents (dirt and grease) in wool.
Cot: Fleece that has become matted during growth.
Crimp: Natural wave formation in wool. Small waves denote finer wool.
Crossbred wool: Wool from breeds other than Merino or part-Merino breeds.
Crutching: Shearing the wool from the rear end of a sheep.
Crutchings: Wool removed from the crutch.

• Ring crutch: Removal of wool around vulva and anus.
• Full crutch: Removal of all wool from the udder, the back and inside the legs, and up over the tail.
• Belly crutch: Removal of wool from the brisket, the full belly, inside the back legs, around udder, vulva and up over the back.

Cryptorchid: A true cryptorchid is a male with undescended testicle or testicles, but the term is also used to describe a lamb that has been made infertile by applying a rubber ring below the testicles to remove the scrotum, leaving the testes pushed up against the body.
Cull sheep: One selected for slaughter or sale.
Dags: Dirty wool around rear end of sheep.
Dagging: Removing dags from the sheep.
Dead wool: Wool plucked from a dead sheep.
Dipping: Treating sheep with and insecticide for internal and external parasites. Can be immersed in a swim dip, have insecticide poured on (pouron) or be sprayed.
Draft ewe: Same as cast for age.
Dresser skin: Woolly lambskin processed into leather with wool attached.
Dry sheep: One that did not produce a lamb.
Dry/dry: One that did not produce a lamb because it is barren or did not get pregnant.
Ewe: A mature female sheep, usually over two years old.
Eye wigging: Removing wool from around the eyes.
Fadge: Bag in which wool is packed.
Fellmongery: Factory in abattoir or freezing works where wool is removed from sheep skins.
Flock: General term for a group of sheep.
Flock ram: A non-registered ram used in a commercial flock
Flushing: Giving ewes extra feed a few weeks before mating to stimulate ovulation.
Flystrike: Sheep that are attacked by blowflies where their maggots eat the sheep’s flesh.
Fostering: Giving an orphan lamb to another ewe to suckle.
Four-tooths: The second pair appear at 21-24 months old.
Full mouth: The sheep has a ‘full mouth’ when the set of eight permanent teeth is complete − 42 to 48 months of age. After four years of age it can be difficult to assess age because of tooth wear or lost teeth.
Full wool: Ten to 13 months growth of wool.
Greasy wool: Wool as shorn from the sheep containing natural grease.
Gummy: Sheep with not front incisor teeth.
Hair: Differs to a wool fibre as it has a medulla (hole) up the centre.
Halfbred wool: Wool from Corriedale, NZ halfbred or similar sheep, containing between one quarter and three quarters Merino.
Handle: The feel of the wool.
Hoggets: are older lambs in which the central pair or permanent teeth have not yet appeared. Lambs become hoggets in their first winter.
Hogget (for meat): A carcass from a sheep between 12 and 24 months of age, and before 30 September in the year following that in which it was a lamb.
Hungerfine wool: Very fine wool induced by starvation of the sheep.
Joining: Putting the ram with ewes.
Kemp: Short, white brittle medullated fibres on a sheep.
Lamb: Animal up to nine to 10 months old with 8 temporary incisors (milk teeth).
Lamb (for meat): Carcass from a sheep under 12 months old, and before 30 September in the year following that in which it was born.
Lambs wool: Wool shorn from lambs.
Lambing percentage: Measure of how many lambs were produced as a percentage of the ewes in the flock. Here are some ways to calculate it:

• Number of lambs born/100 ewes joined
• Number of lambs born/100 ewes lambing
• Number of lambs docked/100 ewes joined or lambing
• Number of lambs weaned/100 ewes joined

Line of wool: Several bales of wool of similar type.
Locks (lox): Short wool from below the shearing table or swept from the floor.
Long-tailer: A male whose tail was left undocked to indicate that it wasn’t castrated.
Lot: Line of wool sold at a sale. Minimum of four bales of 460kg total.
Lustre: Sheen seen on some coarse wools, eg Lincoln or Leicester.
Maiden ewe: Female sheep that has not been mated.
Mating harness: Harness fitted to a ram’s chest so he leaves a raddle mark on the ewe when mated.
Mating ratio: The number of ewes joined with a ram.
Micron: One millionth of a meter. Used to measure wool fibre diameter.
Mixed-age flock: Flock of sheep made up of all the age groups from hoggets to 5-year-old ewes.
Mixed sex: Sheep offered for sale in groups of both sexes.
Mob: General term for flock or group of sheep.
Mulesing: Cutting off the loose skin from around the tail of a Merino to remove the wrinkles and reduce flystrike.
Mustering: Gathering sheep with the aid of dogs.
Neck wool: Wool from around the sheep’s neck.
Oddments: Parts of fleeces other than body wool, sold separately e.g. necks, bellies, pieces, locks.
Off shears: Newly shorn sheep.
Pelt: Lamb/sheep skin after wool is removed.
Pickled pelt: Lamb/sheep skin preserved with brine and sulphuric acid.
Pinhole: Small holes in lamb/sheep pelts.
Pizzle: The sheath and penis of a ram or wether.
Pizzle stain: Stained wool from around the pizzle.
Plain wool: Wool without much crimp or character.
Pre-lamb shearing: Shearing ewes in late winter or early spring before lambing.
Prime lamb: A lamb that is ready (finished) for sale to a meat company or fat-stock buyer. It is a more acceptable term than ‘fat lamb’.
Ram: A male sheep of any age.
Raddle: Marking a sheep with chalk or paint marks (approved as scourable from wool).
Rig: Male with an undescended testicle.
Scouring: Washing wool.
Scouring: Sheep with diarrhoea.
Second cut: Wool fibres that are cut twice during shearing and reduced in value.
Second shear: Wool from sheep shorn more frequently than once every eight months.
Shearing: Removing the entire fleece of the sheep. There are many systems eg once/year, twice/year or twice in three years.
Shed hand: Person other than a shearer working in a shearing shed.
Six-tooth: The third pair erupt at 30-36 months of age.
Skirting: Removing oddments from a fleece after shearing.
Slink: Lamb either born dead or died soon after, processed for their skin.
Slipe wool: Wool recovered at a fellmongery by chemical treatment of the skin.
Snow raking: Making a track for sheep to find a way through deep snow.
Sound wool: Wool without defects.
Staple: Natural cluster of wool fibres in a fleece.
Store sheep: Sheep needing to grow more before being ready for slaughter.
Strong wool: Wool with a coarse fibre diameter for its type.
Stud ram: Pedigree ram registered with a breed society.
Suint: Natural water soluble impurity of wool grease.
Sweat locks: Short, heavy, greasy staples of wool from inside the legs.
Teaser ram: Vasectomised ram.
Tail-up, chaser or follow-up ram: A ram used at the end of mating (joining) to mate any late-cycling ewes.
Teaser: A vasectomised ram put in a paddock near ewes to encourage them to cycle prior to mating.
Tender: Wool with a tensile weakness. A less severe form of break.
Terminal sire: A ram used to sire lambs for the meat works (as opposed to replacement stock. It’s the last ram used in a crossbreeding programme so all the lambs produced go to slaughter.
Tippy wool: Wool with very pointed tip to the staple.
Tup: Male sheep (ram).
Tupping: Time when the ram (tup) is with the ewes. Tup is a UK term for a ram.
Two-tooth: The central permanent pair of teeth start to appear at about 12 months of age and are fully erupted before 18 months of age.
Type: Visual description of a sheep’s physical features related to the breed standard.
Unsound wool: Wool with tensile weakness, includes both tender and broken wool.
Virgin wool: Wool used in fabric manufacture for the first time. Pure new wool.
Weaning: Removing lambs from their mothers, usually around 10-16 weeks old.
Webby wool: Mild entanglement of fibres within a fleece. Early stage of cotting.
Wet/dry: A ewe that produced a lamb but didn’t rear it (perhaps it died).
Wether: A castrated male sheep.
Wigging: Shearing wool from around the eyes and head of sheep.
Wool pull: Estimate of weight of wool removed from a skin at a fellmongery.
Wool type: Suitability of wool for a particular form of processing and end use for the breed.
Wool yield: Proportion of useable fibre in a lot of greasy wool, expressed as a percentage.
Woolly hog: Fleece from a hogget unshorn as a lamb.
Yolk: Natural impurities of wool (wax and suint) in greasy wool.

Sheep Breed Glossary

Meat breeds

• Awassi (fat-tailed)
• Dorper
• Dorset Down
• Dorset Horn
• Hampshire
• Oxford Down
• Polled Dorset
• Ryeland
• Shropshire
• South Dorset
• South Dorset Down
• South Hampshire
• South Suffolk
• Southdown
• Suffolk
• Texel
• Wiltshire

Wool breeds

• Boroola Merino (fine wool)
• Drysdale (coarse wool)
• Merino (fine wool)
• Polwarth (fine wool)
• Tukidale (coarse wool)
• Dual-purpose (meat and wool) breeds
• Border Leicester
• Borderdale
• Cheviot
• Coopworth
• Corriedale
• Dohne
• East Friesian
• English Leicester
• Finnish Landrace
• German White-faced Mutton
• Lincoln
• Perendale
• Romney
• Milking breeds
• East Friesian
• Polled Dorset
• Pelt breeds
• Gotland Pelt
• Karakul
• Rare breeds
• Arapawa
• Hokanui Merino
• Raglan Romney
• Pitt Island Merino

New Zealand Farm working Dogs. Training a pup on a stool.

By Dr Clive Dalton

This puppy training technique was developed by the late Alan Lourie who in his latter years after an active farming life lived in Palmerston North NZ. 

Alan Lourie won many dog trials, gun dog trials and obedience trials.  He trained his dogs to do all sorts of tricks to keep their minds active and was a master of animal behaviour.  To prove a point about the ability of his dogs to stay till commanded to move – he once left a gun dog (spaniel) in the stay command position all day and went back to get it at night to the amazement of his critics.  He retired at 63 Fitzroy Street in Palmerston North where he died in his 80s.  He taught many famous dog trialists their first basic skills.

Alan never published any of his ideas, but after interviewing him, he was happy to check what I had written below and happy for it to go on my blog.  It appeared in the “New Zealand Farmer” March 24, 1983 edited by the late Neil Rennie as editor.

The initial problem
It’s easy to build a bond with a pup and get it to follow your every step. It's when you have to leave it to 'sit' or 'stay' that it gets very upset and confused as it sees its pack leader disappear leaving it in what it sees as danger.  So its natural instinct is to do what it's learned - follow it's 

It’s the ‘sit’ and ‘stay’ that can be tricky with strong-willed and smart pups as they interpret ‘stay’ as 'the pack leader is leaving me in danger', so it wants to follow to be safe.

Steps in the method 

The approach to training is a simple step-by-step approach and should start no later than three months old.  I do not teach the “Down” command as it is not necessary.  The basic exercises are taught on a narrow stool which prevents the pup making any unnecessary movements.  It also saves the handler bending down.

Step A

Lift the pup on to the stool and praise it.  It is best to start off with the stool against a wall.  The exercise should be done three times a day for no more than two minutes each time.  Praise the pup only after you have lifted it on to the stool and while it stays there.  Do not praise it after you have lifted it backwards off the stool.  Note that you never take the pup off the stool in a forward direction.  When the pup is quite happy to be put on the stool and taken down again, teach step B.

Step B – “Sit”

Put one hand under the pup’s chin and gently grab a lump of skin.  With the other hand pressing down on the pup say “Sit” in a high-pitched voice, give the command quietly but push down quickly on the rump while lifting the head.  Hold the pup down and praise with “Good dog”.  Do this for tow minutes then take the dog back to its run.  Repeat three times a day.  Praise only while it is sitting.  Release it backwards off the stool and do not give more praise.

When the pup is sitting on the stool when commanded – then teach C.

Step C – “Stand”

The stand is taught by raising the pup from the sitting position by putting you hand on top of its head and the other under its belly with the command “Stand”.  On the command, slowly and quietly lift the hindquarters while pushing down on its head.  Praise only when the pup is standing.  Release backwards off the stool with no more praise.

Do this exercise three times a day for spells of two minutes each.  Make the word for the command have a long “Staaand” sound to contrast with the short, sharp “Sit” command sound. Never let the pup fight you.  Use your strength, pressure and do it quickly.  Hold the pup in position and praise it. Then when proficient at this exercise – teach step D – the most important “Stay” command.

Step D – “Stay”

Move the stool away from the wall and put the pup on it.  Then you can walk around it using the command “Stay”.  Use a kind voice returning to the pup many times, holding it in position and praising it.  As the lessons proceed, you can walk further and further away from the pup in any direction, rushing back if it moves or to reinforce the command and reassure the pup.  If it goes to move, use the sharp command “No”.

Stay means stay!

The “Stay” command will soon be understood by the dog as meaning – “Stay where I put you for ever until I give you the command to move”!  This is vitally important because on the is command a dog will relax and even go to sleep, and not get into a state of agitation and stress wondering where it’s boss has gone, getting up tight and move away to look for him/her if they have gone out of sight.

Returning to the pup

The “Stay” command is perfected by you always going back to the dog and relaxing it backwards from the spot you have left it.  But how you return is critical. 

Return to the pup as previously and stand perfectly still by its right shoulder.  Slowly count to 10 or even 20 to teach the pup to be patient and then go down on one knee and hold the pup in that position while quietly praising it before relaxing it backwards from the spot. 

There are two important “don’ts”.  First o not return to the pup and give it immediate praise or it will anticipate this and jump off the stool to meet you.  Then do not call the dog to you from the “Stay” or it will encourage it to break when it becomes concerned about where you are or what is going to happen next. 

How then do you move a dog from the “Stay” position?  The answer is to teach the dog to “Wait”.

Step E – “Wait”

“Wait” is a completely different command.  The pup has to learn that it means “stop, stand still, but stay alert because another command is coming very soon”. The dog will learn to move forward to you from the “Wait” command but it should never shift from the “Stay” command until you go back to it.

Benefits of the stool

It’s now that you can see the benefit of the stool – in the kitchen, in the woolshed away from any other distractions for the pup.  Under these conditions the pup will learn ten times faster than when running around on the ground picking up bad habits from other dogs and being distracted during the lessons.  By this stage with the stool, the pup has learned no bad habits and has accepted you as its master and team leader.  It has developed the habit of looking for you two or three times a day.  These exercises can even be started from two months old and by three months it should have learned all the A,B,C, D stages.

The stool lessons can then be changed by moving the stool outside into the paddock.  The pup will learn that these commands are you definite instructions.  If it breaks from any step – then go back to the previous one.  Do not move on until each step has been well learned and the pup reacts on the first command without question or delay.

The “Get up” command

If you put a block at the back of the stool to act as a step, then it’s easy to teach the pup to “Get up” on to the stool when it is big and strong enough.  You can’t expect a little put to do this too soon.  If a robust pup is reluctant to jump up, then a short sharp pull on a lead up on to the stool with the command “Get up” will fix it, along with plenty of praise once it has arrived.  He’ll be surprised to suddenly find itself on the stool getting great praise and soon forget about the pull that got it there.

When older this “Get up” exercise can be done on to anything around the place – and eventually on to the bike and the backs of tightly-held sheep.  It all starts on the stool.

Some key points to remember

• The top of the stool should be 750mm long, 200mm wide and 25mm thick.  It should be at least 400mm above the ground.
• A young pup when on the stool and looking down sees it as too high to jump off, but it is wide enough to make it feel reasonable safe without moving.
• You never ever take the pup off the stool in a forward direction – always backwards.
• When you go back to the pup – always wait standing still before you complete the action.  Otherwise it will not wait for your command and will anticipate your praise and move – and as it gets bigger jump off.
• If you praise the pup as soon as it gets off the stool, it will then learn to jump up to get praise all over you (and other humans) and this is hard to correct later.
• To stop it jumping up for praise, give it a smart pat on the head with the command - “That’ll do” and walk away ignoring it.

Getting rid of dags and worms - Part II

Part 2. Starting a "Dag-Free & Worm-Free" flock

Focus on the target - dags and worms (in that order), and it has to be done with minimal cost. All you need is raddle, some tags, your eyes and a finger.

Don't worry about other traits. You can ignore them for a while, as they won't decline genetically or disappear if you go flat out on dags and worms for a couple of generations.

Males

The rams already on the farm

• Get your rams in that are on the property now and stick your finger up their bums! They should not have been drenched for at least two months to be drug free. Here's what you feel for and score:

* Marbles (FCS 1) – you'll feel definite marbles.

* Hand grenades (FCS 2) – feel an empty chamber from which a hand grenade has been voided.

* Plops (FCS 3) – small green stain on finger end.

* Slops (FCS 4) – larger wet green stain on finger end.

* Scour (FCS 5) – finger covered in green runny faeces.

• Only keep those with FCS 1, (or FCS 2 if there are not enough marblers). Cull the rest or use them as terminal sires so their progeny don't get back into the flock.
• Take a faecal sample and send it to a recognised lab for a FEC. The target ideally should be zero but under 500 eggs/gm may have to be accepted, but certainly not above 1000 epg.

Next season's rams

• Contact your stud breeder and tell him/her that what you want next year. You need rams that have been drug-free for at least two months and with FCS of 1 before you go to inspect them. You also want a FEC (done at a recognised lab) of less than 500 epg.
• Can you imagine what kind of reception you'll get? BUT things have got to change and are changing, and this will hasten the changes needed. If breeders are not asked, why should they go to all the bother?
• If you can't get the rams you need from the current sources, then when you get down the track a bit, consider breeding your own.

Females

Next year's lambs

• Don't drench any lambs at docking – that's the worst thing you can do!
• If tapeworms are knocking the lambs, then drench based on your experience of benefits and not the drench adverts. Getting rid of any scour can reduce blowfly problems.
• Base any drench at weaning on FEC and the chances of Barber's Pole.
• From weaning on, only "crisis drench", and mark all daggy ewe lambs that need drenching.
• Never use long-acting drenches on lambs.

Ewe hoggets

• Drench only on the basis of FEC and the risk of a crisis, e.g. Barber's Pole.
• Never use a long-acting drench on ewe hoggets.
• Put a special mark on those that are always clean, regardless of the feed. These will be your replacements and mark persistently dirty sheep as potential culls.
• Make the final selection on FCS, keeping only "marblers" and "hand grenaders".

Ewes

• Never use long-acting drenches no matter how good the promotional giveaways.
• At all times of year, mark ewes that are persistently daggy and put them on the cull list.
• At mating, mate your top marbling rams to groups of marbling ewes. Any ewes with sloppy faeces (FCS 3, 4 or 5), mate to a terminal sire and don't let any of their progeny back into the flock.
• This exercise will form a "nucleus" of elite ewes. They are so important that they need a special tag.
• You can strengthen this nucleus by making "scanning twins" an extra entry qualification after being Dag-Free & Worm-Free.
• This nucleus will then become your "genetic engine" to breed replacements, and it will grow as better and better females qualify to go into it.
• Pay special attention to the 5-year-old Cast-for-Age ewes, as they have stood the test of time and the best of them based on records (if you have any) or health, FCS and FEC should be viewed as potential ram mothers.

What will all this achieve?

It will put maximum selection pressure on parents that have genes to get rid of dags, and that have a natural genetic resistance to worms. The secret is to keep the selection pressure hard on, and not be concerned about other traits till you get dags and worms cleaned up.

Contact me with your comments or questions

See my book for details

D.C.Dalton (2007). "Internal parasites of sheep and their control – now and in the future". 3^rd Edition with cartoons by David Henshaw.

Book available from www.lifestyleblock.co.nz