Day 23..
Today we were let loose to take a plough to pieces.. Ok, so not the whole plough! But one shear (the section containing the mouldboard, heal, tail piece, plough point, wing and shin) and one disc coulter and adjoining skim coulter.
The purpose of this practical session was to remove the pieces that are the parts that wear out the most when the plough is in full working use. Each element plays a significant part in ploughing the ground, for example the landslide firms up the corner of the furrow, consequently each part has a little or a lot of contact with the ground and depending on the conditions and set up will undergo wear and tear. Parts that wear down the most are attached separately making them easy to replace.
We began by spraying some penetrating oil (wd40) over the nuts and bolts as this would make them easier to undo. Working from the outside, we used various tools including round ended spanners and a ratchet and sockets to work the nuts off the bolts, but when we found this difficult we had to think about the leverage and increase the length of our tools either by using an extending pole or another spanner - being careful that these did not slip. As a couple of the nuts and bolts were in awkward places, where the socket was too big to fit, we did use a soft ended mallet to tap the spanner to work the nut loose - this is an example of doing the job in reality!
Each piece was then cleaned with a wire brush before being reassembled.
This afternoon began disgusting reproduction in the ewe and ways to manipulate the processes in order to change the date of lambing, for example if you need to provide lamb year round in your farm shop. Ewes are seasonally anestrous meaning that they come on heat when the number of day light hours begin to drop. Therefore you can 'trick' the ewe in to dispersing melatonin (which happens when it goes dark) leading to the ovulation process. The methods include sponging - inserting sponges doused in hormones into the vagina, melatonin - increasing strengths of melatonin released via a 'soluble glass' insert in the ear, housing - bringing them indoors and gradually making it pitch black, teasing - adding a vasectomise dram into the ewe flock (unlike a castrated male, this one will still produce testosterone and all the other male hormones required to bring the female on heat) and flushing - putting the ewes on fresh pasture two weeks before the ram is introduced as this ups the nutritional status and improves fertility. And don't forget the ram.. It is important to ensure the ram is fit and healthy so he can keep up his side of the process.
We then moved on to the grass beef systems - looking at 18 and 24 month programs. This is where your herd will benefit from either one (18 month) or two (24 month) grazing periods providing a better end product due to the variety of feeding on offer - grass, silage and concentrates.
18 month - 24 month-
1st winter rear. 1st winter rear
1st summer graze 1st summer graze
2nd winter finish 2nd winter store period
2nd summer finish on grass
For those utilising the 18 month program, it is important to get the animals finished over the second winter because there will be no spare grazing the following year - when the new stock will be grazing. And for those on the 24 month system the 'store' period is crucial.. Here you can ration the feed, giving the animals just enough to maintain themselves, as this reduces winter feeding costs without affecting growth rates at the later stages. When the animal is reintroduced to the second grazing period they are able to get up to finish weights due to compensatory growth - the ability to gain weight by utilising their food better! The system you use simply depends on your circumstances - amount of grazing available, money to buy in extra feed etc.
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