Wednesday November 13, 2013

Day 19..

Back in the classroom, a morning of land based machinery (following our farm related crossword puzzle) - firstly the plough. We watched a video on how to set up the tractor and plough for optimum performance then discussed the various factors of ploughing, such as the front to back weight distribution 40:60 adding weights to the front is usually in the form of ballast called wafer weights. However, some tractors have one solid weight, so it is very important to get the ratio right or you will incur massive loss of traction. We then moved on to the hydraulic system - an operation that is carried out by pressure transmitted through a pipe by liquid, such as water or oil. The operations include power steering, fore-end loaders, 3 point linkage, external spools (tipping trailers etc) and controlling internal functions such as, PTO clutch. We actually covered this system in great detail, so I need to revise my notes and learn all the technical jargon! But for starters, let's remember that an open circuit system applies to a gear pump and that a closed circuit system applies to a piston pump!

Our afternoon practical started on our walk to the sheep field. The grazing field that we crossed contained a lot of clover, which Dom explained was a good nutrient provider, both for the animal grazing and by being utilised back in to the soil as the plant absorbs nitrogen and ammonia. Without constant grazing, this field is prone to chickweed -  A weed that grows in cold conditions, including winter and can also affect cereals, sugar beet and other arable crops, but sheep are happy to eat it off.

We then herded in a group of ewes for condition scoring. This was a group already been tupped but the new ram was in with, to pick up any 'left overs'. Today we used the sheep handling system called the race - which fits up to ten sheep in it in a queue. This allows the first sheep to receive healthcare checks and any injections to administered easily as they get 'wedged' in to the treatment area. But it also secures a group that can be conditioned scored easily too! So, keeping a tally on scoring sheets we then carried out the three basic checks - the hand width across the sheeps back, (feeling for the amount of meat, bone and fat), a feel of the tail (for size) and a general overall look. With this information a score was given and recorded, thus gaining the average condition score of the small herd. As we left the farm, we also had a quick look over the Lincoln reds who were all eating happily!