Thursday March 20, 2014

Day 62..

Machinery / Workshop Practical
Today we worked on the cultipress in the workshop yard. This machine carries out three actions in one pass - cultivating, levelling and consolidating the seedbed ready for drilling. Cultivation at speed is provided by leading tines, either Pro-Active sprung tines (fitted as standard) or shearbolt protected rigid units. Some of these tines can be broken when working the land and there was a section in the middle of this machine that had been snapped off. Our job was to detach all of the tines on the front section and remove the casing that these attached too!
We then continued to service the baler in the yard as this job is not yet finished and we added a few more bits to the list of requirements including a new casing for the electrical power cables running the lighting.

Livestock Theory
1. Marketing Prime Lamb
Customers of prime lamb (finished lamb) include the buyer for the abattoir or processor who buys it from the farmer; the retailer who sells it to the public and those who eat the meat! Each customer has different requirements and you must be target specific when finishing your lamb:- Supermarkets 16-21KG carcase, EUR confirmation & 2, 3L fat classification; Local butchers 16-25KG carcase, EURO confirmation & 2, 3L fat class; Exports 9-21KG Carcase, EUR confirmation & 2, 3L fat classification.
2. Heifer Rearing
The management of a dairy heifer up to first lactation has a significant effect on potential milk yield, fertility, potential calving difficulties and longevity. Calving at 2 years old has the following benefits; fewer replacements are required, less land needed, feeding, housing & labour costs are reduced, faster genetic improvement within the herd, longer lasting heifers producing more milk and earlier return on capitol!
3. Animal Diseases - Recognition & Recording
It is a legal requirement that all livestock farmers record all veterinary medication administrations. Single farm payments can be affecting if these records are not up to date. We were split into groups and given a list of symptoms and then had to identify the animal from a picture wall with that symptom, as well as the medication it would need and then write up the treatment on a vet med recording sheet.