Day 72..
Machinery & Land Based Operations Theory
Combines and combine harvesting! That was our subject today. We were split into groups and with a picture of either the outside of a combine or an internal picture we had to label the parts that we already knew. These were displayed and then we talked through the various components and their function. Setting up a combine takes into consideration whether you are collecting straw for later baling or whether you are using the straw chopper in the machine and letting it disperse with the intention of ploughing it back into the ground as organic matter. Once combining you also need to keep an eye on your losses - taking a count of the amount of seed dropped on the ground after the pass and if the corn spans the width of the header then it is usually a header or reel setup issue and should be adjusted accordingly. Where the loss of grain is found under the swath (row of straw) it is coming out with the chaff and so the main grain pan should be investigated. Where the grain is mixed in to the swath can identify a threshing issue and the threshing cylinder investigate!
Livestock Husbandry Practical
This afternoon we had an introduction to sheep shearing - the process of removing the fleece off the animal. For the purposes of our demonstration and practice we were just concentrating on the daggy bottoms of the sheep today. Machine shears, aka handpieces, operate in a similar way to human hair clippers in that a power-driven toothed blade, known as a cutter, is driven back and forth over the surface of a comb (reciprocating) and the wool is cut from the animal. Once the hand piece was set up it was connected to the generator for power via an on/off hand pull - this is for safety when shearing and cuts power to the blades immediately. The shears are placed in to the sheep's fleece and with a downward motion used to cut away the fleece. It is easier to get in to the cleaner wool nearest the skin as the blades do not work well through dirty, clogged up wool - you just have to be careful when moving the shears around not to nick the sheep! We continued to dag some of the really dirty sheep bums as the weather was really muggy and there were flies about and we managed to see maggots just starting to appear on a couple of the sheep.
*** Bombshell dropped - college is trying to increase our hours next year - from three days to four!!!!! Outrageous considering I have committed to a three day course (and the fact that we do not even attend for three full days at present!!!) BTEC are to blame - they are insisting on more teaching hours apparently. Not sure what else they are going to teach us (if I can sacrifice my job, and afford the petrol to come for the extra day that is!)
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Friday, 25 April 2014
Friday April 25, 2014
Day 71..
Plant Science/Soil Science & Agricultural Crop Production
Lab coats on and ready for a session using the microscopes!!! This forms part of our plant structure and function assignment and we were looking at the differences between monocots and dicots. We cut up a bean seed first, to get a cross sectional view, and then compared this to a sweet corn seed. Monocots only have one seed leaf inside the seed coat, whereas dicots produce two seed leaves providing food for the new plant. We then cut the stems of a bean plant and wheat plant to provide a cross section that we put under the microscope to have a really close up view. Whist doing the same for the leaves of these plants we were able to get a really close up look at the parallel veins in the dicot leaf (the bean) and the random, fuller shaped veins of the monocot veins (in the wheat leaf).
Grassland Management
.. Turned into a class test on operator settings on land based machinery!!! We had to discuss the engine, transmission and hydraulic systems, how these can be altered and what happens if altered, as well as modifications made by manufacturers and then what and how these systems are used in a farming scenario, for example going spraying!!!
Plant Science/Soil Science & Agricultural Crop Production
Lab coats on and ready for a session using the microscopes!!! This forms part of our plant structure and function assignment and we were looking at the differences between monocots and dicots. We cut up a bean seed first, to get a cross sectional view, and then compared this to a sweet corn seed. Monocots only have one seed leaf inside the seed coat, whereas dicots produce two seed leaves providing food for the new plant. We then cut the stems of a bean plant and wheat plant to provide a cross section that we put under the microscope to have a really close up view. Whist doing the same for the leaves of these plants we were able to get a really close up look at the parallel veins in the dicot leaf (the bean) and the random, fuller shaped veins of the monocot veins (in the wheat leaf).
Grassland Management
.. Turned into a class test on operator settings on land based machinery!!! We had to discuss the engine, transmission and hydraulic systems, how these can be altered and what happens if altered, as well as modifications made by manufacturers and then what and how these systems are used in a farming scenario, for example going spraying!!!
Thursday, 24 April 2014
Thursday April 24, 2014
Day 70..
Machinery Operations - Practical
Calibrating a sprayer. We hitched up to the 12m Hardi sprayer in the yard via three point linkage and filled up the tank with water to enable us to carry out a nozzle check. Using the recommended nozzle output guidelines the pressure was adjusted accordingly and using a jug we collected water for 30 seconds from each nozzle. Each collection was measured and x by 2 (to take a per minute reading). The average was then worked out for the 24 nozzles and any that were over or under 5% from the average (or 10% from the guidebook) were checked. We had one that was borderline, removed it and gave it a clean. We then took the tractor off road to carry out a speed test - we put cones out at 100m apart and using the speedometer grid in the cab tried to work out which gear we needed for our recommended spraying output - this is to ensure that you are travelling at the right speed to output the correct amount of chemicals per acre. And with that, you are ready to go spraying...
Livestock Husbandry - Theory
We started off by looking at the different types of grazing systems used for sheep; continuous, rotational and intensive. Continuous means that all of the ewes and lambs will be turned out in one field, ensuring that it is big enough that the grass does keep growing ahead of them. As a guide 12/13 ewes and lambs per hectare should be adequate. Rotational grazing means that you use a system of slightly smaller fields so that the livestock can be moved from one to the next and so on. This utilises extra grass growth by keeping sheep off a field and conserving the grass for winter feeding. Using this method 15/17 ewes and lambs per hectare should be ok. You can also introduce creep feeding into this method allowing the lambs through to new grass before letting the ewes on. Paddock grazing is more expensive in infrastructure - more paddocks require more fencing and water supply etc. however, it produces a more intensive grazing system. The livestock is moved every 3/5 days onto the next field utilising the fresh grass growth and allowing the grass from the previous paddock to grow again ready for its next rotation.
We also had a health and safety in the work place presentation this afternoon in preparation of work experience placements during the summer break!
Machinery Operations - Practical
Calibrating a sprayer. We hitched up to the 12m Hardi sprayer in the yard via three point linkage and filled up the tank with water to enable us to carry out a nozzle check. Using the recommended nozzle output guidelines the pressure was adjusted accordingly and using a jug we collected water for 30 seconds from each nozzle. Each collection was measured and x by 2 (to take a per minute reading). The average was then worked out for the 24 nozzles and any that were over or under 5% from the average (or 10% from the guidebook) were checked. We had one that was borderline, removed it and gave it a clean. We then took the tractor off road to carry out a speed test - we put cones out at 100m apart and using the speedometer grid in the cab tried to work out which gear we needed for our recommended spraying output - this is to ensure that you are travelling at the right speed to output the correct amount of chemicals per acre. And with that, you are ready to go spraying...
Livestock Husbandry - Theory
We started off by looking at the different types of grazing systems used for sheep; continuous, rotational and intensive. Continuous means that all of the ewes and lambs will be turned out in one field, ensuring that it is big enough that the grass does keep growing ahead of them. As a guide 12/13 ewes and lambs per hectare should be adequate. Rotational grazing means that you use a system of slightly smaller fields so that the livestock can be moved from one to the next and so on. This utilises extra grass growth by keeping sheep off a field and conserving the grass for winter feeding. Using this method 15/17 ewes and lambs per hectare should be ok. You can also introduce creep feeding into this method allowing the lambs through to new grass before letting the ewes on. Paddock grazing is more expensive in infrastructure - more paddocks require more fencing and water supply etc. however, it produces a more intensive grazing system. The livestock is moved every 3/5 days onto the next field utilising the fresh grass growth and allowing the grass from the previous paddock to grow again ready for its next rotation.
We also had a health and safety in the work place presentation this afternoon in preparation of work experience placements during the summer break!
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Wednesday April 23, 2014
Day 69..
AM - Machinery Operations Theory
This morning we carried self surveys with regards to certain practices that take place in or around a farm workshop, for example using the right tools for the right job and how to service a baler and the procedure for gas welding. Our marks we recorded on the board and then each of the tasks was given to 1 or 2 students who then needed to devise an assignment style question relating to the subject. these questions were then judged for the better of the two and then we took it in turns to answer the questions as a group before re-scoring ourselves now that we had been thinking about the topics in more detail.
We then had an introduction to calibrating sprayers which is an important job before setting off to spray your crops. All sprayers, big or small, trailed or self propelled, must be calibrated according to the application rates of the chemicals that are being used. Therefore, it is essential for a user to know how to calibrate a sprayer. You are most likely to need to adjust your sprayer according to the current spraying conditions along with volume rate, driving speed, nozzles and spray pressure. We will carry out calibration during practical tomorrow.
PM - Livestock Husbandry Practical
Today we re-visited the pig farm of Andrew Baugh near Wellow. One of our new assignments is about animal housing systems so the idea was to look more closely at the different housing systems in place both at the outdoor rearing unit and the finishing units at the farm.
Thursday, 17 April 2014
Thursday April 17, 2014
Day 68..
Land based machinery operations practical
Rolling, harrowing and measuring a hectare!!! Today we practiced some farming on Sheepwalks East - a permanent grazing field. First I had a go at harrowing - this is a heavy frame implement that has tines or discs inside it that are used to level the ground, stir the soil, break up clods, and destroy weeds. This implement was mounted onto the back of the tractor by the drawbar and care had to be taken going round corners as it was a metre bigger than the tractor either side. Next was rolling - a heavy cylinder type implement that is pulled by the tractor and used to help the establishment and growth of crops in the early stages, usually just after drilling for the best effect.
Rolling consolidates the soil around the young seed which helps make moisture and nutrients more available to the young plant.
While it was not our turn in the tractors we used a trundle wheel to work out the size of one hectare - which is the metric measurement of an area which is 100 m by 100 m (10000 square metres). An acre is approximately 0.4047 hectares and one hectare contains roughly 2.47 acres!
Livestock husbandry - extra practical
This afternoon we ear tagged the first set of lambs. These tags were identification tags for farm use and ran in numerical order from number 1 onwards and recorded in the lambing book. Ear tags are a legal requirement when keeping livestock and depending what animal you have there are different rules, so you must be aware of your responsibilities. Registration, identification, and accurate recording and reporting of sheep movements is used to ensure their traceability, and to minimise the risk of disease transmission and maximise the possibility of controlling the spread during an outbreak.
Rules according to DEFRA (the department for environment, food and rural affairs) state:-
You must identify your sheep within:
If they are intended for slaughter within 12 months of age you have the option to identify them with a single ear tag (showing only your flock/herd mark).
Land based machinery operations practical
Rolling, harrowing and measuring a hectare!!! Today we practiced some farming on Sheepwalks East - a permanent grazing field. First I had a go at harrowing - this is a heavy frame implement that has tines or discs inside it that are used to level the ground, stir the soil, break up clods, and destroy weeds. This implement was mounted onto the back of the tractor by the drawbar and care had to be taken going round corners as it was a metre bigger than the tractor either side. Next was rolling - a heavy cylinder type implement that is pulled by the tractor and used to help the establishment and growth of crops in the early stages, usually just after drilling for the best effect.
Rolling consolidates the soil around the young seed which helps make moisture and nutrients more available to the young plant.
While it was not our turn in the tractors we used a trundle wheel to work out the size of one hectare - which is the metric measurement of an area which is 100 m by 100 m (10000 square metres). An acre is approximately 0.4047 hectares and one hectare contains roughly 2.47 acres!
Livestock husbandry - extra practical
This afternoon we ear tagged the first set of lambs. These tags were identification tags for farm use and ran in numerical order from number 1 onwards and recorded in the lambing book. Ear tags are a legal requirement when keeping livestock and depending what animal you have there are different rules, so you must be aware of your responsibilities. Registration, identification, and accurate recording and reporting of sheep movements is used to ensure their traceability, and to minimise the risk of disease transmission and maximise the possibility of controlling the spread during an outbreak.
Rules according to DEFRA (the department for environment, food and rural affairs) state:-
You must identify your sheep within:
- six months of birth if housed overnight
- nine months of birth if not housed overnight
- whenever they move off the holding of birth if this is sooner
If they are intended for slaughter within 12 months of age you have the option to identify them with a single ear tag (showing only your flock/herd mark).
Wednesday, 16 April 2014
Wednesday April 16, 2014
Day 67..
Land Based Machinery Operations - morning lectures
As the season moves into spring one of the farming jobs turns to making silage and although it can be hard to think about winter feeding it is crucial to get it right now. Silage is a form of conserved grass (or other crop) that is fed to livestock during the winter months.
The first process in producing silage is mowing - cutting a grass crop at approximately 60cm tall. The mower width will vary according to field sizes but all mowers cut the grass into rows - swath, which can easily be picked up by a forage harvester (a machine that picks up the cut grass). Mowers are drum or disc driven - drum from the top and disc from the bottom.
Forage harvesters have a series of rotating tines that lift the grass from the ground before feeding it into a chopper. The chopper cuts the grass to a predetermined length before blowing the chopped grass into a trailer for transportation to the clamp. In the farm yard the grass is deposited in a heap (the clamp) and pushed up by a handler into a large pile and then driven over to remove as much of the air as possible. Most silage clamps are then covered with black plastic sheets making sure that air and water cannot get into the clamp, either from the top or around the edges. This sheeting is then weighted down usually with old tyres until the silage is ready to be used in winter.
With lots of machinery operations happening around the farm yard we also looked at tractor safety for example prestart checks, and being aware of safety while hitching up an implement, such as making sure the tractor is to the right specification for the intended job, and operating in a field, checking for obstructions before you commence work and making sure the machinery is set up and operating correctly.
Livestock Husbandry - practical afternoon
Today we were in charge of worming and foot bathing the first set of lambs as they are now happily turned out to graze and are growing quickly! The lambs are wormed to help them fight parasite infections - worms build up resistance to particular drenches so it a a good idea to change each year. The three main types of wormer are: Benzimidazoles (white drenches), Levamisoles (clear drenches) and Avermectins/Milbemycins (also known as the macrocyclic lactones, ML, and endectocides). There is also a herbal wormer from Verm-X, suitable for organic farmers.
We set up the race and formed a 'conveyor' type system of lamb, drench 1, drench 2, foot bath dip, counted (<-I was responsible for this bit, 122!). The foot bath was made up of a water and a formaldehyde based solution which is designed to prevent foot scald in lambs - A non-contagious infection. Foot scald causes lameness, most commonly on the front feet, and lesions are found between the hooves. The tissue between the toes may be red and swollen, or totally white in colour and will cause some discomfort.
Land Based Machinery Operations - morning lectures
As the season moves into spring one of the farming jobs turns to making silage and although it can be hard to think about winter feeding it is crucial to get it right now. Silage is a form of conserved grass (or other crop) that is fed to livestock during the winter months.
The first process in producing silage is mowing - cutting a grass crop at approximately 60cm tall. The mower width will vary according to field sizes but all mowers cut the grass into rows - swath, which can easily be picked up by a forage harvester (a machine that picks up the cut grass). Mowers are drum or disc driven - drum from the top and disc from the bottom.
Forage harvesters have a series of rotating tines that lift the grass from the ground before feeding it into a chopper. The chopper cuts the grass to a predetermined length before blowing the chopped grass into a trailer for transportation to the clamp. In the farm yard the grass is deposited in a heap (the clamp) and pushed up by a handler into a large pile and then driven over to remove as much of the air as possible. Most silage clamps are then covered with black plastic sheets making sure that air and water cannot get into the clamp, either from the top or around the edges. This sheeting is then weighted down usually with old tyres until the silage is ready to be used in winter.
With lots of machinery operations happening around the farm yard we also looked at tractor safety for example prestart checks, and being aware of safety while hitching up an implement, such as making sure the tractor is to the right specification for the intended job, and operating in a field, checking for obstructions before you commence work and making sure the machinery is set up and operating correctly.
Livestock Husbandry - practical afternoon
Today we were in charge of worming and foot bathing the first set of lambs as they are now happily turned out to graze and are growing quickly! The lambs are wormed to help them fight parasite infections - worms build up resistance to particular drenches so it a a good idea to change each year. The three main types of wormer are: Benzimidazoles (white drenches), Levamisoles (clear drenches) and Avermectins/Milbemycins (also known as the macrocyclic lactones, ML, and endectocides). There is also a herbal wormer from Verm-X, suitable for organic farmers.
We set up the race and formed a 'conveyor' type system of lamb, drench 1, drench 2, foot bath dip, counted (<-I was responsible for this bit, 122!). The foot bath was made up of a water and a formaldehyde based solution which is designed to prevent foot scald in lambs - A non-contagious infection. Foot scald causes lameness, most commonly on the front feet, and lesions are found between the hooves. The tissue between the toes may be red and swollen, or totally white in colour and will cause some discomfort.
Tuesday, 8 April 2014
Lambing Live
Shifts three to five..
Friday March 28, 2014 (2pm-10pm)
A really busy shift for myself and Fraya! We started with the routine chores, feeding round the ewes in both yards, the nursery, the field and new mums and then feeding the orphan lambs x 10!
Earlier in the day two ewes had been treated for twin lamb - a disease that occurs during late gestation when the energy requirement of the ewe exceeds their energy intake as they try and support the babies last growth stages. We needed to keep an eye on these but as the night progressed we had another two ewes go down rapidly - the problem was, the earlier administration of a glucose solution and energy supplement had been recorded using the sheeps' herd/holding number - not the individual identification number so we couldn't tell what had/had not been treated. It was therefore decided to dose these two with glucose and energy supplement anyway!
After this we discovered that a previous lamb had gone rapidly hypothermic and so we needed to intervene and inject a 20% dextrose solution into the lamb (due to rapid lose of glucose, energy and health) at a rate of 10ml/kg body weight (approximately 100ml) - injected directly into the abdominal cavity intra peritoneally (IP Injection). This lamb was then put straight into the hot box in a bid to warm it back up to a safe temperature. (She survived!)
We then found a lamb with watery mouth - a bacterial disease affecting newborns. This lamb had become lethargic, dull, not interested in suckling. We striped the mum of some milk and tube fed the lamb to see if this would encourage the passing of faeces and perk the lamb up. But by the end of our shift the lamb remained lifeless and salivation around the mouth was now present - this poor thing died a few hours later.
Friday April 4, 2014 (2pm-10pm)
There was just one ewe and her lamb in the bonding pens - however this ewe was not supposed to be pregnant! Last years ewe lambs were out grazing when one gave birth!!! Upon further investigation of a fully castrated ram that had been turned out with these ladies, it was discovered that he was only half! castrated - and had therefore managed to produce some cheeky seamen!!! Consequently the 24 ewe lambs have been brought into one of the straw lambing yards and are being monitored for anymore surprise births!!!
We went about our routine checks and feeding and some yard tidying up! Monitoring the second batch of lambing ewes, one showed some mucus discharge but never actually showed any other signs of labour - but as a precaution (due to the length of time from the mucus showing) we decided to bring her into a pen just to make it less stressful for her to begin the proceedings.
Not born on our shift.
Monday April 7, 2014 (6am-2pm)
6 sheep and their offspring in the bonding pens (so the second batch did start to lamb over the weekend) and all seemed to be doing well. 9 orphan lambs in the lamb gang and nothing else showing any signs of giving birth whatsoever! Checked and cleaned all the waters and made sure all beds were clean and dry. Fed round at 9am of all the ewes - inside, straw years, nursery and the field before bottle feeding the orphan lambs. Swept up the yards and cleaned feed troughs out. We helped Neil bed down the Lincoln Red cows and their calves, before replenishing the silage in the straw yards for the expectant ewes. We then bedded these down on fresh straw. Kept up regular monitoring of the ewes but still nothing!
No new lambs on this shift!
Friday March 28, 2014 (2pm-10pm)
A really busy shift for myself and Fraya! We started with the routine chores, feeding round the ewes in both yards, the nursery, the field and new mums and then feeding the orphan lambs x 10!
Earlier in the day two ewes had been treated for twin lamb - a disease that occurs during late gestation when the energy requirement of the ewe exceeds their energy intake as they try and support the babies last growth stages. We needed to keep an eye on these but as the night progressed we had another two ewes go down rapidly - the problem was, the earlier administration of a glucose solution and energy supplement had been recorded using the sheeps' herd/holding number - not the individual identification number so we couldn't tell what had/had not been treated. It was therefore decided to dose these two with glucose and energy supplement anyway!
After this we discovered that a previous lamb had gone rapidly hypothermic and so we needed to intervene and inject a 20% dextrose solution into the lamb (due to rapid lose of glucose, energy and health) at a rate of 10ml/kg body weight (approximately 100ml) - injected directly into the abdominal cavity intra peritoneally (IP Injection). This lamb was then put straight into the hot box in a bid to warm it back up to a safe temperature. (She survived!)
We then found a lamb with watery mouth - a bacterial disease affecting newborns. This lamb had become lethargic, dull, not interested in suckling. We striped the mum of some milk and tube fed the lamb to see if this would encourage the passing of faeces and perk the lamb up. But by the end of our shift the lamb remained lifeless and salivation around the mouth was now present - this poor thing died a few hours later.
Friday April 4, 2014 (2pm-10pm)
There was just one ewe and her lamb in the bonding pens - however this ewe was not supposed to be pregnant! Last years ewe lambs were out grazing when one gave birth!!! Upon further investigation of a fully castrated ram that had been turned out with these ladies, it was discovered that he was only half! castrated - and had therefore managed to produce some cheeky seamen!!! Consequently the 24 ewe lambs have been brought into one of the straw lambing yards and are being monitored for anymore surprise births!!!
We went about our routine checks and feeding and some yard tidying up! Monitoring the second batch of lambing ewes, one showed some mucus discharge but never actually showed any other signs of labour - but as a precaution (due to the length of time from the mucus showing) we decided to bring her into a pen just to make it less stressful for her to begin the proceedings.
Not born on our shift.
Monday April 7, 2014 (6am-2pm)
6 sheep and their offspring in the bonding pens (so the second batch did start to lamb over the weekend) and all seemed to be doing well. 9 orphan lambs in the lamb gang and nothing else showing any signs of giving birth whatsoever! Checked and cleaned all the waters and made sure all beds were clean and dry. Fed round at 9am of all the ewes - inside, straw years, nursery and the field before bottle feeding the orphan lambs. Swept up the yards and cleaned feed troughs out. We helped Neil bed down the Lincoln Red cows and their calves, before replenishing the silage in the straw yards for the expectant ewes. We then bedded these down on fresh straw. Kept up regular monitoring of the ewes but still nothing!
No new lambs on this shift!
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