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!