June-August 2010:
Hello Farmers,
I hope you are all getting a bit of R and R over the off season before the rush of calving will be on you. The weather has been a but unpredictable however there seems to be lots of feed around and our region seems to be doing well.
As far as your ponds go remember there is always trouble this time of year with storage so please put on the wet weather gear and go and check your ponds to make sure you have plenty of room in them as the longer you leave it the worse it gets. There should be a few weather windows through June and maybe early July where we can come in an lower the level of your ponds. Just remember if the ground is saturated we can't do much as the risk of run-off is too high.
Fixed Systems: for those of you with your own system in place especially sump irrigation, if you have not already, speed up your irrigator. Most travelling irrigators requires a simple adjustment. If you have any problems either call your supplier or me (027) 4450256.
Rain water Diverters: once you have finished in the dairy shed and washed down the yard and cleaned out the sumps divert the rain water to reduce the amount of water going into your ponds . HINT pull a fuse in the shed as a reminder that the diverter is going to waterway and maybe put up a sign .
Now is also a good time to book in a pumping for Spring so we can get to your farm as soon as the ground dries up. Remember first in first served.
Good luck with calving and enjoy the sleep ins.
Duncan and the team at T.E.I.S
