Latest / The Muster on Hokonui / The Muster- Steve Henderson: Get Those Wheels Turning

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The Muster- Steve Henderson: Get Those Wheels Turning · The Muster on Hokonui

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Can you see me halfway? Right up the borderline is
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: where I'm going away.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: For you, I'll be looking out. Away down to Awarua
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: this afternoon on the muster where we catch up with
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Steve Henderson along with his wife, Tracy, farming down there.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: The farm is called Legendaries. It's a great play on
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: words as well. They're quite active on social media too.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: We haven't really talked about that too much, Steve-o. How's things?
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Afternoon, Andy. I'm very good. Nah, it's sort of not
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: really my forte. I haven't even got Facebook, so nah,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: it's Chase's thing, and yes, he tries to just put
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: on there what's real and what's happening.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Right, you're not a Facebook man, you're more about the
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: TikTok generation, are you?
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: I still go through the old negatives and look at
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: photos and albums.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: No, you'll still be playing Snake on your Nokia.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you struggle to get a charge of the fits
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: at these days.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: How's everything been the last couple of weeks, though? A
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: bit of a change in feed?
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it has, yeah. No, we're... We're starting to grow grass.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: We're using 60, 55 a day, which is more than demand. So, well,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: we're pushing covers ahead of us. And, yeah, over the
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: next few days, we'll start to take a fair bit
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: of that bulk supplement we're putting into them. So cows
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: will be back on an almost all-grass diet, which will
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: be good for a change. It'll stop the old invoices
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: coming through the email and, yeah, make a bit of
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: cheap milk for a change.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: That must be a good feeling, knowing you can just
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: work on grass.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it is. It is, especially when, well, I'm speaking
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: probably on behalf of all the Southland, the amount of
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: feed invoices that have come through the email, yeah, they
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: only just match the milk check. So, yeah, it is good.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: It is good, and that's what cows are bred for,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: and that's why you pasture farm down here. So, no,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: it's good to get back to that stage, and, you know,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: the long-term forecast looks pretty good too, right after the
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: next 10 days, doesn't it? So, yeah, we'll continue to
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: grow a bit of grass and... hopefully dry a bit
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: more out so we can get a bit of ag
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: work done, and yeah, the whole cycle continues.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: What about all the people you're speaking to around you
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: on the farms? How are they coped over the last
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: week or so? Because understandably, down south, they get hammered.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, everybody's got a bit of perk in their voice now,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: and that's just Big Yellow does that, and knowing that
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: soil temperatures are rising are probably the two key things,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: so And no one's really behind the eight bull years either,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: but we're still only, what are we today, 15th of
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: October or something?
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: 16th of October.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so we're not, you know, middle of November or
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: middle of December trying to fight getting crops in the
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: ground and pasture renewed. So, yeah, I think everybody's up
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: with the play. Most people have calves outside, which they've
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: probably been in the shed for a bit longer, but
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: they tend to grow out in the shed pretty good too. So, yeah,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: all that comes around, weeding calves and... AI starts. So, no,
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: it's good to have a bit of yellow and a
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: bit of grass in front of you when all those
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: things start to happen.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: So your route disking today must be good to be
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: in the paddock and if you do cock up and
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: get stuck, well, you can go and get your old
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: Pentax camera out for the 1970s and take a photo.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: That's right and that's the beauty of it. No one knows. Yeah,
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: we are. We're just trying to get on. We're going
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: to put some summer turnips in again and also just
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: get on those paddocks that were in crop going into
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: new grass and make a start somewhere, dry it out
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: so we can get back on them next week or
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: the week after. It's sort of that period in October
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: where there's a bit of a lull, so to speak.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Not too many cows left calving and you've got a
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: couple of free hours between milking, so yeah, go and
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: make the most of it.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: So you're okay in the paddock? It's not too sticky?
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't say we'll be sowing behind the disc right now,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: but No, it's all pretty good. It does dry out
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: reasonably quick, and I think that's what most of Southland
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: would have found, is literally when it stopped raining, it
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: dries out, which is a crazy phenomenon, but I start
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: to believe it now. If you've got no rain, you
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: dry out. So that's what's happening. There's a bit of
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: heat in the soil too, so it's more about just
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: trying to break up those, you know, those sort of
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: soil pans and stuff to let that top water go
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: that's hanging around, so when you have a decent crack
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: at it next time, you can get the whole paddock
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: done and make a good job of it.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: Are you going to stay off the swedes for next winter?
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we will. We'll go swedes and cattle again and
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: that worked pretty well growing that bulk feed but we're
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: probably more focused on transitioning the cows on grass and
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: baleage out the back of those swedes. We might be
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: upwards of 20 days, 25 days pre-carving on grass and
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: baleage to try and transition that cow properly. It's It's
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: worked well this year with our next to no metabolic issues,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: and yeah, if that can continue, I think that's the
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: plan going forward.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: So as far as metabolic issues, you touched on it then,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: you've seen nothing out of the obvious with the grass
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: come on like it has?
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: No, no, not as of yet. We did actually have
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: a couple of excellent paddocks we held off on, and
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: then we did get three milk fever cows. But that was,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: you know, we knew the why, and that's what happened,
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: and those paddocks had to be grazed, so Yeah, you've
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: still got to be a wee bit mindful, and as
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: this grass grows, you know, a bit quicker and a
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: bit lusher, and peak milk, yeah, you've still got to
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: keep that calcium and a bit of mag going in
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: to try and keep those balances right, and yeah, hopefully
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: there'll be no more metabolic issues until next carbon.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're looking forward to mating then.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it does come around quick. We've got a handful
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: of non-cyclers, and they're no particular group, they're just cows
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: that have calved more than 50 days we're going on
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: and there is a wee gang of older cows which
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: we probably won't do much with but we'll sit down
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: and have a look at those other non-cyclists early next
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: week and just see what group they fit in and
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: if they're worth doing a bit of intervention because obviously
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: an in-calf cow is a good cow so we've got
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: all that information now so that's next week's job and
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: then also heifer mating starts on the 27th too so
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: PG programme happening there and the year starts to get
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: busy and a bit of yard work and, you know,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: it's always a good time of year.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: I spoke to Mel Young on the show yesterday from
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: Southland Girls talking about agriculture being involved on their curriculum
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: and I delved in a bit deeper and this looks
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: as though you guys have hosted them a couple of
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: times previously.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we have, yep. We, you know, we try to
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: make the farm available to whoever wants to come and
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: have a nose in. Yeah, they bring a group out, oh,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: it might be twice a year. So they were out
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: early August and They were doing, I think they were
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: doing the animal health side of things, so all the
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: insides of cows, so they got to sort of understand
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: that when the whole calving process and then going through
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: the calves in the shed. So, yeah, they're a great, great,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: you know, gang of people. And Mel, I mean, she
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: does a good job. I mean, she promotes the ag
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: industry like it's... Like, there's nothing else, and that's what
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: we want to see, just give everybody the opportunity. It
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: does sort of get filtered down, and ag gets lost
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: out there, but, you know, now it's doing a great job,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: and the Southland girls are going gangbusters with, you know,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: between young farmers and also ag classes. It's great to see.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: 120 members and young farmers, but she said it was
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: being driven by the students themselves who wanted more hands-on
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: and just learning around agriculture, which is brilliant.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it is, and that's what we see. We've spoken
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: there a couple of times. We've gone into the school
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: and over the lunch here, done a few scenarios with
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: the Young Farmers Clubs, and it's all driven by them.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: There's not a teacher to be seen. You know, it's
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: the older girls. They take the bull by the horns
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: and run the club as if they were, you know, 18, 19, 20,
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: and running clubs like Sepulotani and Belfort. But, yeah, no,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: it's great to see, and it's just such a big driver,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: and there's such a great group of girls and young,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: They're not all off farms. They just want to learn
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: about it and be active in that industry.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: What's in store for the weekend, Steve? Just keep on working?
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: This weekend, yep, we'll be on farm and just a
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: few tidy up jobs. Keep us running through yards, get
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: some yards tidied up and fingers crossed we can get
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: away next weekend up to the Oteanio fishing competition.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: Better be good.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Get up there and catch a fish and a couple
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: of cans and have the weekend off and then come
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: back for a year ready for mating. No, it's still,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: like I've always said, we know August, September, October is
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: just a busy period, and we make the most of
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: it after Christmas.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Good on you, Steve. Enjoy the weekend. Catch up again.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: No worries.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Cheers, Andy. Cheerio. Steve Henderson, based down at Awerua. You're
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: listening to The Muster. Morgan Green's up next. I've been
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: here since based in Riversdale.