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The Muster- Brenton Howden: A New Month Begins · The Muster on Hokonui

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I want you.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: I want you. I need you. I need you.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: But there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you.
• 0:11
  Speaker 3: Brenton Howden farms over at Benmore and joins us this
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: afternoon on the muster.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Howdy. Good afternoon.
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: Last time we spoke to you, you were on drone
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: patrol doing the lambing beat before the season kicked off proper.
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: I dare say that drone's been put away and you've
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: been out in the fields and the trenches.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: G'day, Andy. Yeah, no, I don't know that they go
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: too well in the rain. I didn't try that. But,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: you know, it hasn't been out for a while now.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: It's just been me myself having to go out there.
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah. OK, so over there at Benmore, you're between Dipton
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: and Winton as such. How have things been over the
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: past four weeks?
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: It's certainly been wet, but I don't think it's been
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: as bad as some people. We had 170 mils for
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: the month. Yeah, there's been some bigger numbers than that about.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: It's been all right. I guess we're just used to
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: it three years in a row. It's just water off
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: a duck's back, to say, if you want. Yeah, you
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: just get out there and get it done. But it's, yeah,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: some paddocks that definitely need a bit of wind and
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: a bit of sunlight on them to dry them out.
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: So you're almost resigned to the fact that September was
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: going to be what it was going to be?
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I told you last time I thought
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: it was going to be because we'd had a couple
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: of weeks of wetness and I thought, oh, I can
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: see us coming. And, yeah, it certainly delivered. But, yeah,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: as I was saying to you before, I think a
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: bit of resilience has been built into the flock over
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the last couple of years. And I think it's pretty
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: bad at the moment. I think maybe in five, ten years'
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: time we'll look back and go, you know, those three
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: years were actually really, really good to our flocks. Back
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: in the day when we used to have... Good lambings,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: you'd have two or three storms during that time and
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: that was the end of the world. You'd go out
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  Speaker 1: and pick up 20, 30, 40 dead lambs the next day.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Now it's been a storm every night and some days
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: I'd be lucky to pick up four or five. So yeah,
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  Speaker 1: definitely the ewes are definitely used to it and lambs
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: are definitely surviving better.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: So the genetics comes into play?
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so, and just that natural selection. The
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: two-deuce this year, they were born in 2024, so if
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: they survive that, they've definitely got a bit of survivability
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: in them, and the ewes that are a bit slack
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: at getting lambs up off their feet, well, they've definitely
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: all been had their heads cut off in the last
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: two years, and probably the last cohort of them will
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: get it done this year, so yeah.
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: What's it like for shelter on your farm over there, Brenton?
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: You've got a couple of different areas of land, one
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: either side of the main highway there towards the river
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: and the other one not so much.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: But is shelter a big part of your farm?
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Not really. There's the odd flax shelter bouts. There's no
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: big hedge lines. It can be a little bit exposed.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: I think shelter can be a bit of a double-edged sword,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: like where there is a bit of shelter and a
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: flax line, it can be an absolute disaster to turn
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: up there and there's five or six sets of twins
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: and born in the mud and it's, yeah, it's, I
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: don't know, I'm not convinced on shelter really but there's
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: bits and pieces and there's a bit of natural shelter
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: with the way the hills roll and that so it's
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: not too bad. It's not completely bare and open but, yeah,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: there's just enough really.
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: Interesting you say that regarding shelter. Do you think perhaps
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: because everything just goes to the one area and that's
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: when the mayhem unfolds?
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it does I think. They all congregate up behind
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: those hedges or along those flat hedge lines, and, yeah,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: it can be an absolute disaster. So that sort of
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: pays to fence them off if they're a problem area, and, yeah.
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: So the immediate area around you, Howdy, is it very
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: similar rainfall numbers, or is it a case of being microclimatic,
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: and it varies?
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: I think it varies. Quite often, we were up on
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: the hill and looking down, and, like, some winter, and
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: hedgehogs looked like they were getting it sometimes, and we weren't,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: and then sometimes it was going the other way, going west, and... Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: so I think it does depend on the area. I
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: was talking to some people just above me and they've
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: had way less than I've had. So it's definitely area specific.
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: A lot of people contemplating the September farming programme now.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: You know, famously Henry Buckingham had him on the show
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: a couple of weeks ago. He's just starting lambing in
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: the next couple of days. Is moving lambing dates something
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: you consider or just a case of case-a-ra-sa-ra?
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Well, I've I've been slowly pushing it back over the
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: last few years. When I first came back to the farm,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: I think it was the 23rd or 25th of August,
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  Speaker 1: and decided to make a change about four or five
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: years ago, and I just slowly pushed it to the,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: what are we this year, the 7th. I think I'll
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: probably go to the 10th next year. It's more a
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: feed thing than a weather thing. Like, I don't know,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: three bad years in a row is probably not enough
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  Speaker 1: to guarantee and say that September's are going to be
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: shit from now on, so... Maybe if I'm talking to
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: you in this time, three years' time, and it's been
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: another three years' shit runs, I'd say most of Southam
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  Speaker 1: would have shifted to October. But, yeah, I hope that
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: goes well for Henry because we need a good October
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: to fix what's happened in September. But it could easily
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: be a rough October and a nice September, couldn't it?
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: How's your feed levels looking?
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: They're OK in places. We've got some paddocks that are
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: really good and some are a bit tight. The ones
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: that are a bit tighter are more the wetter ones than...
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: It's just a matter of going around and just counting
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: ewes in each paddock and just pushing a few more
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: to the better ones and taking a few out of
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: the ones that haven't got as much and just sort
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: of moving stuff around. We'll just put a couple of
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: mobs of ewes out on the river where it's a
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: bit dry and there's a bit of pucker out there.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Just give the paddocks a bit of a rest and
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: I'll get a wee bit more urea on in the
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: next week or so if the conditions dry up. Yeah,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: shouldn't be too bad.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: Have the stock come through not too bad, all things considered?
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: The ewes?
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the ewes are looking not too bad and the
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: lambs looking pretty good too. We tailed a mob of
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: earlies that lambed at the start of August at the
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: weekend and I was very surprised at how well the
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: lambs looked. Just, you know, we've just been in this
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: rough weather for the last four weeks and I thought
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: they might have taken a bit of a check but
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: they looked really good and the ewes weren't too bad.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: I think the ewes have probably copped it a little bit.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: They've been putting it into the lambs so that's what
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: you want and Yeah, but overall, ewes are looking all right. Yeah,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: they came out of the winter pretty good, and even
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: though I thought I was a bit tight, yeah, they
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: wintered quite well, so yeah.
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: Now, lamb covers has been the topic of conversation for
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: a lot of people, and for everybody being told in
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: this day and age that plastic doesn't hold its place,
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: but do you reckon it's been a lifesaver with these
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: plastic covers along with the woolen variety?
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I run both. Me and my lambing shepherd probably
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: put probably two to three rolls of plastic ones out each,
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  Speaker 1: and I think I had two to three hundred woolen
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: ones we used. Yeah, we definitely got out there and
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: got quite busy there those nights before big storms and
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: filled sheds up, and they definitely have their place. If
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: you can get those plastic ones on sort of pretty
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: quickly after the lambs, the ewes are not too worried,
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: and they work quite well. But for the older ones
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: that have been out a wee bit longer, you sort
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: of put a woolen one on, or the old ewes
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: aren't too happy about those plastic things flapping in the wind.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: And it's just a case of tidying everything up, though,
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: when after the storm is such?
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, like there's a few plastic covers floating around.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: They're gone fence lines at the moment now, but they've
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: served their purpose. And, yeah, you sort of go along
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: and pick them up and pick up what you can
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: and hope the neighbour will get the rest of them.
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: So, Andy, you hope to get the tractors out into
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: the paddocks, or is that a pipe dream?
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Oh, I'm itching.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: You can itch, but you've got to be realistic too.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I might be able to get some ploughing done
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: maybe this weekend. There's three or four paddocks that were
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: direct drill and had ewes on them, so they're dry
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: as a bone, so I could actually probably get into them.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: But the ones I really want to get into are
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: the second year crops, get the young grass in and
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: the barley and oats, but yeah, the other wet ones are...
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: They might take another few weeks, but, yeah, we'll get
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: done what we can. And, yeah, there might be a
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: few late nights, but that's what spotlights and GPS and
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: auto-steer are for, though, isn't it?
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: It's a bit of a luxury having auto-steer. A lot
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: of people seem to have it, though.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I wasn't going to get it, and then the
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: salesman talked me into it, and, yeah, I wouldn't go back.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: It's been pretty bloody good for spirit-spreading I've been doing
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: leading up into lambing. Yeah, it's definitely a game-changer.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Hey, good on you, Brenton. Thanks for your time as always.
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: Next time we catch up with you, hopefully the weather's
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: corrected itself and tailing's all done, tractor work's done and
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: we'll catch up again.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, cheers Andy and yeah, keep on battling everyone.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Every day's another day closer to sunshine.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Brenton Howden of Benmore. You're listening to The Muster.
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: Not far from Brenton's place actually is about a 25-minute
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: drive down to Balfour.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: We catch up with Anika Templer. We'll stew how to