In the Adelaide Hills Farmcast July Edition, Belle Baker looks at farming jobs Adelaide Hills lifestyle farmers should be planning for in the coming months. We’ll cover weaning your lambs and calves and how to avoid grass Tetney. This episode was recorded with Alex Thomas from #plantaseedforsafety – a rural social change initiative that puts health, safety and wellbeing front of mind.

And Pods talks with Ashley Davidson from Woodshield Posts about the benefits of using this certified organic fencing solution.

We hope you find this show helpful and welcome your comments below or email Belle or Pods at hello@ahfarmservices.com.au.

Also, remember that each episode has chapter markers, so when you’re playing, you can skip to the next section easily.

00:30 Adelaide Hills Farmcast July Edition

Introduction

03:07 Adelaide Hills Farm Almanac / Farm Calendar

Livestock

• The key factors in determining when to wean your lambs or calves is to ensure they are large enough and that you have immediate access to good quantities and quality feed. Growing stock will be on a rising plane of nutrition meaning they need an increasing amount of fodder to maintain their weight and to grow.
• Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) have published a handy guide – you can read it here. And if you want to read some research on how heifers and cows on a rising plane of nutrition positively impacts pregnancy rates, there is a good article here.
• Grass Tetany can be a real issue in high rainfall regions like the Adelaide Hills. In simple terms, it’s caused when magnesium levels get down to a critical level. It’s most common in lactating animals over 5/6 years old. There are a few things you can do to reduce the risk of Grass Tetany including offering hay, a salt lick and ensuring there is a steady source of feed. Elders Rural has a short, informative article here, and MLA provide more technical details here.

Pastures

• Post-emergent spraying continues
• Its time to consider whether you’re going to fertilise your pastures. If you are, please consider booking your contractor now.
• Winter is a good time to spread any old mouldy hay over bare patches in your paddocks. They should grow and fill in the patches.

Water

• Whilst your water sources throughout winter should be in good supply, continual run-off into dams can cause some contamination. It’s fairly easy to tell if you have a problem, your stock will be avoiding drinking it. If in doubt, we suggest you do a water quality test.

Productive Gardens

• Have you finished pruning your roses and fruit trees?
• I’ve had a wonderful package from Mr Fothergill’s so this month I’m planting Asparagus, and a thorn-free Blackberry, Red Current and Boysenberry Fruit Trees.

17:04 Farmcast Interview: Pods and Ashley Davidson talk about Woodshield Posts

27:06 Farmcast Co-host: Alex Thomas, Nairne

July’s Farmcast was recorded on our property on the outskirts of Littlehampton.