September 10, 2025 • 8 mins
Steve Henderson looks at what helps to keep the workers ticking over as calving starts to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
This interview brought to you by Agress into South Branches
in Lawnville, Gore, Cromwell, Milton and Ran fully dropped by
your local Agress into South Branch today.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Steve Henderson's down at Alberawa, not far from Bluff or
in the Cargo for that matter, where he farms there
on a dairy farm with his wife Tracy and family,
and joins us.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Good afternoon, Steve o House sings.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
I'm not too bad things Andy, How things up your way?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Pretty good? A bit of blue sky about certainly changes
the mood.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
It's been a dodgy thirty six hours down here in
the South. We you guys are there, you're pretty much
you're like a wind tunnel on occasions. But how's it been, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
It hasn't been too bad. We've we've just copped a
lot of that coastal rain in the last ten days.
With it up with the sort of seventy mills in
the last it would be ten days, those shares that
come through are pretty hipty. So yeah, we're getting there.
By looking back at pitches and reminiscent from last year,
we're not quite as we as we were at the
start last year, which is a good thing.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Where would you say your rainfall telly is for the
time of year compared to normal.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
I don't know, you know, I can't tell you that one.
But what I can tell you is I was cruising
around the environmentself in website, just looking at stew a
moisture and we peaked at for about four or five
days last year, and we haven't even hit ninety five
percent at all this year, so we were would have
logged pretty much from May last year right through it
(01:30):
all start of October. And yes, it gets weed on top,
and we know we're near as saturator as we were
last year, So I suppose that's an indicator of rainfall
straining away as centers hit the ground at the moment,
which is still good.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I bought one of those little throwout rain gauge is
that you just stick in the garden at the start
of the years, with great intentions of doing rainfall tellies
every day.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
But I tended to forget that.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I had young sons who'd like to play jokes, and
all of a sudden, my rain gauge after a rainfall
lasted for about fifteen minutes.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
I had ninety mil.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
As long as it wasn't wasn't yellow raindiore tipping out?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Well, I actually, I actually.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I contemplated it for a sat and I hit them
up about it, but they swore black and blue and
it was indeed just sah two os. So I'll give
them that one. You talked back to last year, Steve O.
And it is a different situation, right, I hadn't seen it.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Yeah, it does. And you get these rain beats come
through and you's a oark, hell, it's going to be
like last year. But what I can see is temperatures
like fourteens, fifteen and sixteens, no rain in the forecast
in the next ten days, and we just couldn't see
that last year. We're supposed good indicator as we've got
calves outside now, which we had calves steward sheds, so
(02:42):
you know it's the second week of October. Because it
was just that bloody we couldn't even get feeders around
the tadics to feed them, so we had to keep
them in the shed. So yeah, they're all pretty good
benchmarks and at the moment we're going, we're going a
lot with in the last year, it's been good luck.
Last time we spoke, we had a bit of milk fever.
It's sort of tape it off now and he had chipped,
so what's the thing we changed there? So we've got
(03:02):
tips and gun and the springer and milk fevers sort
of yeah, touch what is the thing of the past
and always rare up in the old fat girls and
the lake carvers, but we've we've broken the back of it.
We've got a handful of heap has left and about
one hundred and fifty mixed aage stuff left the carves,
so yeah, it's coming thick and fast and misnicus wise,
(03:22):
we haven't had huge outbreaks of that, which was good
and probably just an indicator of tea conditioning and the
season compared to last year and calf house with him.
But a crypto goes through the calf shed, so yeah,
trade and Rachel getting on top of that with a
bit of healthyicare and keeping those carves as good as
they can be because we do keep all their beef
(03:42):
calves and obviously your replacements, so there's about the six
or seven hundred cars floating around, so you want to
keep on animal health.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Is it easy to get plase about carving when you're
so far through or do you just keep the pressure
on yourself to keep things the way they are?
Speaker 4 (03:58):
No, I often, yeah, talk about your more coals and
last one hundred and fifty you've got these to the
cars and the first six fifty year of the calves.
There's just I don't know. If you get complacently, you
find you find other jobs to do that you've been
walking past for the last six weeks, so you start
going and do them, and you may overlook the chicken
then heard or being quite on the game as you
(04:19):
should be. So yes, I suppose in that answer it
has a bit of complacency. And you know they obviously
the kios are still putting on weight for those girls
in the cabin, but October and they're they're the ones
that you need to keep it on because they're also
the ones that you want to get cycling again and
hopefully you can get them on their first cycle and
get the cabin. So they're the most memorable cares.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Are you finding yourself giving the staff a pep talk
just to keep them up and rear it up and running.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
At the moment, it's been pretty been pretty good. So
like Trace and I reasonally hand on through sprints. So
we're there all day, not all day, but when you
have almost every day, and they just catch up with
them and just make sure things are taken along and
and they they know they let something slip where they
know if they've a good idea, bring it to the table.
So now we're just doing that this morning actually as
(05:06):
catching up with round links and the why why we're
keeping this roundly? What was splitting a herd into you know,
we're putting R threes in order to unhurt and keep
the dominance and hierarchy sort of at bay so they've
got the best chance cycling again. And yeah, as long
as you as long as you involved them into the
decision making and understand the why. Now they become pretty yeah,
(05:27):
pretty engrossed in what you're doing and pretty accountable.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Because one thing that can happen on the farm, and
there's nothing worse of somebody wandering around thinking, geez, what
are we doing this situation. I made the observation to
you before somebody once said, or his life here for
your andy. If you don't know what you're doing walking
around really fast, nobody's going to question you.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
But that probably doesn't cut the mustard on the farm.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Right now, if you're walking around really fast and not
achieving anything, that's the biggest question I would I would
around that, and I often say that I'd rather you
take you know, a couple of minutes and then you
think of that you're going to take so you're not
have the double life and take everything you need at
that one point and then leave and go and do
your task and come back. So yeah, walking around really
fast as long as you're doing something cool. But yeah,
(06:11):
and the.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Part it doesn't quite go is it a case on
your farm with your staff.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
There's no dumb questions.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Exactly, No, no dumb questions. The only dumb question is
the question that's been asked maybe ten times, and yeah,
I don't know I'll ever get the answer because they
can't quite retain it. But we haven't got to that
stage yet. So no, no, never a dumb question. And
the old classic at this time of the years, I
had a cock up with the old vat tap, So
that question can never be asked too many times as
(06:39):
the vat tap being changed before we have milt the
colossums or milk the red cause.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
So how bad was that? Uh?
Speaker 4 (06:47):
No? Not jet No, no, we working away around it,
and that the outcome wasn't too bad. So yeah, it's
just always been mindful of don't get too complacent and routines.
Routines good, but always be I suppose, vigilant about the
routine and make sure you're still doing what you're set
to go and do it properly.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
A's very much a case of what's happened has happened. Okay,
we rectify the problem, we solve this, and we move
on right.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
One hundred percent. Yet and the worst thing you can
do is dwell on it. And the beauty was that
it was me. So I'm always good to show good,
to show stuff that you're on a human tons exactly.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
That that's the one thing.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
It shows that you're you're not immune from doing the
odd faux pa as.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Well, exactly. And there's absolutely no point of dwelling in
it because you know they will learn a hell of
a lot more by doing it wrong and feeling guilty
than new women being on their case and drumming it
into them that you know, you're cocked up with this,
this and this and this, because they'll dwell on that.
Then they'll probably you know, four or five other things
today because they think pretty hot on you just about
(07:50):
this one thing that they cocked up. And at the
end of the day, if no one's die, things haven't
really been this bad.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Wise words as always, Steve ketch up in a couple
of weeks. Hopefully the carving's all but past.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Memory now, won't you dinny.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Steve Henderson with some wise words as well. This is
the muster up. Next a way to war Momo. We'll
catch up with Warren Ross, our resident fishing guru, but
as well rallying expert
This interview brought to you by Agress into South Branches
in Lawnville, Gore, Cromwell, Milton and Ran fully dropped by
your local Agress into South Branch today.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Steve Henderson's down at Alberawa, not far from Bluff or
in the Cargo for that matter, where he farms there
on a dairy farm with his wife Tracy and family,
and joins us.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Good afternoon, Steve o House sings.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
I'm not too bad things Andy, How things up your way?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Pretty good? A bit of blue sky about certainly changes
the mood.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
It's been a dodgy thirty six hours down here in
the South. We you guys are there, you're pretty much
you're like a wind tunnel on occasions. But how's it been, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
It hasn't been too bad. We've we've just copped a
lot of that coastal rain in the last ten days.
With it up with the sort of seventy mills in
the last it would be ten days, those shares that
come through are pretty hipty. So yeah, we're getting there.
By looking back at pitches and reminiscent from last year,
we're not quite as we as we were at the
start last year, which is a good thing.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Where would you say your rainfall telly is for the
time of year compared to normal.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
I don't know, you know, I can't tell you that one.
But what I can tell you is I was cruising
around the environmentself in website, just looking at stew a
moisture and we peaked at for about four or five
days last year, and we haven't even hit ninety five
percent at all this year, so we were would have
logged pretty much from May last year right through it
(01:30):
all start of October. And yes, it gets weed on top,
and we know we're near as saturator as we were
last year, So I suppose that's an indicator of rainfall
straining away as centers hit the ground at the moment,
which is still good.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
I bought one of those little throwout rain gauge is
that you just stick in the garden at the start
of the years, with great intentions of doing rainfall tellies
every day.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
But I tended to forget that.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I had young sons who'd like to play jokes, and
all of a sudden, my rain gauge after a rainfall
lasted for about fifteen minutes.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
I had ninety mil.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
As long as it wasn't wasn't yellow raindiore tipping out?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Well, I actually, I actually.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I contemplated it for a sat and I hit them
up about it, but they swore black and blue and
it was indeed just sah two os. So I'll give
them that one. You talked back to last year, Steve O.
And it is a different situation, right, I hadn't seen it.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Yeah, it does. And you get these rain beats come
through and you's a oark, hell, it's going to be
like last year. But what I can see is temperatures
like fourteens, fifteen and sixteens, no rain in the forecast
in the next ten days, and we just couldn't see
that last year. We're supposed good indicator as we've got
calves outside now, which we had calves steward sheds, so
(02:42):
you know it's the second week of October. Because it
was just that bloody we couldn't even get feeders around
the tadics to feed them, so we had to keep
them in the shed. So yeah, they're all pretty good
benchmarks and at the moment we're going, we're going a
lot with in the last year, it's been good luck.
Last time we spoke, we had a bit of milk fever.
It's sort of tape it off now and he had chipped,
so what's the thing we changed there? So we've got
(03:02):
tips and gun and the springer and milk fevers sort
of yeah, touch what is the thing of the past
and always rare up in the old fat girls and
the lake carvers, but we've we've broken the back of it.
We've got a handful of heap has left and about
one hundred and fifty mixed aage stuff left the carves,
so yeah, it's coming thick and fast and misnicus wise,
(03:22):
we haven't had huge outbreaks of that, which was good
and probably just an indicator of tea conditioning and the
season compared to last year and calf house with him.
But a crypto goes through the calf shed, so yeah,
trade and Rachel getting on top of that with a
bit of healthyicare and keeping those carves as good as
they can be because we do keep all their beef
(03:42):
calves and obviously your replacements, so there's about the six
or seven hundred cars floating around, so you want to
keep on animal health.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Is it easy to get plase about carving when you're
so far through or do you just keep the pressure
on yourself to keep things the way they are?
Speaker 4 (03:58):
No, I often, yeah, talk about your more coals and
last one hundred and fifty you've got these to the
cars and the first six fifty year of the calves.
There's just I don't know. If you get complacently, you
find you find other jobs to do that you've been
walking past for the last six weeks, so you start
going and do them, and you may overlook the chicken
then heard or being quite on the game as you
(04:19):
should be. So yes, I suppose in that answer it
has a bit of complacency. And you know they obviously
the kios are still putting on weight for those girls
in the cabin, but October and they're they're the ones
that you need to keep it on because they're also
the ones that you want to get cycling again and
hopefully you can get them on their first cycle and
get the cabin. So they're the most memorable cares.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Are you finding yourself giving the staff a pep talk
just to keep them up and rear it up and running.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
At the moment, it's been pretty been pretty good. So
like Trace and I reasonally hand on through sprints. So
we're there all day, not all day, but when you
have almost every day, and they just catch up with
them and just make sure things are taken along and
and they they know they let something slip where they
know if they've a good idea, bring it to the table.
So now we're just doing that this morning actually as
(05:06):
catching up with round links and the why why we're
keeping this roundly? What was splitting a herd into you know,
we're putting R threes in order to unhurt and keep
the dominance and hierarchy sort of at bay so they've
got the best chance cycling again. And yeah, as long
as you as long as you involved them into the
decision making and understand the why. Now they become pretty yeah,
(05:27):
pretty engrossed in what you're doing and pretty accountable.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Because one thing that can happen on the farm, and
there's nothing worse of somebody wandering around thinking, geez, what
are we doing this situation. I made the observation to
you before somebody once said, or his life here for
your andy. If you don't know what you're doing walking
around really fast, nobody's going to question you.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
But that probably doesn't cut the mustard on the farm.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
Right now, if you're walking around really fast and not
achieving anything, that's the biggest question I would I would
around that, and I often say that I'd rather you
take you know, a couple of minutes and then you
think of that you're going to take so you're not
have the double life and take everything you need at
that one point and then leave and go and do
your task and come back. So yeah, walking around really
fast as long as you're doing something cool. But yeah,
(06:11):
and the.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Part it doesn't quite go is it a case on
your farm with your staff.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
There's no dumb questions.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Exactly, No, no dumb questions. The only dumb question is
the question that's been asked maybe ten times, and yeah,
I don't know I'll ever get the answer because they
can't quite retain it. But we haven't got to that
stage yet. So no, no, never a dumb question. And
the old classic at this time of the years, I
had a cock up with the old vat tap, So
that question can never be asked too many times as
(06:39):
the vat tap being changed before we have milt the
colossums or milk the red cause.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
So how bad was that? Uh?
Speaker 4 (06:47):
No? Not jet No, no, we working away around it,
and that the outcome wasn't too bad. So yeah, it's
just always been mindful of don't get too complacent and routines.
Routines good, but always be I suppose, vigilant about the
routine and make sure you're still doing what you're set
to go and do it properly.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
A's very much a case of what's happened has happened. Okay,
we rectify the problem, we solve this, and we move
on right.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
One hundred percent. Yet and the worst thing you can
do is dwell on it. And the beauty was that
it was me. So I'm always good to show good,
to show stuff that you're on a human tons exactly.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
That that's the one thing.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
It shows that you're you're not immune from doing the
odd faux pa as.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Well, exactly. And there's absolutely no point of dwelling in
it because you know they will learn a hell of
a lot more by doing it wrong and feeling guilty
than new women being on their case and drumming it
into them that you know, you're cocked up with this,
this and this and this, because they'll dwell on that.
Then they'll probably you know, four or five other things
today because they think pretty hot on you just about
(07:50):
this one thing that they cocked up. And at the
end of the day, if no one's die, things haven't
really been this bad.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Wise words as always, Steve ketch up in a couple
of weeks. Hopefully the carving's all but past.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Memory now, won't you dinny.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Steve Henderson with some wise words as well. This is
the muster up. Next a way to war Momo. We'll
catch up with Warren Ross, our resident fishing guru, but
as well rallying expert
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