The Muster- James Edgar: Tailing Is Always A Good Job To Get Done

James Edgar says tailing always signifies the moving of the season in a work sense.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:20):
That song there is for our next guest, James Acre,
who founds a more flat. The song is there and
unstoppable pretty much, and it could imagine you, James running
through brick walls listening to that. That's your real pump
ump pump up handed them by the sounds of a
good afternoon.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, well, you know absolutely we're maybe playing that in
the Lempin. We got a bit late, well later than usual.
We're probably teened out lighter than usual doing some of
the tiling and yeah, no I know they Yeah, why
when it's your turn the Lempin. There's some really big
big lembs. Yes, which is which is not a problem.
It's something really good. But yeah, certainly been an interesting season.

(00:59):
We're still tail today, just finishing the hogits and the
lakes and the last of the main line. Yeah, we've
had trees down like everyone else. Yeah, it's been well,
sort of lined up, sort of happened quite quick.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
We're hoping to.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Finish the kale and fought a bic this week as well.
So she's sort of all happening once, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (01:21):
So how are the lamb numbers looking?

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yeah, one's just the right to be fair. I think
we sort of had a bit of a gut feeling
there with I don't know, it's sort of been a
weird season, hasn't The grass growth hasn't been really good,
and then it's gone well this last ten days, which
is good. But we're actually we've had we've had a
vat checking while my sister's a vat like Lisa, you

(01:44):
sort of have some inside stuff there. But so I've
been from scoring all the us through the tailing pen
and then putting block numbers in terms of percentages and
then just working away through that. That's been quite interesting.
So when we set than we're about a two point three,
which is lighter than wanted because we checked them there.

(02:06):
We gave them all a triple drench before we spread out,
and then yeah, we find often you can lose weight
on sheep. I guess at Mark Flint just life and
then now people in eights, which is good, so I
don't think milking really well. And we'll different score again
at weaning, so it'll be interesting to track. And one
of the other interesting things so far early doors haven't

(02:29):
bunny that because we've been busy, but it's looking like
those twin news that were on more grass like the
young grass paddocks that over, so they had a bit
more look like they've lemmed a percentage even with less
shelter than what some of the hill blocks have done
with more shelter. But because the season was so late
this one, we just found the brown top and the

(02:51):
boar of grass species that just didn't grow for so long.
So yeah, so it was sort of opposite and put
to be honest, because I thought with the weather being
a little bit average all the way through, we might
have found the hill blocks with more shelter would have
had more lambs alive. But it's actually looking like that
paddas with more graph cover are going to have more

(03:11):
lambs alive. So yeah, that's certainly something interesting this year
that we've worked out so far.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
That's interesting, say the least.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, we're just trying to track a bit more stuff well,
you know, just measure, measure more and just try and
get a bit more scientific. We've did the hoggits today
and we are one of the really pleasing things where
hoggits with lambs going through the tiling pen are still
a condition score three. So yeah, I'm wrapped about that
because they I would probably are three at seats docking

(03:41):
and we gave them a triple drench and they I
was before now I've used long acting products, but we
went away from that this year, so I was a
little bit nervous. Might have got worms, but at the
moment they don't. They're not wearing me and they still
conditions score three, you know at tailing. So yeah, hopefully
if we keep growing, Grass said, yeah, that's going to

(04:02):
be really good. So no, it's been quite interesting.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
What would you say, Okay, you say you've got a
conditions score three on your hoggus, what would that be
in live weight?

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Oh that's a great question, Eddie. I didn't actually tell you,
to be honest, I'd only be guessing. I think they're
more modern approach. The condition scores more important than weight
air sheeper. We're trying to go at least half peering,
also mature you live weight, the condition score three would
only be probably seventy, but over many kilos now, so

(04:34):
there are lots smaller sheep than some people. So no,
that's really good. Still animal, Yeah, no, no, it's still good.
But some of these years now would especially some of
these weights are amazing amotter, you know, sixty odd kilos.
But another interesting thing on the top farm that's more
pedic country, you'd call it, there's been no there's been

(04:56):
no difference in condition score and the US. Well how
much conditions caol they put on between the poorer paddocks
and then the young grass paddocks. I thought personally that
you might have found that the young grass paddocks the
US that had more grass when you're spread out and
I had better grass, would be fatter themselves. But there's

(05:20):
no difference in the US. So they were all about
two point eight well that close to it wasn't even funny.
And then the difference was probably in lamb live weight.
You could tell slightly the better lambs were on the
younger paddocks, and the lambs are all very good, to
be fair. But yeah, so that was something else interesting
on more paddock country. So no, wo'd be interesting if

(05:41):
we can do it for a couple of years, just
to see what sort of things we can learn.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
So how attentive are you when it comes to lamb covers?

Speaker 2 (05:50):
To be fair, we put extra pressure on our ewes,
I'd say in winter time, I'm sure we're spreading out
on to ford one hundred. We don't have quite the
highest because we're up higher. So no, definitely have to
feed to you whiley's milking, just non negotiable. We've got

(06:12):
this year, as I say, yeah, it was always nice
to have more lambs, but always yeah, yeah, but what
we do have would be the best lambs we've had
this year. They significantly forward. We think they could be
five those heavier than last year. Is where we think
the lambs are.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
So when's waning, we'll start.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Winning riversal down in Tapanoi. We start that at the
end of this month, so the last week in November
and the freezer us will go and then we're just
sort of have a rolling waning from there. We're trying
to do it on a grass covers and condition scores
and b on when the leafy turn up's ready. There's
no point putting all this fatnings finishing so if you're

(06:56):
not going to use them properly or get the timings properly,
but it was we're very decided we'll wan early. There's
a middle ridge on the block that one once told
me they had more shelter, but they're really poor grass species,
and the US that they were only sort of muld
have been town a half condition school, they were worse.

(07:18):
So we'll wean those early straight onto the As soon
as the turn it's ready, they'll come off and we'll
start putting away from them and then some of the
other blocks that they're looking good in their feeds good.
I mean, we're not scared to leave them morning until
you know, middle of January to be fair. So yeah,
we've just got to play it by year with the season,
I guess.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
So everybody's got their power issues restored over at my flat, yeah, no,
we were.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
We were six odd days without. We just got the
generators in then. Yeah, it was annoying because I guess
it was velvet time and a few other jobs. But
we do lose power a lot in the winter. It's
just comes with the patter. So we are sort of
half set up with yeah. Yeah, like so the house

(08:02):
still has running water and we can still have heating
and we can still cook and so we were we
have the house seat up basically for no pair because
it does happen, you know, four or five times a year.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
For four or five times a year, you're just resigned
to the fact you're going to lose power for a
day or two, is that correct?

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that would be a bit unreal. Yeah, yeah,
mostly in the winter, as I say, certainly when you're
caught off and around snow events. Snow events definitely seem
to knock the pair out a bit. But all the
other things that can go wrong, isn't it. There's always
trees that other times. Yeah, yeah, something's something's gone wrong.
So but no, we we definitely yeah, four or five

(08:41):
times a year would leave loose pair for you know,
but over a day.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
Yeah, just finally, you're up on the top stire of Martha.
Give us a description of what you're saying at the
moment around you in those vistas.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
Oh, bright green grass. That seems what you're flying andy, Yeah,
it was quite funny. We're talking around the tailing street
before and I'm saying my sister was asking about and
I said, yeah, I said, it just wouldn't be anywhere
else for six months of the year, But we don't
like to talk about the other six months.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
That's open to interpretation. James Egger, Hey, we'll let you
carry on. You got a bit on your plate today.
Always good to chat.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
Mate, No care, thank you.

Speaker 3 (09:19):
James Egger of Ma flat. You're listening to the muster
on Hakanoi. Up next from Rubbi Bank Michael McCutcheon as
part of

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Our series with the South and Rural Support Trust