June 2013.
It was hard to believe the grass growth that occurred after one of the driest seasons on record. We had ensured that our farm would recover well - from lessons learnt in the last drought 2009/10.
During June our staff had well earned holidays. We also had two new staff starting with us.
July 2013
The season started quickly, our heifers which were in calf to AB, were calving from late June, and were in full swing early July. The cows were due to start on the 16th, and once they did there were some big days with over 20 calves coming in to the sheds on most days for the first three weeks. The most was 32, which was lower than I thought it would have been.
Last season we got cryptospirosis through the calves. This is a really nasty parasitic disease that causes a real foul smelling scour. I was determined to avoid this, so spent the summer and autumn preparing the calf sheds by spreading chloride of lime around them after they were emptied out, and making sure the shavings were dry and set up early.
The weather in July was incredible - a few wet days, but mostly sunny and clear with very little wind. Calving is tiring enough, but is certainly made easier when we don't have to be in wet weather gear all day.
