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It appears that sheep rustling is not only a problem in the UK. This week two grass sheep sculptures were stolen from a display in Melbourne, Australia. The ewe and lamb were made out of steel, wire, polystyrene, coco peat and grass seeds, and were grown in a greenhouse by a local artist for a public art show running in Melbourne throughout October.
To read the full article follow this link:
http://moreland-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/where-are-ewe/
Last month Dewi Jones (Innovis MD), Charlie Morgan (GrassMaster) and I presented at the Dalehead Foods and Waitrose event for their Welsh sheep farmers in Builth Wells. Our chosen topic was 'Preparing for the winter and spring'; a talk on how Innovis look at preparing for the winter months in terms of feed availability and stock demand.
Over the summer months I have travelled across England and Wales visiting farms with Aberdale ewes, and it was clear to see that there has been a huge difference in grass growth across the country this season. There has been an abundance of grass in the West this year, and in Aberystwyth we continue to have grass growth with mild and damp October days. With the grass wedge already built up and a lot of silage made in the summer, many farmers in the West are in a great position feed wise going into the winter.
However the story is very different further over to the east. This week I drove from Aberystwyth to Ludlow, coming back via Craven Arms and Welshpool. The stark contrast seen in the summer is still visible today, and once you head into Powys and near the England - Wales border you really notice the difference. The green pastures seen near the coast soon disappear, and are replaced by a grey landscape with stock in the fields being fed.
This poses the question as to how farmers in this region manage winter feed going in to what many forecasters believe is to be another frozen winter? Combine the feed shortage now with the fact that many failed to make much or any silage/ hay as there was no grass all summer, and many brassica crops failed to establish as conditions were too dry early on. The graph below is one that I drew for the presentation last month, showing the typical grass growth curve for the UK and highlighting how the West of the UK have had one of the best grass growing seasons ever, which is a dramatic contrast to that seen in the Central and Eastern regions.
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the British Grassland Society research conference in Belfast and how much I enjoyed a tour around AFBI Hillsborough. I also promised to uploads some photos, so here they are!
I mentioned in the previous blog that a lot of work is being carried out at Hillsborough looking at methane emissions from dairy cows. The pictures below show the SF6 method of measuring methane emissions from the cows nose. A bolus is put into the cows rumen and lets off a gas called sulphur hexa fluoride (SF6). A small tube with a vacuum at the end of the cows nose sucks the air coming out of the cow. The level of SF6 measured from the cows nose can then be accurately related to the level of methane emissions from the cow.
Previously cows were put into a methane gas chamber (one of only four in the world) to measure methane emissions. Using either the 'neck colar' or 'back pack' to measure the methane emissions is an easier way to measure the methane emissions from the cows without having to put them into the methane gas chamber. From work AFBI have done comparing the methane emissions emitted through the SF6 method and the methane gas chamber there is no significant difference as the majority of methane emissions from the cow actually come out of the nose/ mouth as opposed to the back end as most people believe!
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