Sheepish by name, not by nature
As a teenager Sophie Barnes decided she wanted to be a very good sheep farmer. Then she heard the best sheep farmers weren’t in her native Britain but on the other side of the world. Undaunted, she sold up, packed up and came to New Zealand. Andrew Stewart charts her journey.
Tough talk for tough times
Northland AgFirst consultant Bob Thompson knows a thing or two about managing droughts, especially when it comes to beef cattle.
His home region has had three droughts in the past five years and Thompson has called on the knowledge learnt during those events to help educate farmers from around the country.
Speaking to farmers at a Beef Returns Improvement Group (BRIG) meeting near Hunterville Thompson pulled no punches when delivering his advice.
His key message was for farmers to get tough with their breeding cows, using them as buffers to protect farming systems in times of feed shortage.