Information and Articles

 With summer fast approaching, now is the time to start thinking about summer drenching of cattle as part of your strategic roundworm control program. In  south-eastern Australia, Ostertagia ostertagi (small brown stomach worm) is the major cause of production losses from worm infections in cattle.

With a new hay season around the corner it’s time to clean out the hay shed and remove spoiled or stale hay in readiness for the new supply. Even with well-kept hay there will always be a certain amount of wastage; there may be anything from a pile of sweepings to several bales that might have been affected by damp and are suitable for cattle to eat, but not horses.

While burning gets rid of this quickly, a hay bonfire is money going up in smoke while adding carbon to the atmosphere, and a valuable resource is being wasted.

There are many ways to recycle and re-use old hay. First and foremost, it is a key compost ingredient and a marvelous mulching material.

Spreading biscuits of old hay around the base of trees, several centimentres away from the trunk, as summer mulch, will reduce the amount of water the tree needs. Water-in the hay once it has been placed. 

Farmstyle is delighted to introduce Carol Layton as a contributor of articles focusing on managing horses on small properties. Carol brings a lifetime of  experience and considerable expertise in horse matters, particularly in equine nutrition management and training.
Laminitis symptoms and causes

 The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is reminding farmers to guard against the contagious disease Leptospirosis, which can be transmitted from  animals to people. Senior Veterinary Officer for Cattle at DPI, Michael Jeffers said the lepto bacteria, as it’s commonly known, can infect cattle, pigs,  horses, sheep and goats.

All terrain vehicles (ATVs, also known as quad bikes) are one piece of farm equipment that most farmers can’t do without. Although they are not designed  to be a tractor, on most small farms they can reduce the need for one.

ATVs are capable of a variety of farming tasks, including transporting people and equipment from A to B, towing a trailer, spraying, spreading and much more. For those that don’t know anything about motorbikes, selecting a hobby farm ATV can be a daunting task. 

Rural crime is on the increase. This is mostly due to the isolation and ease of access to farms and the portable nature and high value of its livestock and  farming equipment. Hobby farms in particular are at high risk of theft as owners are often absent while such farms are usually located within close proximity to towns or cities.

Although it’s impossible to prevent all rural crime, being vigilant of farm security and implementing prevention strategies will lower the risk of it happening.

 Many people move from cities to regional areas and part of the lifestyle shift usually includes taking up ownership of small parcels of land and rearing  livestock.

Known as nature’s tractors, a chicken’s favourite pastime is scratching in loose litter looking for worms and little bits of grain that have dropped out of hay or feed.

Chickens will also clean through stable bedding, which means that horses are not continuing to pick over the same places ingesting dirt that could potentially cause colic, however, the biggest benefit to horse owners is the constant noise and movement around their horses’ legs.

Have you purchased a small farm, or are you interested in lavender and thinking of starting a lavender farm? Many people do, some as a paying hobby and  others that go on to make a successful business from it.

Background to lavender farming
Compared to most other agricultural crops lavender can provide an excellent return from a small area. There is however a limit to the area of lavender that can be successfully grown at any one point in time. For most producers this area is around five hectares. It is possible to grow a larger area, however a larger farm is required with a much greater capital investment. A large commercial lavender farm in France.

Keys to growing lavender successfully  
Before setting up a lavender farm a number of preliminary decisions need to be made. These decisions need to be based on what you want to do on a daily basis and how much money you would like to earn? The best lavender returns come from agri-tourism, this is where the lavender farm becomes an attraction for tourists. This business method requires the owner to have the right personality to deal with the public. 

If you are a person who likes to keep to themselves or your property is not on a main road or near a tourist precinct then agri-tourism will be difficult to  achieve.If the idea of growing lavender is still of interest then you are best to develop a sales channel through a network of tourism outlets, not necessarily  lavender.

 Recent worm count and egg count results throughout the south east of Australia suggest that Barbers Pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) will be a  challenge this spring and summer on farms that traditionally may not have seen issues previously with this parasite.