Falklands : The Changing Scene of Farming in the Falkland Islands
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 04.12.2005 (Article Archived on 18.12.2005)
Steve Pointing tells farmers the best way to get healthy lambs and mums.
THE CHANGING SCENE OF FARMING IN THE FALKLAND ISLANDS
By Steve Pointing
Wool Press December 2005 Issue
Editor’s Note: Steve Pointing is due to move back to the UK this month and take up a new post there. FINN wishes him all the best and Charlie will also miss him. In this article Steve points out how farming has changed in recent years and how it is still changing.
DEFINITIONS:
Ranching: Is a farming system involving little grazing management. It is generally a low input system where livestock tend to be set stocked.
Farming: Is a higher input system of agriculture. More focus is placed on the management of pasture and improved livestock husbandry. Livestock tend to be rationally grazed.
From the above definitions I think you would agree that the type of agriculture practiced in the Falkland Islands now and in the past is ranching rather than farming. With the development of the AI/ET programme over the past few years it is interesting to note the change in the types of questions farmers are asking about their livestock. For the first time in along time (and perhaps forever some farmers are now closely observing their pregnant ewes carrying valuable AI or ET lambs and, I think they are often surprised by what they think they are seeing.
Ewes that are in poor bodily condition at lambing (condition score of 1 to 2) are liable to either produce small lambs or if the lambs are well grown, they fail to thrive subsequently because their mothers have so little in reserve to produce adequate amounts of milk. For the ewe to survive post lambing she either has to produce very little milk (which is disastrous for the lamb) or if she produces sufficient milk for the lamb it is often at the expense of her own health.
Farmers are seeing this directly for themselves with ewes they are keeping under close observation. Of course what they are noticing in this small group of select animals, is (and has been) happening with the rest of the flock ewes year in and year out. We know from scanning data most of the ewes in the Falkland Islands are capable of becoming, and do become, pregnant, but between giving birth and marking time a huge number of lambs are lost.
There are a variety of reasons for the loss but the major cause, without doubt, is due to the inadequate nutrition of the dam leading to subsequent inadequate nutrition of the lamb and ending with the death either directly from starvation or from hypothermia related to inadequate energy intakes.
What can you do about the situation?
For the relatively small number of animals involved in the AI/ET programme it really would be worth your while to identify an area of land which could be kept aside to provide reasonable grazing in the critical period leading up to lambing.
If you could provide the ewe with good grazing for six weeks up to lambing she would lamb down in better condition, her body energy reserves would be sufficient to meet her and the lamb’s needs more importantly of all she would produce milk quickly and in sufficient quantity to meet the lamb’s need. If you have spent several hundred or several thousand pounds participating in the AI/ET programme then it is in your interest to make sure that the newborn lamb has the best possible start in life and the best way to do this is to ensure that the ewe is in good condition.
If good grazing is in short supply, as it has been this year, then it would pay to feed your recipient ewes on a small quantity of concentrate feed or good quality hay. This might require some pre-planning as most flock ewes in the Falklands won’t readily eat concentrate feed but, given a bit of time and effort, they can be “trained” to eat it.
As for the rest of your lambing flock, you can’t afford to treat them in the same way as your AI/ET ewes. Improving their condition at lambing is of paramount importance in increasing the lambing and marking percentages in the Falkland Islands but can only happen relatively slowly over time.
Improved nutrition is obviously linked to a number of factors such as stocking rates, availability of improved pasture, farm management practices etc. and these are all areas that are being systematically addressed by the pasture improvement programme (PIP). I won’t elaborate on that here as there have been several articles in past editions of the Wool Press and, no doubt there will be many more in future editions on methods of getting your ewes in better body condition in the run-up to lambing.
The main point to remember is that the body condition of the ewes at lambing is the single most important factor in ensuring a good lambing percentage and aiding lamb survivability.
I think some farmers in the Falkland Islands may be realising this fact for the first time, as they shift from a purely ranching system of agriculture to a more “farmed” system for certain categories of stock.
|
