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By Dr Clive Dalton. The story starts at Leeds This bit of Australian agricultural history has turned out to be a fascinating tale – and it’s necessary to tell it backwards! This is because it developed from my lecturing years at Leeds University Department of Agriculture, when some funny looking sheep arrived at the University … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton PART 1 Introduction Dagging and drenching What a prospect to have to clean up this sheep’s rear end! Major mind change needed Sheep are never keen to cooperate This advert in a 1970 New Zealand Farmer was certainly convincing.Back then, nobody thought about long-term implications of thenew wonder chemicals! Breeding is … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Interviewed August 2004 Tony Wrench grew up in Worcestershire in England where he lived on a farm and was always interested in Jersey cows. He used to write to the New Zealand Jersey Association and they’ send him information and photos which fed his appetite for the breed. Then he saw … Read more
Clive Dalton Question 1. What’s the biggest national threat facing the New Zealand dairy industry in the next 5-10 years? The low milksolids payout due to a world surplus of milk powder is the wrong answer. The correct answer is farm staff literacy and numeracy, as it’s now recognised that 50% of new recruits … Read more
A critique by Chris Goldthorpe, B.Sc., M.Phil. Ph.D. King’s College, University of Durham, (1959-1962) A Rum Affair – a True Story of Botanical Fraud By Karl Sabbagh (1999) Publisher: Da Capo Press 2001 ISBN: 0-306-81060-3 Reprinted by arrangement with Farrar, Straus and Giroux Karl Sabbagh writes well and recounts a story so gripping (like any … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton It’s too easy to forget about the ram. They certainly get plenty of attention during their selection and purchase, and up to the day they are joined with the ewes, but when they’ve done their work, there’s a great temptation to put them in the back paddock and forget about them. … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton What’s a breed? The definition of a breed is often rather vague. All you can say is that it’s a group of animals with a common origin, that generally look similar. It’s really not very important to folk who want animals simply for their function – and that includes most shepherds … Read more
The Danish Texels – what happened to them? By Dr Clive Dalton Texels were in great demand by other sheep countries around the world in the 1970s -1980s once the news got out about their meat qualities, and it seems that the Danish Texels had a top reputation. Dr Leyden Baker (pictured right) who had the … Read more
Cattle, farming, husbandry, glossary By Dr Clive Dalton
Daft Laddies. Farming Tales of North Tyne and Rede 50 years on. By Clive Dalton and Donald Clegg An extract from the book – Daft Laddies. Farming Tales of North Tyne and Rede 50 years on (2003) By Clive Dalton and Donald Clegg. If you would like a copy, contact donaldclegg@btopenworld.com A regular challenge for … Read more
Northumberland, farming, animal husbandry, animal health, disease, Facial Eczema, prevention, dairy cattle, zinc, zinc suplphate, using in-trough dispensers, examples By Dr Clive Dalton Original 1991 information written by Dr Barry Smith and Dr Neale Towers, Ruakura Agricultural Research Station, Hamilton, New Zealand. 14. FACIAL ECZEMA: (Dairy cattle). Zinc sulphate. Using in-trough dispensers. The use of … Read more
Agriculture, animal breeding, , selection, breeding plans, practical advice, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, identification, recording, references, coefficient of inbreeding, random numbers, glossary By Dr Clive Dalton Part IV: Breeding in Practice Practical breeding plans This section is about ‘what to do’ in a breeding programme. It can only deal with the general principles as what … Read more
By Clive Dalton When we were young ‘daft laddies’ on farms in the North Tyne and Rede valley, the ‘old codgers’ who kept a close eye on us (so we did ‘nowt daft’) would often tell stories about ‘the hirings’, or the ritual of farmers hiring staff in their days around the13th of May (called … Read more
Cattle, farming, husbandry, breeding, reproduction, artificial insemination (AI), artificial breeding (AB), achieving good results, how to keep the AI technician happy By Dr Clive Dalton What’s the problem?Because cows are inseminated by humans, and because humans vary in their manual dexterity, pregnancy rates can vary with the operator, although AI organisations do their very best … Read more
Agriculture, Animal breeding, genetics, farm livestock improvement, theory, population genetics, variation, selection, culling, genetic gain, breeding methods, heterosis, selection aids and methods By Dr D.C. Dalton Part 111. POPULATION GENETICS Selection and Breeding The complexity of traits in farm animals Most of the economic traits that breeders have to consider in farm animals are not … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Who wants coloured wool?Breeding coloured sheep to produce wool for home spinning and weaving has been very popular in New Zealand, where enthusiastic breeders formed the Black and Coloured Sheep Breeders’ Association (BCSBA) in 1976, to foster interest and help breeders sort out the genetics of pigmented wool. Many breeders started … Read more
Agriculture, farming, husbandry, management, business, trading, buying, selling, practical advice, purchasers, vendors, contracts, avoiding pitfalls. Vendors’ advice By Ric Dawick Purchasers also take note: This section contains valuable information that will assist you in buying your herd. You have a new partner! The dynamics of your herd ownership is about to change. Once it is … Read more
Northumberland, farming, animal husbandry, animal health, disease, Facial Eczema, prevention, dairy cattle, zinc, zinc suplphate, direct addition to trough By Dr Clive Dalton Original 1991 information written by Dr Barry Smith and Dr Neale Towers, Ruakura Agricultural Research Station, Hamilton, New Zealand. 13. Facial Eczema: (Dairy cattle). Zinc sulphate. Direct addition to trough. Direct Addition … Read more
By Don Clegg & Clive Dalton A private manGeorge Snaith was a very quiet, private man and certainly a person to whom you’d apply the word ‘character’. He was so typical of those Northumbrian farming folk of his generation, who had grown up and lived with no modern conveniences and where hard work was accepted … Read more
Agriculture, farming, animal husbandry, animal health, disease, Facial Eczema, prevention, zinc, zinc sulphate, dairy cattle, addition of zinc to supply tank. By Dr Clive Dalton Original 1991 information written by Dr Barry Smith and Dr Neale Towers, Ruakura Agricultural Research Station, Hamilton, New Zealand. 12. Facial Eczema: (Dairy cattle). Zinc sulphate. Direct addition to supply … Read more