Like all small communities, the village of Whatawhata Research Station extended far beyond the farm boundary fence. Part 5 records some of the new tales, many gleaned from the friends of friends. Lands & Survey v Maori Affairs. The success of the Lands and Survey Romney and Angus breeding schemes at Waihora, led by Superintendent … Read more
Christmas parties. When I look at the old slides of the Station Christmas parties, I cannot believe the size of the gatherings. Grown ups in summer garb and crowds of kids of all sizes. It just proves what a vibrant place it was, and how we were like one great whanau. And the pics I … Read more
Firewood. Before winter, getting stocked up with firewood was an essential for every householder on the Station. The Station had a circular saw which fitted on the back of a tractor driven by the PTO. It was a terrifying machine, and not helped by many people who had a few skills in using it. You … Read more
Making moving images – Video and DVDBy D.C Dalton and G. R. Moss The power of moving imagesMoving pictures are much more powerful than still pictures and the written word in getting a message across. Everyone knows that, and it’s especially true in farming where so many things we do are concerned with ‘action’. In … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Summary of urgent priorities Priority 1 Give the PrimaryITO total responsibility to oversee all New Zealand primary industry training and education (below University level), and to provide basic information for all entering the primary industries. If there was overseas interest, then they could handle that too. Priority 2 Provide the PrimaryITO with … Read more
Extensive glossary of technical and commonly used farming terms concerned with sheep farming, shearing and wool preparation, and preparation of sheep skins. By Dr Clive Dalton SHEEP Wool SHEEP SKINS
My final shots Why didn’t MAF check?Ask today’s sheep farmers My last call By Dr Clive Dalton My final shots It was not the threat of the exotic breed importation that drove the changes in New Zealand sheep from the 1970s and beyond. This is a standard old chestnut by those who lauded and still do, the exotic … Read more
Scrapie suspected at Mana Island quarantine station Confirmation by international expert Dr J.T. Stamp Burning of carcases at Mana By Dr Clive Dalton Shock-horror at Mana Island. Scrapie A report in Surveillance Vol 5:4 1978 by MAF veterinarian Dave Collins reported that a clinical case of Scrapie was confirmed in an East Friesian ewe on … Read more
Finding sheep in UK and IrelandPurebred ewes on Somes By Dr Clive Dalton Finding sheep in UK and Ireland Without going back to the official MAF Research files (if anyone would know where to look), this is what Dr Neil Clarke, previously in Ruakura genetics remembers about the flocks he located that had sheep for … Read more
First MAF importation Selecting sheep for importation Organising the sheep before transport to New Zealand Summary of events By Dr Clive Dalton Summary of events Selecting sheep for importation Selecting individual sheep as a representative of a breed is never an easy task, as differences within breeds are always greater than differences between breeds. Sadly this is a much-ignored … Read more
Introduction to Blog series Early sheep imports to New Zealand Renewed interest in ‘exotic’ sheep breeds Disease concerns Recent imports Why the need for new sheep breeds? Where are the official records? The national archives By Dr Clive Dalton Introduction to Blog seriesThis is the first of a series of blog posts on the importation … Read more
Dr Clive Dalton Border Security I was interested to read compliments for our Border Security from a visiting Australian, and see his assurance that increasing visitor numbers will not increase threats of exotic disease incursions. But then I heard former Grasslands scientist John Lancashire argue the opposite, and say that more visitors and increasing free trade … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton The Straight HuntThis is where the dog has to drive three sheep up a steep slope in as straight a line as possible. These pictures were taken at the Karioi Dog Trial grounds near Raglan in the North Island of New Zealand Picture 1: The sheep have to be driven straight up … Read more
Links 1. Knol of Clive Dalton’s NZ Sheep Research Bibliography listing Authors A-M2. Knol of Clive Dalton’s NZ Sheep Research Bibliography listing Authors N-Z The beginnings of Online search in the 1970s In the late 1970s, librarians at the Ruakura Agricultural Research Centre, Hamilton, got excited about a new development called ‘on-line searching’. From a tiny narrow … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton What’s memorable? I often ask farmers after they’ve been to a talk or lecture how it went. ‘Good good’ is always their reply. Then when I ask what they learned or if there was a key message – I can bet that their regular reply will be – ‘not a lot, … Read more
These photos were found in an album in the Livestock Improvement Corporation library at Newstead in Hamilton when I did the 4WRD exhibition at the Waikato Museum of Art and History in 2008. It was the only archival material they had from the herd testing days. It’s clear from the photos that the horses were … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton An ancient animalThe New Zealand Weta is a very ancient animal – they were around in the time of the dinosaurs when New Zealand was still joined to Australia dating back over 190 million years. There are over 20,000 species worldwide with over 100 species in New Zealand with other relatives … Read more
Review By Dr Clive Dalton Floreat Scientia. Celebrating New Zealand’s Agrifood InnovationPublished for the Riddet Institute by Wairau Press, Random House NZ Ltd. 2011.ISBN 978-1-927158-081 RRP $NZ49.95 The concept of this book is brilliant. It’s a treasure trove of essays about some of New Zealand’s great innovations in science and technology, written by people who … Read more
Joe McLean – research station farm manager Research on hill country farming neededIn 1952 Joe McLean went to work at the ‘Ruakura Hill Station’ where his father was a fencer. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries had purchased the block to do sheep and beef research to help farmers increase production after WWII. The station … Read more
By Dr Clive Dalton Change was inevitable My role in Sheeplan finished about 1979, and it was inevitable that with the phenomenal increase in the power of computers, that more sophisticated computations could be done faster, so more information could be provided for breeders – whether they needed it, or wanted it, or not. It’s always … Read more