This week on the Head Shepherd podcast we have a guest from our recent event, the neXtgen Agri Muster. Tom Fraser is a scientist at AgResearch. 

Tom spoke at the muster about pasture allocation and making the most of your genetics. It was such a great talk we decided to get Tom on the podcast to share the knowledge with our podcast listeners. 

Tom talks about Body Condition Scoring and how "your hand is the cheapest tool you have".  Mark says "it's the most profitable thing you can do on a sheep farm".

They also run through pasture quality throughout the year. Summer and early Autumn period is the time to consider the ME of the pasture, once they've started loosing quality. "We only have to worry about the quality of our pastures for about three months of the year" (in New Zealand), says Tom. 

The biggest driver of profit on a sheep farm is Kg of weaned lamb per Ha. "Wether that's done by high scanning, or high lactation growth rates, it's the way to make money," says Tom.

Mark and Tom then run through the Muster and the general state of the Agriculture Industry. "There are some unbelievably capable exceptional farmers out there that are doing an magnificent job, and luckily, almost without exception, they want to share their knowledge" says Tom.

Head Shepherd is brought to you by neXtgen Agri International Limited. We help livestock farmers get the most out of the genetics they farm with. Get in touch with us if you would like to hear more about how we can help you do what you do best: [email protected].

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