Sheep farmers are being warned to stay alert for the tapeworm Taenina ovis, otherwise known as sheep measles. The worm is a parasite in which the adult stage can be found in the intestines of dogs whilst the intermediate or larval stage can be found in the muscles of sheep. Sheep can be infected by grazing pasture contaminated with eggs that have been shed in dog’s faeces.

The intermediate stage in sheep is characterised by small cysts in the muscle tissue. Lesions can then ooccur in the sheep’s heart and diaphragm usually resulting in the animal being condemned. In general many producers are lax when it comes to worming their farm dogs regularly, meaning they fail to break the lifecycle of the tapeworm. Farmers are advised to treat all dogs on their properties with a tape wormer that contains Praziquantel once a month as the parasites lifecycle is 35 days, which is more frequent than the original recommendation of worming every six weeks.

Economically, sheep measles can cost the industry millions of dollars per year so it’s within those who work in agricultures interests to try and keep this to a minimum. This information was provided by the Department of Agriculture and Food.

Week ending: 28 April 2016
There was a sharp reversal in the market last week as the exchange rate continued to play havoc with local pricing. As a result the NRI gained 23 cents, recovering most of the losses from the previous week. Merino Fleece types lifted fairly equally each sale day, resulting in gains of 40 to 50 cents clean for most microns.

Merino Fleece types with more than 1% vm accounted for 53.5% of the national catalogue this week (a 2 year high), and as a result discounts are now emerging. Merino Skirtings also showed the effects of increasing vegetable
matter, with <3% vm lots maintaining good support while those with higher percentages tended to struggle.

Merino Cardings closed largely unchanged, apart from Fremantle which firmed 11cents. Volumes are expected to hover between 35,000 and 38,000 over the next 3 weeks.

Sincock LVM is a progressive dealership with branches in the Central West of NSW covering the Condobolin and Parkes districts. Sincock provide quality products and services across a wide range of agricultural and commercial machinery both new and used. Their service team is equipped with state of the art Iveco service trucks, providing repairs and maintenance in both the paddock and the workshop to save you time and money. Sincock LVM also have an experienced team of spare parts interpreters who can assist you with all your requirements.

Their service and spare parts department are on call after hours to help in any unexpected breakdowns. To learn more give them a call on 6862 5011.

Mixed amounts of rainfall throughout Parkes and surrounds over the past few weeks has resulted in different implications for farmers in our area, who have been making the tricky decision on whether or not to dry sow their paddocks in order to get the crops in on time.

Some decided to go for it, with others hanging fire for a few more days. Rain is predicted for this week and if it does, this gamble will hopefully pay off. After the predicted rains any crops already in will flourish and we expect a flurry of activity as all those who chose not to dry sow move into action to put their crops in too. Ongoing GRDC-funded research is examining how dry seeding interacts with soil type and location to influence wheat yield at the paddock and farm scale.

CSIRO modelling in Western Australia suggests that over time and at the whole-farm scale, dry seeding can deliver yield benefits of up to 35% compared with waiting to wet sow after the season break. In seasons with late opening rains, the modelling, which covered wheat growing sites, found that dry sowing brought forward the sowing date of the last paddock sown compared with wet-sown programs. However, dry sowing led to more of the crop flowering earlier and at the same time the modelling found that this increased frost risk slightly in some areas. On the positive side, the earlier flowering time significantly reduced the risk of heat stress during grain fill.

Dry-sown farms produced an average of 350kg/ha less yield than the water-limited benchmark and the wet-sown cropping programs produced an average of 960kg/ha less. The average yield difference between an entire farm dry-sown and a farm sown with no dry seeding ranged from a 0.5t/ha increase to a 0.2t/ha loss. Modelled yield increases were highest for large cropping programs where up to a third of the total crop was dry sown on heavier soils and in lower-rainfall areas.

Early seeding benefits
A sowing-date trial established in 2014 at the Cunderdin site of the Western Australian No-Tillage Farmers Association (WANTFA) provided a popular field-day backdrop to discuss the risks and benefits of early sowing on wheat yield and flowering date. While the results were specific to the 2014 season, which was characterised by above-average growing-season rainfall (particularly in April and May) and no major frost events, the simple experiment was an excellent (and clearly visible) demonstration of the impact of early sowing across a cropping program. Mace wheat (sown at 60kg/ha) and IH30RR canola (sown at 3kg/ha) were sown at approximately three-day intervals starting on 29 April and finishing on 1 July (a total of 24 sowing dates).

This information was written by Dr Andrew Fletcher and Dr David Minkey and more information can be found on the website www.grdc.com.au