Cir-Ponds Gelbvieh & Murray Grey Stud | Agriculture

Cir-Ponds Gelbvieh & Murray Grey Stud

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25.01.2022 Yesterday we were still waiting for three cows to calve. Today we welcomed the arrival of three new calves... But are still waiting for one cow (a heifer actually) to calve. If you are thinking there is something wrong with our math you may be onto something, one of the lovely ladies delivered twins! Our second set for the year and again both heifers, which is great. Their mother however moved to the other end of the paddock with only one calf in tow, but not the other ...and since Mum may have only gone for a quick run to check everyone was well before dark, she might not have been fully prepared for assisting with said calf's transportation back to her mother. In Mum's defence she was by herself, didn't have a halter and the calf was too big to lift onto the back of the ute. So this little lady got a free ride to the other end of the paddock to be reunited with her mother and sister. She was rather well mannered, this was the picture we were sent on the way back from work! Just don't tell Dad there was a calf in the new ute... He's still mad about the mud Cilla might have left behind the other day...

22.01.2022 A busy week for a little puppy. Cilla continues to refine her jumping technique and enjoys sitting at the top of the silage bales, watching the humans who have given up trying to convince her it is a bad idea. Let's face it anything that burns energy can't be that bad. She also graduated from Happy Tails Dog Training Puppy School, complete with certificate (which is 100% for the humans - she was just in it for the treats). Cilla has grown so much physically (she was 5 kg when she first arrived and now is 15 kg) and mentally. She is one clever little puppy, farm life suits her so she is rarely bored, between tractor rides, walks, training, silage bale jumping and the odd calf to round up, she's living the good life.

21.01.2022 Peter is loving life, while he enjoys spending time in his palace he is now allowed out around the yard to get a bit more exercise and supposedly to eat grass. However, he appears to enjoy leaves from the ornamental cherry tree (much like his predecessor Minty) and chasing the dog/being chased by the dog. In short he is growing well and is full of energy. Now to grab some of his enthusiasm for the busy week ahead! Hope it is a good one for you.

21.01.2022 The calves just keep growing. A little selection from the Top Mob, all sired by Gelbvieh bulls, most of these were born in July or early August. Pleased with them so far and they will only get bigger in the coming months.

20.01.2022 Happy National Ag Day! We are incredibly fortunate to be able to provide people with the food that sustains them. Increasingly conversations are happening about agriculture's role in some of the challenges facing the world and how it is part of the solution. Agriculture is an amazing career path, with a huge range of diversity in roles. Today is a day to celebrate all that agriculture provides and to continue conversations about what that might look like into the future. Cha...nge is the only real constant and if we look back from where we were to where we are we've come a long way. We have further still to go, which is why we are so passionate about what we do and why. Farming is tough, there are challenges, but watching life grow, being part of nature and being able to provide food that is not only nutrient dense but tastes amazing, is what makes it all worth while. See more

19.01.2022 The difference a few months make. 'The Guernsey' as she is lovingly referred to was born at the start of July, the seeming midget was born on Tuesday morning. The little black heifer is actually a respectable size for a heifer's first calf. She's just got a lot of growing to do in the next few months. This size difference is one of the key reasons we are working towards reducing the length of our calving period (by reducing our joining). At weaning the calves are younge...r and smaller, making for a few odd calves in the group which might be less appealing to a buyer. They will take longer grow to the desired weight compared to older and larger calves, meaning slightly different management might be needed between calves in a mismatched group. We are heading in the right direction with our calving, we are slowly bringing everyone into line as there are a few good cattle that calve later, so we don't want to just sell everyone who calves after a particular date. Working on our heifer calving (we talked about this earlier in the week), is going to make a big difference we hope for the future. See more

18.01.2022 Spring means longer days and warmer weather, but hopefully still some rain! The Red Clover in this paddock has really taken off. In the last few years we have made better use of this area with more regular grazing and have also let the clover go to seed, which all seems to be paying off by the looks of things. The grass will hopefully start coming a long more too, keeping things in balance. As you can have too much of a good thing where clover is concerned. Too much and cattl...e can bloat, which is a build up of gas in their stomach,in severe cases it can be lethal. As clover is digested it can produce more gas than other plants, making it problematic when extremely abundant. Balanced with grass it is fine and really nutritious for the cattle. It also helps to fix nitrogen from the air into the soil, making it more accessible for all plants. We love clover and just manage the pasture and cattle to reduce any risks. See more

18.01.2022 Now that we have little Miss Cilla who is frankly a ball of energy until she is exhausted (then is re-energised by a power nap and we do it all again), morning walks before work are a must. With views like these to start the day, even Mondays aren't so bad. We grazed this paddock when the red clover had set seed last year, in the hope that the cattle would help to spread the seed across the paddock, as it was a bit patchy. Our master plan appears to have worked as the covered of clover is fantastic. Actually hoping a little bit more grass develops to balance the pasture out! It has really grown in the last week or so when as the warmer weather kicked in, though the cold snap on the weekend probably had all the plants confused. The Great Western Tiers are still snow capped, just to remind us that Winter can return any old time.

17.01.2022 The gorgeous Wiltshire Cherry Blossom N21 calved a couple days ago, delivering a gorgeous grey heifer calf! This heifer has the distinction of being the only grey stud Murray Grey calf, everyone else (with one left to arrive) has been silver. We are a bit partial to a grey so really pleased to have a grey heifer calf. Cherry Blossom was purchased last year, along with Arcadia Jose H7, from Wiltshire Murray Greys and hasn't disappointed. As we've commented on a few times ...we are trying to reduce our calving window to create a more even group of calves. Cherry Blossom calved last year on the 17th of September for the first time, heifers can take longer to recover from calving and subsequently get back in calf. Cherry Blossom has done a great job calving almost exactly at the same time 12 months after her first calf, this year she calved on the 20th of September, so no complaints from us. The biggest predictor of when a cow will calve is when she last calved, which has proven very true in this case. Can't wait to watch this little one grow, hopefully she takes after her mother! See more

17.01.2022 The Gelbvieh Twins, looking cute and hanging out with the mother, plus a few of the older calves. Again we've had twin girls! These two are just about identical as they come, down to white tips on their tails (so cute). They weighed 29.5kg and 31kg a total of 60.5kg calf that Spot was carrying around, plus several more kilos of placenta and fluid for the pair. We're fairly sure that Spot must be pleased to have been relieved of her load. We usually only have one set of ...twins in a year, but this year we've doubled down apparently. One from the Bottom Mob and now this set in the Top Mob. Spot is happy to care for them both and for the moment they seem to be doing a reasonable job of staying close to each other. We've had to reunite them a few times as Spot won't go looking for one if she has the other with her, so if one decides to sleep in it does tend to get left behind, but generally they are going well. Will be interesting to see them grow, as Spot and her family are known for having big daily weight gains. Two calves competing for the same milk supply will likely reduce their growth rate, but even so we will watch with interest to see how they go. For now we are just enjoying the cuteness!

16.01.2022 It was sheep pedicure day aka foot trimming day. For those new to the page we have a small flock of Dorper Sheep for our own lamb and mutton. Selling a few ewe lambs to manage the costs of keeping the flock happy and healthy. Dorpers are relatively low maintenance compared to other breeds as they shed their wool, so don't need shearing. They do however need their feet trimmed to prevent lameness. Because of our relatively soft ground their hooves don't naturally wear do...wn, instead they can grow quite long. Which can cause lameness as they can break or crack allowing dirt in which can penetrate into the softer part of the hoof causing lameness, in really bad cases you may get an abscess. To prevent all these nasties the flock has their hooves trimmed every few months. Trimming regularly we have few issues and it is easier to trim them if they aren't badly overgrown. It was also Cilla's first time with the sheep and she did rather well. She is now being referred to as the 'Sheep Dog', but we won't actually compare her to a real sheep dog otherwise her confidence might take a hit!

16.01.2022 An afternoon working on our fencing for Gillam Creek, we were rewarded with a rather gorgeous sunset. We are close to being finished the entire project! While the distance is short for the fencing left, it is time consuming as it has a few corners and we have to alter some existing fencing, but it is coming along nicely.

16.01.2022 Today's job was to relocate an old water trough, that has been out of action for many years, to the bull paddock. Giving a paddock that previously didn't have a water trough a reliable water source and means the boys no longer have to trek down to the creek for a drink. This was step one in completing the bigger project for the weekend, fencing off and planting out the last of the trees/shrubs to complete our Gillam Creek Landcare Action Grant project. The bulls have to mo...ve paddocks so we can work unhindered, but they couldn't move to their next paddock without a water source, so 'hey presto' they have a new trough and the paddock is ready to go. The bulls weren't in a cooperative mood and wouldn't come when called, so we've left the gate open and hopefully they'll figure it out over night otherwise we'll have to lead them in with the tractor tomorrow. Never work with animals they say... See more

13.01.2022 We finished another section of tree planting today 60 odd trees, meaning there is only one area left and we will be all done with our Landcare Action Grant Project. Bring on next weekend! Cilla decided it was a supervise from the ute kind of a day, she isn't a huge fan of the wind (can't say we blame her) so she kept a close eye on things from the comforts of the passenger seat. Though when she saw pots going spare and an unguarded weed mat she did decide to lower herself from on high and have a chew. She has grown so much (and keeps growing) in the last couple months. Big week for her as she has her last set of vaccinations (for the next year or so anyway) tomorrow and then her final puppy school session on Tuesday.

13.01.2022 Well hello handsome. This big boy is in the Bottom Mob sired by one of our Woodbourn bulls. Have to say we are extremely pleased with how the bulls have performed. Always a little bit nerve racking wondering how new bulls will turn out for the herd, but all the researching and scrutiny has paid off with calves like these!

09.01.2022 This time of year it is all hands on deck (or paws) to get the silage made in order to have enough of a feed store for the Winter months. Due to our elevation we get properly cold during Winter and the plant growth slows and basically stops for a few months. We do a few things to try and manage this lean period, one is to destock all non-essential cattle so we are only feeding the core breeding herd. But as nothing is growing in the paddock we need to do a little more. Th...is is where the abundance of grass at this time of year comes in. While we could use it to feed a few extra mouths at this time of year, we instead choose to create silage. This means we can store this grass safely without it losing its goodness, pulling it out of the stack to help fill the feed gap. This way we even out our feed, moving the abundance of grass to a time of year when we can make the most of it. In the mean time Cilla enjoys showing off by jumping up onto the bales.

09.01.2022 Welcome to Spring in Tasmania, where it can and will snow because Winter Is Coming no matter what the season is. It wasn't an overly pleasant day despite the sunshine, given freezing wind and the odd heavy shower. Plenty of shelter for the cattle and a healthy helping of silage kept everyone warm. It was certainly a day for jobs that didn't require being out in the paddock!

08.01.2022 Today was a good day for brothers Nimbus and Picasso, they got to meet this year's group of heifers. These two are full brothers and are our designated heifer bulls. Both throw low birth weight calves, who once on the outside grow like weeds and put in a respectable showing among the calves of mature cows (who have heavier calves at birth giving them a head start). These two have proven themselves to be great performers and we have zero concerns about using them again this... year. Both these boys were utilised at around 15 months old, (the same age we join heifers) we explain why we used these bulls so young more in the photos, but we are reaping the benefits now as we have an 'extra' drop of calves from them and have likely prolonged their working lives, which is a good thing for us, as we really do want to see and retain more of their calves. We aren't sure the heifers were as impressed with the arrival of the boys as they boys were, but they'll get used to them. The other bulls have to wait a few more weeks before joining their respective herds, more about that in the photos, but in short we are changing our approach to heifer joinings to support future fertility and we are excited to see the results... In around 24 months when these heifers will have (all being well) calved for the second time.

08.01.2022 Today these two rejoined the flock. Mopsey and her new mum are well and truly bonded so we have no concerns that the pair will be separated from each other in the larger flock. All three triplets are (finally) doing well. This is obviously very far from our original plan of their mother caring for them all with a few top up feeds, but that's farming. Sometimes you got to roll with it and change plans for the best outcomes!

07.01.2022 There is gold at the end of the rainbow! Gelbvieh Gold. The handsome gentleman at the end of the rainbow is Bushy Park Landmark aka King. He's just biding his time waiting to go into the cow mob in a few weeks. Bulls spend most of the year eating grass and doing nothing much, then for a few months are put out with the herd to earn their keep. While quality cows are the backbone of any herd, good bulls are essential. While one cow may have 10 or more calves naturally (i...f she is a good producer), a bull can sire hundreds in his lifespan, having impacts on a huge for decades. Bulls are a big investment and we are really pleased with our current team of bulls, they are all proven sires and we can't wait for their next drop of calves. Technology like Artificial Insemination (AI) means some bulls can have hundreds of progeny in a single year, many more than could naturally be achieved. While embryo transfer means some cows are also having multiple offspring through recipient dams. At the moment we don't use this technology as we just haven't had the time to invest in it, one day though we'd like to dabble, it is a fantastic way to introduce new genetics into a herd, without maintaining a bull.

07.01.2022 Our multi-species crop is looking good, the longer days are starting to really kick growth along and we are seeing faster growth as a result. This is a paddock we sod seeded back in Autumn and it is really starting to develop now. It has been locked up a few months now, but soon it will be grazed by the cattle for some good Spring feed. We have sod seeded this paddock previously and cut silage from it. This year we plan to graze the new crop rather than doing silage, so t...he plant species can get a healthy dose of fertiliser (cow poop) and set seed to really establish themselves. We'll have to get grazing right for that to happen, but it will return some of that goodness to the soil rather than removing it. While we do feed out the silage we cut back out on the farm, when paddocks have been locked up after sod seeding they miss out on this step and more importantly the cow poop that comes along as a by product. Grazing will help to build the soil by adding biological matter in the form of manure and also trampled plants that will break down over time, to regrow the plants will use resources stored in the roots some of which will die off in the process adding more material to the soil, this all helps to feed the soil or more importantly the microbes within it! See more

05.01.2022 There is never a dull moment on the farm. Callum decided we didn't have enough holes on the property and created a new sink hole! For those we haven't been with us long we live in a karst area, this term refers to areas where water and limestone rock interact to create caves, creeks, sinkholes and underground water ways. Sometimes what happens underground has impacts above ground, like new sink holes forming. At times, like this, holes can form in a matter of moments and ...other times it is a gradual process of many years. Callum just drove the tractor through a small dip, which turned into a much bigger one. Turns out it wasn't as solid as it appeared and the weight of the tractor broke through the surface and there is now a hole in the paddock where once there was solid ground. We should point out that we've driven the tractor around this spot many a time, so something has probably shifted underground that has meant it wasn't as stable as it once was. Trying to photograph it doesn't really do it justice, but to be honest sometimes it is better not to know how deep some of these things are! On the plus side we could observe that we had a good depth of top soil with roots penetrating down into the clay level. Which would indicate that our regenerative ag practices are having an impact and we appear to be heading in the right direction with good root penetration, which over time will build the depth of the soil. Holes like this are a bit dangerous as it goes from nice paddock to chasm in one step, so people, dogs or cattle could easily fall in. Most of our sinkholes have smooth edges you can easily walk up and down. Holes like this we either cover up or fill in as they are too dangerous to leave open like this. We live in a beautiful area, but there are some downsides to living on karst. Things have seemed a little less stable since we had floods a few years ago, things seem to have shifted a little and it is all still working itself out, it would seem! Cilla thought it was super interesting and couldn't understand why none of the humans wanted her near it!

03.01.2022 The final planting for our Landcare action grant thanks to Landcare Tasmania and Tasmanian Farmers & Graziers Association are in the ground! Just the accompanying fence to put together and we'll be done! These trees/shrubs were the last of 1600 that were planted as part of this project. It has taken a lot of work to get to this point, but the finish line is in sight. We have to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped out with planting or put a corflute or two together, we've appreciated all your efforts to make our dream a reality. People have been incredibly generous with their time from good friends to complete strangers we've been really humbled by everyone who has taken the time to help us out.

03.01.2022 We are all but finished our Landcare Action Grant, this was the final main post that needed to be positioned. After digging the hole, putting in the post and filling it back in we were fairly pleased with our efforts. Cilla however thought it needed work and proceeded to try to dig up the post again! She just loves digging and must have made a half a dozen holes about the place while we worked on the fence. This one however was the only one she was stopped from making, as... we still needed to attach the wire etc. and we were rather keen for our work to remain complete! While I might say in the video we couldn't use this on social media because Callum might have (jokingly) threatened Cilla, we thought we'd name and shame him. Obviously Cilla's feelings were greatly hurt and she had to resort to chewing a stick (which lasted for less than a minute, before she was digging elsewhere). At least digging helps to give her some exercise and she obviously loves it. Fortunately, she hasn't dug too many holes in the lawn, there might be one or two, but her proper excavation works usually take place in the paddock!

02.01.2022 Life is tough in the Top Mob it would appear... There is a lot of grass and silage to be chewed, sun to be soaked up and sleeping to be done. "I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world" - George Washington

02.01.2022 Bale of shame. Someone not naming names, (Dad) missed a bale last night when wrapping and there was one lonely unwrapped bale in the paddock this morning. Of course it was right next to the road for the world to see. Dad had to do the drive of shame to go and wrap it up, so now there is a paddock of bales this time all wrapped up! If we were being generous we would note that in the dark if one doesn't manage to catch the bale in the headlights they are rather hard to spot at 10pm at night. Though ensuring Dad doesn't forget his error is far more amusing