Pre-Lamb Shearing in August | Winter in New Zealand.

Shearing the hill ewes. They are due to start lambing on the 25th September and we are scanning on Sunday so we need to get them shorn.
#shearing #sheepfarming #newzealand
My Name is Alistair Bird and My wife Genna and I farm on 'The Grange" near Oxford, North Canterbury, in the South Island of New Zealand.
Join me as I document our daily life bringing you the highs and lows on a New Zealand Sheep and Beef farm.
Thanks so much for watching.
Kiwi Farmer shop Kiwi Farmer Clothing and Appeal kiwifarmer.myshopify.com
Te Pari Website: www.tepari.com
Farm IQ Website: www.farmiq.co.nz
Kinghitter www.kinghitter.com
Facebook: / thegrangenzbirds
Email: [e-mail]
Instagram: Alistair Bird (@kiwifarmernz) • Instagram photos and videos
Mail: 211 Ashley Gorge Road, Oxford, New Zealand. 7495

[@edrouse9578]

That is a hard working crew. Thanks for showing us.

[@azamyahmad]

Loved the beautiful background blue skies .. absolutely another spectacular beautiful shooting filming footage .. have a wonderful blessing weekend to you and your beautiful family over there in New Zealand .. Merci beaucoup Monsieur

[@cityguyinthecountry]

He always delivers quality content, I respect his work

[@kiwifarmernz]

Thanks Gary

[@johnjones3848]

Good job explaining why sheep 🐑 shearing is needed regardless of which country we farm.our seasons are 6 months apart as we are finishing our last beltex x lambs at 42kg live weight and you are nearly starting lambing.very wet July and early August here in North Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@kiwifarmernz]

No worries. Hope you have had a good session.

[@NZKaz]

Super interesting and it's always good to understand the animal welfare aspect of what you are doing

[@kiwifarmernz]

Thanks Mate.

[@ronaldlucas5360]

Your explanations as you video are helpful to us.

[@maolfold_arran]

That’s a very cool shearing shed! Very jealous! 👍

[@kiwifarmernz]

It works ok.

[@maolfold_arran]

@@kiwifarmernz not something we really have in Scotland. Our wool is probably even less valued than yours!

[@rodmackinnon8497]

Great explanation on the shearing, sounds reasonable, I'd never have known that. I find it so disgusting that big money folks, have turned clothing away from wool and made it worthless, I fondly remember in my childhood, there was nothing comparable to wool. Mittens, sweaters, and parkas . . . all the new fangled replacement don't compare unless you fork out eight hundred for down fill. Cheers.

[@garymadden2656]

Great video Alastair 👌

[@scottcrosbie980]

Good to see Mitch smiling!! That guy makes shearing look way too easy!!!

[@tinymahuta]

5:32 well there is something you can do about it, dust off that handpiece haha

[@deedawson6074]

Very interesting.

[@kiwifarmernz]

Glad you think so!

[@andrewj7994]

Are you thinking of moving to Wiltshires? I would be, there is limit to the confidence in wools recovery when it's only got worse for the last 25 years. Shearing costs are out weighing the cost of shearing and crutching by so much, soon money will be so tight continuing a loss making enterprise will not be an option. Mate told me his wool costs last year were just over 50k and his income was just over 10k in sales. I don't think with these schedule falls farmers can carry the cost of a loss making enterprise any more. My daughter got a job with Beef and Lamb in Canterbury, if you see her introduce yourself, she's got an interesting background.

[@kiwifarmernz]

Not at this stage. You make a valid point tho.

[@kiwifarmernz]

What role did your daughter take up for beef n lamb

[@andrewj7994]

I think she's the Canterbury rep. Minna

[@kiwifarmernz]

@@andrewj7994 I will keep an eye out.

[@markmeredith5521]

Could you use the kingshitter to press the wool,could probably get 3or4 times the weight per bale 😂. Had a chat with Rowland Smith at The 3 counties show a few weeks ago. He said they had to source ewes from 4 farms in uk when he got his 8 hour record. It criminal how bad wool price is,same with barley,wheat,osrape. It’s all break even money which unfortunately isn’t enough.

[@kiwifarmernz]

That would make a good video ae. Yep very frustrating.

[@regbyrne4237]

Good show mate put your snow jacket on thanks.

[@rigger314]

I was looking at the price of a wool bale here in Australia and they are $1900 for 18 odd micron wool, merino I think. Just wondering is that after the wool has been processed and rebaled or is that wool from the farm. I really look forward to your videos and the information to give us regarding your animal husbandry.

[@kiwifarmernz]

Thanks. I think that would be clean price. So after it has been scoured.

[@rigger314]

@@kiwifarmernz Thanks I was wondering.

[@chuckle30]

Thanks for the explanation was wondering why as there's very few that shear in the winter in the uk and they're normally housed after. Also I see your wool about the same as ours as far as covering the cost of shearing is there any sheading sheep breeds in nz there's a few hear in the uk?

[@kiwifarmernz]

The Wiltshire's are becoming more and more popular here with the low price of wool

[@lukehillier2262]

How did your bull results go

[@kiwifarmernz]

Still waiting on blood tests.

[@ballynashawnfarm4895]

Is there many stabiliser cattle in New Zealand

[@kiwifarmernz]

Not a huge number but there are some studs which offer them .

[@chrisbird6609]

Rissington Cattle Company in Hawkes Bay bought semen and embryos in from the USA years ago. I ran some of their cows for them with this progeny. Not sure if they have continued with them though.

[@seanodwyer4322]

wool demon- Sean O'Dwyer- number 136- 140 Hobson Street.- Auckland City. 1010. new Zealand.- South Pacific.'''

[@j.r8213]

In an were renewable is the fashion it's criminal that wool value is what it is it grows back year after year how more renewable can you get.

[@kiwifarmernz]

Very frustrating ae.

[@caveweta]

What’s the cost of shearing vs the value of the wool? Would you consider making wool products and selling from the farm?

[@kiwifarmernz]

Making products from our own wool could be something to look at in the future. The woolsale covers about half the costs of shearing for us. All depends on quality and quantity of the wool clip.

[@jodieking3063]

Just out of interest, how much do they charge for scanning over there?

[@kiwifarmernz]

Just got my bill. It is 75cents NZ per sheep. That is for dry, single, twin and triplet scan.

[@scottcrosbie980]

Ever contemplated doing them every 6 months Alistair?

[@kiwifarmernz]

Yea but its just the cost at the moment.

[@scottcrosbie980]

@@kiwifarmernz yeah I find the prelamb ones ok, but the summer one if they’ve had a tough spring and not grown the 2kgs of wool a bit costly. The extra stock performance and ease of farming is great but it’s marginal cost wise atm for sure