Business Rural North Summer 2021

46 | State-of-the-art ultrasound scanning Ag Scan managing director Carl Williams (seated) doing the scanning. Today’s technology makes the whole process as simple as running a flock of ewes through a race (below). Kelly Deeks RURAL SERVICES » Ag-Scan “It makes no difference if the ewes are woolly or just off the shears. All we ask is a few hours off grass, and overnight in a holding paddock is sufficient.” K iwi farmers at the top of their game are using the services of Ag Scan with its state-of-the- art ultrasound scanning technology to gain stress free and accurate information around preg- nancy and foetal numbers in their sheep and cattle. Ag Scan managing director Carl Williams and scanning technician Roger Ireland have been pro- viding Ag Scan’s services to New Zealand farmers since 1997. Both Carl and Roger have been in farming all their working lives and they pride themselves on their professionalism and their ability to exceed the expectations of their clients. Carl got into the business while living in Denmark with his wife Jette, between 1987 and 1996. He went to the UK in 1993 to train in scanning, then set up a scanning service what would eventually operate in New Zealand and Sweden. “Sheep numbers in Denmark are very small, and the average flock contains about 20 sheep,” Carl says. “Setting up Ag Scan was a huge investment and the potential for making a reasonable income in Denmark was not very high. My trainer in the UK had been working in New Zealand for a couple of years, and suggested I consider coming home because there was so much potential here.” Carl says Kiwi farmers are open to new ideas, and when they see something that looks like it’s going to be advantageous, and can be integrated into their management system, they will give it a go. In the early days of agricultural scanning, the only machines available were the same ultrasound machines used in hospitals, they were cumbersome and the only way to scan a sheep was to tip it up, do a half belly shear, and scan across the belly. Today’s technology makes the whole process as simple as running a flock of ewes through a race. Sheep can be scanned indoors or out, in rain or shine, and anywhere on the farm where there is a set of yards. “No special preparation is required,” Carl says. “It makes no difference if the ewes are woolly or just off the shears. All we ask is a few hours off grass, and overnight in a holding paddock is sufficient.” Ewes can be drafted up to three ways off the end of the scan. There are multiple benefits of scanning, including the ability to get the empty ewes out of the flock early in the winter, to identify late lambing ewes, and to cater to the feed requirements of ewes carrying twins or triplets. Keeping the ewes with single lambs on the colder, harder country and the ewes with multiple lambs on the warmer country at a lower stocking rate can boost lamb survival by up to 20%. One of the most important jobs at scanning is marking the ewes. Ag Scan uses the effective, lasting, and completely scourable Ceemark marker from Rurtec, and fully scourable spray marker Fadeaway from Animal Health Direct. This easy to use product has no unpleasant smell and doesn’t affect the wool fibre. The establishment of a cattle scanning service at Ag Scan was a farmer-driven initiative. An internal examination had the potential to really upset the cow, where the quick, clean, and comfortable scanning operation can leave the cow completely unaware they have been scanned. Flow Control Gate No more bottle- necking Ewe Cradle Get them up off the ground and going again Short & long wing back stops for drafting, crutching & scanning H u g h G l e n d i n n i n g | K e i t h W e d l o c k | W e n d y W i l s o n Phone ( 06 ) 356 7103 Web www. g l end i nn i ngs . co. nz Fax ( 06 ) 3566420 Emai l account i ng@g l end i nn i ngs . co. nz Ad d r e s s L e v e l 6 , T S B B a n k Towe r 1 - 1 9 F i t z h e r b e r t Av e n u e , Pa l me r s t o n No r t h 4 4 4 0 Advising and Supporting Manawatu Businesses for over 80 years