UD Study Abroad in New Zealand: Sustainable Food Production

    Our arrival into Kaikōura was greeted with an abundance of fur seals along the waterway. The seals were a quintessential example of the beauty of Kaikōura and the rich natural life the town was bursting with at the seams. The students on our trip would watch in amazement as the fur seals basked on the rugged rocks along the shoreline. During our free day, most of the groups decided to explore the wildlife a bit more. After a last-minute cancellation of my group’s sea kayaking excursion due to weather conditions, we decided to do the renowned Peninsula Walkway Hike. I didn’t know it at the time, but I would come to realize that this decision was one of the best I’ve made on the trip yet.   The beginning : The hike began with a walk along the rocky shore. As we trudged along, we watched the waves crash along the beach and wash away through the rocks in an undulating motion. After just a few minutes into the hike, we found a Portuguese Man O’ War jellyfish below our feet! We rev

Nevele R Stud is a standard-bred horse breeding farm in Canterbury, New Zealand, and has been home to multiple champion stallions since its founding. They exclusively use artificial insemination, which begins with collecting semen from the stallion. This involves the stallion mounting the phantom (which is also known in the U.S. as a “dummy”) and an artificial vagina being placed over his penis by Stud Manager Anna Murphy until he ejaculates. A tease mare (a female horse in heat) may also be present in the room to help start the process. All personnel in the collection room have to wear protective clothing as the collection process can become dangerous if they aren’t careful and prepared.   After they collect the semen, they examine it under a microscope for the quantity and motility of the sperm. One collection from a fertile stallion can be used to inseminate 28-30 mares, while a collection from a sub-fertile stallion can be used to inseminate 6-8 mares. Once the semen is collected,

                                                                An invasive species: the stoat In the beginning of European settlement in New Zealand in the 19 th century, settlers brought an array of mammals for agricultural purposes as well as sport and food. In doing so, many of these species brought from overseas have brought drastic issues upon the native fauna here in New Zealand. Agricultural animals such as cattle and pigs have been managed for quite some time by farmers. Their domestication has limited many of their damaging impacts. Some of the wild species of rabbits, possums, stoats/ferrets, and deer have left native plant and animal populations in a muddle. Rabbits have been a huge ecological challenge for over a century. They were originally introduced for sport and food, but quickly resulted in damage to alpine grasslands, saplings, orchards, and gardens, and are concerning competitors for grazing sheep.  The rabbit population took off in the 1870’s, where over th

I traveled to New  Zealand at the beginning of this month to learn about agriculture and sustainability.   Today we stopped at the Canterbury Livestock Auction to learn m ore about how farmers sell off their mobs (flocks) and how they buy new sheep. A few terms  to note throughout this are: hogget (a sheep between 1-2 years of age), mutton (a mature sheep  between 2-3 years of age), store (when sheep/cows aren't ready to go to the market or  slaughter house),  and prime (when the sheep or cow is ready to go to the market or slaughter  house). Some farmers just focus on buying store cattle or lambs from the auction and raise  them until they are old enough to be considered prime animals. A farmer that I talked to this morning  was only looking for store lambs around 20-35kgs (44-77 lbs) so that he could feed them and make a profit.  When they are ready, he will He would then bring them back  in 2-3 months time.  They will be a little more  conditioned, weighing in around 45- 65kg’s