Livestock Production Systems I: Farming Systems

These flashcards cover common livestock terminology, breeds, and various farming production systems specifically focused on New Zealand and international examples from the lecture.

Large White

A pig breed from Yorkshire, England, distinguished by erect ears, pink skin, and a white color, known for excellent reproduction and growth.

Duroc

A pig breed varying from light gold to dark red with excellent meat quality; when used as terminal sires, their progeny are white-skinned.

Landrace

White-colored swine with heavy, drooping ears that are long and muscular; they have excellent growth performance but may have some meat-quality problems.

Hampshire

A pig breed with a shiny black coat and a white belt over the shoulder, known for good grazing and foraging abilities.

Steer

A castrated male cattle.

Wether

A castrated male sheep or goat.

Havier

A castrated male deer.

Barrow

A castrated male pig.

Gelding

A castrated male horse.

Capon

A castrated male chicken.

Heifer

A young female cattle.

Hogget

A young female sheep.

Gilt

A young female pig.

Pullet

A young female chicken.

Intensive farming

A system of farming that uses large amounts of labour and capital relative to land area, commonly used for pig and poultry operations.

Extensive farming

A system of farming that uses small amounts of labour and capital relative to land area, commonly used for sheep and cattle in areas like NZ hill country.

Five Star Beef

A feedlot near Ashburton, NZ, where approximately 14,000 cattle are grain-fed rather than grass-fed.

Mudanjiang City Mega Farm

A dairy farm in Heilongjiang, China, housing 100,000 head of cattle and producing 800 million litres of milk per year.

Anna Creek station

A cattle farm in South Australia covering 6,000,000 acres, making it larger than some countries.

Molesworth Station

New Zealand’s largest high country cattle station, covering almost 500,000 acres.

Free farmed (Pigs)

A system where pigs have an outdoor-based breeding herd and an indoor-based housing system for growing pigs post-weaning.

Free range (Pigs)

A system (comprising 2% of NZ pig production) where the breeding herd is outdoor-based and newly weaned pigs are reared outdoors after a short period.

Colony cages

One of three housing systems for NZ layer hens, accounting for 33% of the industry.

Infectious bursal disease

A poultry disease confirmed present at two Mainland Poultry layer farms in Otago in September 2019, though NZ remains free of many other major diseases.

Dairy System 1

An all-grass self-contained dairy system where all stock are kept on the dairy platform.

Dairy System 5

A dairy system where 25-40% (up to 55%) of feed is imported and used all year, throughout lactation and for dry cows.

BioGro New Zealand

One of New Zealand’s two largest organic certifiers alongside AsureQuality Limited.

Organic agriculture

A production system based on minimising external inputs and excluding synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, antibiotics, and genetic modification.