No. 8 Wire: Fagan the favourite for Golden Shears

Deer farmers improving their stock's health are likely to find export markets more amenable to buying venison.

Punters get few opportunities to bet on shearing at the TAB, but the big chance is coming with the Golden Shears now just a week away.

In a special tribute, the country's betting agency is making 16-times Open champion David Fagan the favourite.

Although he's 53, his form this season is good enough for the TAB to do this in the absence of two others who would have been leading contenders, defending champion Rowland Smith and four-time winner John Kirkpatrick.

TAB sports bookmaker Keiran McAnulty says there's no sentimentality about the $3 odds, down from his $5 opening price last year and the year before, and less than a third of his opening price of 10-1 in 2009, when he last won, five years after win number 15.

But where there is a bit of sentimentality is the TAB's decision to honour the moment by offering to refund all losing bets on the Open winner if Fagan takes out the title again.

"I think they've got it all wrong," says Fagan, who has nevertheless won five finals this season.

"At 53, there's no way I should be favourite to win the Golden Shears Open."

Deer health Deer farmers are being encouraged to have a close look at their animals' health as part of the Passion2Profit initiative.

P2P aims to improve deer farm profits by developing new high-value markets for venison and removing barriers to performance on the farm.

It has funding support from the Government's Primary Growth Partnership, and already has several activities under way.

"Animal health, feeding and genetics are the three big areas where farmers can influence the profits they make from deer," says Deer IndustryNZ chief executive Dan Coup.

"In the 11 advance parties we now have under way, farmers help each other to exploit opportunities in each of these areas.

"The first of these groups are already achieving good results for the farmers involved."

Gardening grants Eleven rural schools have been selected as the lucky winners of $2000 gardening grants. The popular grants are a joint Rural Women New Zealand / Farmlands venture, aimed at helping schools develop vegetable gardens and orchards.

"This is the fourth year we've given out the gardening grants with funds from the Farmlands Ladies Nights," says Rural Women New Zealand national president, Wendy McGowan. "It's a great way to help schools teach children how easy it is to grow food and what makes a healthy diet.

"In past years the gardening grants have been used by schools to build tunnel houses, composting systems, buy seeds, plants, fruit trees and gardening equipment."

The winners are: Otamarakau School, Bay of Plenty; Paparoa Primary School, Northland; Te Horo School, Kapiti; Wharepapa South School, Waikato; Norfolk School, Taranaki; Patoka School, Hawke's Bay; Lauriston School, Mid-Canterbury; Seddon School, Marlborough; Clutha Valley Primary School, Otago; Lake Brunner School, West Coast; Waianiwa School, Southland.

The schools will also receive fertiliser from Agrisea NZ and a copy of A Good Harvest -- recipes from the gardens of Rural Women New Zealand so the children can put all their produce to good use.

Kirkpatrick ruled out Injury will force multiple Golden Shears champion John Kirkpatrick to miss Masterton's big annual shearing and woolhandling championships next month for the first time since he first entered, and won, in 1993.

The 44-year-old Napier shearer, whose eight major victories at the Golden Shears include four in the glamour open final, has been out of action since suffering a rotator cuff injury to his right shoulder in the United Kingdom last July. He underwent surgery in December.

Now out of his sling, he will see his specialist before the end of the month, and says: "We'll see how it goes."

Though it's likely to be too late for the Golden Shears, he hopes he will be back in competition nick by the New Zealand Championships in Te Kuiti from April 9-11.

Condition assessments Northland herds have the opportunity this season to be included in the DairyNZ body condition score (BCS) initiative, which will see certified BCS assessors provide free body condition score assessments.

"Farmers, researchers and advisers all agree that getting cows in the right condition at calving is critical for milk production and reproductive performance -- two key drivers of farm profitability," says DairyNZ developer productivity, Sally Peel.

"Yet, every year we see large numbers of cows calving at below target condition and consequently achieving below potential production and profitability."

Because of these difficulties, DairyNZ has developed the BCS scheme to help farmers achieve their cow condition targets by calving.

"We have trained advisers in body condition scoring and feed planning to support farmers one-on-one and to develop plans to address below target cows," says Sally.

DairyNZ are seeking expressions of interest from Northland farmers keen to take part in the BCS initiative.

If you would like to find out more about this opportunity, contact your local DairyNZ consulting officer or phone the DairyNZ Farmer Information Service on 0800 4 DAIRYNZ (0800 4 324 7969).

If you would like to register online, see dairynz.co.nz/bcsinitiative or phone the DairyNZ Farmer Information Service.