Terms and phrases

A day of hard yakka on the farm is a lot easier if you have had smoko.......


If you are not from the country then this glossary might help understanding what the hell I'm talking about!!

A&P Show- agriculture and pastural show

All Hat and no horse- A talker, not a doer


Baleage- equivalent of silage in a bale; green or wilted pasture that has been baled and then wrapped either individually or in a tube in plastic to create anaerobic conditions that allow the ensilaging process to occur

Bindertwine/ Baling twine- twine used to hold hay bales together and to fix anything around the farm (if you can’t fix it with bindertwine you shouldn’t own it)

Break fencing- using temporary electric fencing to divide a paddock into smaller lots so that the animals can only eat a little of the feed at a time, usually in strips.

Can't make honey out of dog shit- description for a bad hay season or anything else that is beyond being attractive or successful.

Coin- money

Crutching- removing wool from the hindquarters of a sheep

Cull- to remove from the mob, an animal that is no longer suitable for breeding that is to be sent to the works- or to the farm freezer

Cut out- the celebration at the end of shearing. Usually a few beers and a BBQ for the shearers but on by the farmer.


Dippy- the abbreviated description of a student at Lincoln University enrolled in a diploma of agriculture and/or farm management


Dog Tuckers- second rate sheep separated from the general flock generally held close to the house, that will be killed to feed the farm dogs

Dog walloper- farm hand or shepard

Down the road- Fired from your job

Drench- Orally administered to stock (cattle, sheep, deer) to give them resistance against disease and parasites. No heavy rain involved!

Just down the road- a measurement used by rural people that could be anywhere from 1km to about 50km, interchangeable with 'a couple of miles'

Four tooth- sheep- 20-24 months old

Full mouth- a fully mature ewe with its four pairs of teeth, more than 40 months old.

Glad rags- good clothing worn to a celebration- a suit or dress for example

Going to town- either a horse bucking or someone yelling obscenities loudly

Hard Yakka- really hard work, also used to describe someone that is hard to talk to or a polite way of saying you don't particularly warm to a person; i.e. "John's girlfriend is hard yakka"


Hay- pasture, lucern, oats etc, that has been mown, dried and baled to be used as supplementary feed

Heading Dog- a dog that, without barking, heads off an individual or group of animals, controls the front of a moving mob or herd; also called an eye dog


Hill Stick- a tool for a shepard, usually made from Manuka and about 1.5m long that a shepard carries to balance on a hill, give stock a hurry up, discipline dogs and check the depth of creeks with.
~I am going to take my hill stick to heaven so I can fight off the angels trying to fence me in~

Hogget- a young sheep between a lamb and a two-tooth, approx 10-16 months old. Also Dave's best mate whose real name is Sam.

Huntaway- a driving barking sheep dog that barks on command to help move stock from behind

Mocker- Clothing

Mountain Oysters- sheep's balls

Number 8 wire- fencing wire used for most farm fencing and fix ups, also used to describe the creativity of New Zealanders and their ability to invent new things or fix items with what they have at hand.

On the board- the area in the shearing shed where the actual shearing is done

Peaked- exhausted

Poked-used to describe something broken, tired or badly mended


Rousie- rouseabout, odd job worker in the shearing shed

Rural contractor- a contractor that makes hay, baleage and silage for farmers. They use their own machinery and charge the farmer for their services.

Set Stock- move stock into a large paddock or block and leave them there for two or three weeks- sometimes more

Silage- pasture, lucern, barley, oats etc conserved for supplementary feed by mowing, compacting and anaerobic preservation (ensilaging) in sack or pit covered with plastic held down (often with tyres).


Six tooth- a 26-30 month old sheep, a three year old


Snow raking- to rescue sheep from a heavy snow. To walk up to the sheep and create a channel for them to walk in. No rakes, just legs used for this!!


Spiker- yearling male deer that has grown its first set of antlers that are usually in the form of two single point spikes


Stocky- Stock and station agent

Swag- Bed roll. Great for when you are away mustering but also great accommodation for rural parties!


Smoko- Morning tea break around 10.30am, also used for afternoon tea at about 3pm.


Tailing (south island)/docking (north island)- removing the tails from lambs

Tally- the number of sheep in a 'tally' is 100 so if tally is yelled four times in the yards you have 400 sheep. Also used as a lose term for the number of sheep counted, so a shearing tally might be 2000 for the day.

Taranaki gate- a makeshift wire gate made from battens and netting or wires.

Tarn- a small mountain lake

Two tooth- a sheep with its first pair of adult teeth, anywhere from 12-18 monthsuntil about a year later when it becomes a four tooth.

Wayleggo- "come here dog"


Weekend warriors- town folk who head for the hills in the weekends armed with 4WDs, hiking boots, skis etc

Wether- castrated male sheep

Wilding pines- pine trees that have self sown, the seeds are scattered by the wind. These are becoming more and more of a problem in the high country of New Zealand.

Workbench- Bed