This morning I slept in until 7:30 AM and went to the farm to
feed calves. By 11 AM I was done feeding and done for the day, so I came back
to the house for a relaxing afternoon off. Josh and Becs left at 10 AM to spend
the night at her parents’ house, but will be back tomorrow.
I was able to skype my family this afternoon and they had so
many good questions! It made me think about all the things I have learned since
I got here and have shared in my blog, but it also reminded me how much I have
yet to share about farm life here.
First of all, 95% of New Zealand’s farms are pasture-based,
grazing dairies with seasonal calving and the farming calendar begins on June 1. Here is a really good site I found that summarizes the New Zealand
dairy industry with a few facts: http://www.frenz.co.nz/index.php/all-the-facts/new-zealand-farming
Most farms do not milk cows in the winter and only have
spring calving (August – October). Ashton does fall calving since there are so
many cows and this helps the farm continue to make money during the winter as
well as ensure employment for their employees. The only shelter on the farm is
the parlor, so trying to describe to most people here the concept of a
freestall or a tiestall is difficult.
The building on the left is the parlor and the other two are workshops
The crop in the foreground is forage rape
In order to ensure a tight calving timeframe during spring,
it is critical for farm managers to time breeding right and make sure their
cows have plenty of chances to become pregnant. All of the breeding at Ashton
is done artificially. Cows that are in heat have their tail paint
rubbed off and are then drafted from the parlor after milking to be bred that
day. Non-cycling cows will be CIDR-synched and then bred. Ashton uses the Minda
software system (like DC 305) to record all cow events, help keep breeding
organized, and maintain milk production records.
Feeding management is also very different here in New
Zealand compared to the US. A good farm manager must know the pastures and be
able to rotate them efficiently and effectively to be able to feed the cows and
still make sure the pastures have time to grow. Ashton has 80 pastures on the main farm, which cover 600 hectares (1500 acres). Milking cows are always on the farm’s pastures, but young calves and dry cows
are usually kept on pastures across the road from the farm.
Ashton's 80 pastures and hectare per pasture.
Milking cows are expected to consume 18-19 kg of feed per
day which consists of 5 kg pasture, 3 kg of a crop, plus 10 kg of supplement
that is a mixed ration of 4 kg maize (corn) silage, 3 kg grass silage, and
about 3 kg of byproduct. Herd 1 and Herd 2 milking cows will go out to a field
of crop (currently forage rape) after the morning milking but Herd 3 goes straight
to pasture. Herd 3 is made up of cows that are later in their lactation and will
calve in late September – early October. Herds 1 and 2 consist of cows that
calved in the autumn (March – May) and need more energy because they are
producing more milk at the beginning of their lactation.
Milking Herd 2 eating their daily allowance of crop (forage rape)
Forage rape is a type of Brassica crop that can be grazed
during the summer, autumn, or winter, but requires 12 – 16 weeks to grow to
maturity (http://www.specseed.co.nz/brassicas.asp).
In February, Josh planted 9.3 hectares (23 acres) of forage rape so it would be
ready for winter grazing. Every
morning, Josh sets up a new reel of fence, using standards, about 10 paces (30
meters) into the uneaten crop from both ends. At this rate, Herds 1 and
2 combined are consuming .3 hectares (.75 acres) per day.
The fence Josh puts up every day.
Josh recently had this field of rape tested for dry matter
and it was about 12% DM, which is much dryer than the 17% he would ideally
feed. This means he will have to let the cows eat more of the crop per day in
order to make sure each cow will be able to consume the goal of 3 kg/day of
crop.
Before the morning and afternoon milkings all 3 milking herds are brought to the feed
pad to eat their mixed ration. After the PM milking all cows will go to their assigned
pasture for the night. Just like the crop, each pasture is divided into smaller
paddocks using fence reels and standards to make sure the cows can consume
their required 5 kg of pasture. Every morning after the cows go to the parlor
for milking, the fence reels and standards are shifted the necessary amount of
paces. This is repeated every day: feed pad, milking, crop/pasture, feed pad, milking, and
pasture for the night.
The feed pad is behind the holding area by the parlor.
Dry cows consume only 12 kg of feed per day; they eat about
6 kg of pasture or crop, plus a mixed ration of 4 kg maize silage and 2 kg of
grass silage. There are 2 pastures of dry cows at Ashton and the rest of the
dry cows are kept across the road on fields of crop (either rape or fodder
beet). Fodder beet is another type of high-yielding Brassica crop that can be
grazed in the winter (http://www.specseed.co.nz/brassicas.asp).
Like the milking cows, once a day the paddock is shifted 1-3 meters into the
crop to make sure the dry cows do not eat the crop too fast to get sick or over
conditioned.
Josh makes sure pastures are rotated frequently so there is
always fresh grass available for the cows to eat. Since it is dry here in the
summer, all herds on the farm will be on a 25-30 day rotation (all 80 pastures
will be grazed in 25-30 days) from October through April. In the winter the
grass is green and grows well, so all herds are on a 100-day grazing rotation
from May through September. He is required to complete pasture walks on a
weekly basis to assess the farm’s pasture cover. Josh must also complete a herd
Body Condition Score (BCS) profile once a month. BCS is considered a critical
management tool in New Zealand, since it provides useful information about a
cow’s nutrition, health status, future feed requirements, and
productivity.
A small pocket guide to BCS (provided by DairyNZ) is at the farm office and the house. It explains how to BCS and provides pictures of cows with BCS ranging from 3 - 6.
The Ashton farm has 200 cows per full time employee; in the
US a farm is generally considered to be doing well if it has over 50 cows per
full time employee. Unlike the US that tends to move from milking 2x towards 3x
per day, the trend in New Zealand is to move from milking cows 2x to 1x per
day, especially to help balance the amount of pasture available and the herd’s
feed requirement during the dry summer months.
Good farmland in New Zealand seems pretty expensive; it
ranges from $NZ 30K to $40K (in New Zealand dollars) per hectare. There are
2.47 acres in one hectare and NZ $1 equals US $0.77, so this is equivalent to
US $9,000 - $12,500/acre in the US!
Dairies in New Zealand also have to comply with regulations
regarding effluent (manure) storage and handling. All farms with 1000 or more
cows must take an effluent sample monthly to help monitor the amount of
nutrients (like Nitrogen) being spread. Each farm also has a specified maximum
effluent application rate that must be adhered to. Effluent can only be applied
during the day and needs to stay at least 10 meters from roads and 20 from
water courses/drains/streams.
The dairy industry in New Zealand is considered an
opportunity for young, hard-working individuals to gain experience and be able
to move ahead rather quickly compared to other industries. There are lots of
prestigious competitions and management awards in the industry that help get
younger farmers excited and involved in dairying. In 2009, Josh and Becs were awarded the Manawatu/Horowhenua/Rangitikei Farm Manager of the Year by the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards Trust (http://www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz/).
I am continuing to learn something new every day. Bel Group
has an extensive Policies and Guidelines Handbook that gets printed annually
and covers every farming subject from its goals to on-farm safety, managing
milk and money, animal health, and calving. Bel Group has 6 critical focus
areas: people and leadership, financial performance, productive performance,
business management, growth, and continual improvement. Within each area there
is a defined purpose, goals, and key performance indicators 1-3 years.
When I think about comparing the dairy industries of the US
and what have learned of New Zealand, the most prominent idea that comes to my
mind is how any type of dairy farming appears to be fine art. From the
freestall-based systems at home to the pasture-based systems here in New
Zealand, both share the same goals: to provide quality products to the consumer
while keeping cows healthy, productive, and comfortable…oh yes, and earning a
living falls in there somewhere as well…
Sunday June 10, 2012
This morning I started milking at 5:30 AM so that Rhox could
draft out CIDR cows from Herd 1 that came into heat early to be bred this
afternoon. He took over for me once Herd 2 began and I took his place
tail-painting all the cows. After Herd 2 was milked I went and fed calves. By
10:30 AM I was home for breakfast and a break until the afternoon milking.
At 2 PM I drove back to the farm and milked for Rhox while
he finished helping the breeder with the cows he drafted this morning. I stuck
around to watch him milk Herd 2 and help get cows from Herd 3 from the feed pad
where they eat their mixed ration for the day before being driven to the
holding area for milking.
Once milking was done I was back at the house. Josh and Becs
had returned home after I left for milking.
Tomorrow is my first day off! I am
going to sleep in, do some baking, and hopefully take a trip to Hastings (a
city about an hour to the north) with Becs in the afternoon.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Even though it was my day off, I got up at 7 AM to my alarm
clock, checked my email, and then went to work baking my mom’s Sunday breakfast
specialty – her cherry coffee cake. I have only made it a few times at home,
but it turned out pretty good…and Josh and Becs really enjoyed it! I was able to catch up on some reading this afternoon and
talk to my family. Becs got home around 2:30 PM and we took the truck and their
2-horse trailer to Hastings to pick up a new bed her and Josh had ordered.
Diesel in New Zealand is cheaper per liter than the gas, but everyone has to
buy shares (NZ $.09) for every mile of diesel they drive, so it actually works out to be the same
price. If you are pulled over while driving a diesel vehicle and the card on
your dash that reads how many miles of shares you have bought is under your
odometer reading, you are fined NZ $.09 for every mile your odometer is over.
So you would have to pay the fine plus spend the money for the miles you were
fined for.
Becs had to buy these shares in Waipukurau and then fill the truck up
with diesel. Unfortunately, the truck was accidentally filled up with gas (it
was not me!) so Becs had to call the Ford dealership in Waipak to come tow the
ute (their name for truck) back to the shop. Luckily we were in town and Becs
did not drive the ute after realizing she had filled it with gas instead of
diesel. Josh came and picked us up from the gas station in the car and we towed
the horse trailer home with that…so hopefully tomorrow Becs and I will be able
to go pick up the truck and their new bed.
Tomorrow it’s back to work!
Tuesday June 12, 2012
This morning Josh picked me up at 8 AM and brought me to the
farm. Josh set up a paddock to move a group of dry cows to while I divided up a
pasture into smaller paddocks for one of the milking herds. Once we were done
it was 10:30 AM and time for Bel Group’s annual “Welcome to Bel Group”
meeting/lunch for employees for all 8 farms. Business leaders Campbell and
Justine went through all aspects of working for Bel Group, focusing on the
business’s financial and performance goals as well as plans to achieve these
goals.
After the meeting food was served and I was able to meet some of the
employees and managers from other farms.
Once back from lunch, Becs and I had the afternoon off so we
drove to Hastings. The trip was successful and uneventful. The temperature
dropped quite a bit this afternoon though, and it looks like there is more snow
on the mountains compared to last night.
On the road to Hastings...
New Zealand has almost 40 million sheep! That's 10 sheep for every 1 person (AKA the population of NZ is 4 million people)
Hastings!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
This morning I went to the farm with Josh at 7 AM. Becs has
had to be at the farm by 5:30 AM every morning since Monday, and will have to
do this for the next 5 weeks, to draft out fall calving cows to be bred. The
New Zealand company LIC (Livestock Improvement Corporation) does all of the AB
(artificial breeding; AKA AI) at Ashton. LIC offers a wide array of services
for their clients, including milk testing, computer software like Minda, and AB
(http://www.lic.co.nz/).
I started by feeding grain to the weaned calves and took
some pictures of the beautiful sunrise with the freshly snow-capped mountains
in the distance:
At 8 AM two employees of LIC, Racheal and Norm, arrived at
the farm again to help tag more cows with electronic ID tags. I helped tag
until we were done at 2 PM and had a quick lunch. After lunch I went on a
pasture walk with Sam and Josh to look at groups of dry cows kept on land
across from Ashton. Josh looks at all of the dry cows about once a week to see
how much body condition they are putting on and looks for any cows that are too
skinny. Skinny cows will be moved across the road back to Ashton and given more
food.
At 4 PM I drove the blue ute to town, with Becs along, to
get it serviced. We picked up her and Josh’s blue truck from the shop and came
home. Once at home we lit a nice warm fire to get out of the cold. Hopefully
tomorrow will be warmer!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
I started at 7:30 this morning at the farm. Racheal and Norm
arrived shortly after and by 8 AM we were at the cow yards down the road to tag
200 dry cows. I was in charge of operating the cow chute/headlock, Norm did the
tagging, Racheal ran the computer, and Rhoxus corralled cows into the chute. It
was slow going and tough work, but by 1 PM we were done…for the morning.
After a quick lunch Becs, Norm, Racheal, and I headed down
the road to another set of cow yards to tag another 200 dry cows. There was no
head lock setup in this set so we had to group four cows at a time in the chute
and tag from there. Again, it was slow going and we finished around 5 PM, just
as it was getting too dark to read tag numbers. Becs and I walked the cows down
the race to their pasture and then went home for the night.
Friday, June 15, 2012
This morning Josh and I met Hamish at the farm at 6:30 AM.
As Hamish removed CIDRs and gave Lutalyse to cows that we put CIDRs into last
Friday, I re-painted red tail paint on these cows. According to Hamish, the
biggest 3 complications cows have after calving are 1) mastitis 2) getting cows
to cycle and 3) body condition loss. This is different from what I am used to
seeing at home, where the biggest issues I have noticed while on different
farms with various veterinarians would be 1) ketosis/displaced abomasum 2)
mastitis, and 3) metritis/retained placentas. Since the cows in New Zealand are
on pasture, it makes sense that metabolic issues (DA/ketosis) are not as
prevalent as most farms in the US, and instead they battle weight loss and
mastitis. It will be interesting to see what calving season brings in one
month!
After I was done helping Hamish, I drove the 4-wheeler out
to where Josh was adjusting the fence reels for the cows on the crop. He showed
me how he always keeps one fence reel up ahead of the reel that is holding the
cows back. This way is easier to take the first reel down to let the cows eat
the crop and then set this reel up for the next day. It also ensures that if
the reel ahead of the cows gets disconnected to the main pasture fence, there
is one ahead to stop the cows from eating the entire field.
A reel of fence wire used to divide pastures.
A standard (fence post) used to hold up fence wire.
Next, I went to the dry cow paddocks which I helped Josh
shift paddocks on Tuesday. I adjusted the reel 40 paces (120 meters) into the
pasture onto new grass and then took down the other reel so the cows could have
fresh pasture. After adjusting another pasture like this I drove back to the
cow shed (parlor).
Once done moving cows, Elmer (one of the milkers) and I took
meal (calf grain in the form of pellets) to the 100 calves that Josh and Sam
weaned yesterday. After unloading the 4 bags of meal into the mangers, Elmer
drove around the paddock and out the gate, which I closed really fast. The
calves were not very happy with us as we drove away. Now there are only 2 mobs
of calves to feed!
The unhappy calves that were weaned yesterday.
I got the rest of the afternoon off and after a full day of
hard work yesterday, I relaxed.
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