GOT MILK?

I am continuing to learn an endless amount about dairying on the other side of the world. Besides the different styles of feed management, there are also differences in managing milk quality and production. As a company, BEL Group does a great job of outlining its business plan, focusing on 6 critical performance areas. The 2012 Policies and Guidelines Handbook states its annual production goals and provides plenty of extra basic information on how it plans to achieve these goals, especially with milk production.

In New Zealand, milk production per cow is measured in milk solids. One milk solid is the total fat and protein content of the milk produced by one cow in one lactation. A common measurement of milk production efficiency is the kilograms of milk solids produced per hectare of land (kgMS/ha). A simple pasture based system produces >1000 kgMS/ha. BEL Group’s goal is to produce 1050 – 1200 kgMS/ha over all farms, with Ashton producing 1530 kgMS/ha consistently. To achieve these levels of milk production, a farm must be achieving a minimum feed conversion of 16 kgDM feed:1 kgMS produced.   

As of June 1, 2012, BEL Group produced 2.97 million kgMS from 2300 ha.

The two large, upright bulk tanks at Ashton

During peak milk production, Fonterra has to pick up 2x per day!

According to the BEL Group handbook, days in milk + cows + feed management = profitable milk solids production. Because timing is critical to manage milk production with a pasture-based dairy system, BEL Group has specific on-farm targets for:

• Calving date
• Mean calving date is planned for 7 weeks prior to expected pasture growth equal to herd demand
• Mean calving date on standard system = August 8^th
• Target day sin milk prior to December 31^st = 145 days
• Milk production before December 31s
• Fundamental target to monitor
• Producing milk before Christmas reduces the farm’s risk of exposure to a dry summer and/or autumn 
• Annual milk production 
• BEL Group requires 1000 kgMS/ha and 330 kgMS/cow

A big difference between the US and New Zealand is that cows are not stripped or teat-dipped before milking…milkers are just put on and then taken off. An automatic, motion-sensing sprayer sprays iodine on teats after cows are done being milked. This is common practice on dairy farms in New Zealand. When I talked to Josh and Becs about this difference, they said there used to be a lot of trouble with Iodine residues in milk from the prepping process and that research has been done to prove it does not reduce SCC enough to be worth the labor and time. The average cell count at Ashton is normally around 300,000 cells/mL. The coop that buys BEL Group’s milk – Fonterra – does not pay an SCC premium, but only deducts when milk has an SCC >400,000 cells/mL. On a pasture-based dairy farm it is very difficult/impossible to ensure a clean lying environment for the cows, compared to a freestall dairy farm where stalls can be cleaned on a regular basis. If you take this into account, the SCC at Ashton is very acceptable; there are some farms in the US that struggle to achieve this SCC. 

Another large difference between the US and New Zealand is the trend for farms to move towards milking cows only one time per day instead of two, whereas the trend in the US is to move from milking 2x to 3x. Ashton milks its cows two times per day, except the lame cows, which are milked only one time per day. The amount of pasture available drives the milk production for all cows, especially in areas that are drier in the summer. It makes sense for these farms to milk only one time per day since it is more labor efficient and less demanding on the cows when there is not enough pasture.  

"Cow shed" (AKA milking parlor) at Ashton

Saturday, June 16, 2012

I could hear the rain outside this morning even before I got out of bed at 6 AM. I drove the 4-wheeler to the farm with Josh at 7, thankful for the raincoat and waterproof bibs I received from Bel Group when I arrived. According to Josh, providing wet/warm weather gear for employees is required by law in New Zealand…not a bad idea!

First, Josh had me take the 4-wheeler out to pasture 68 where the dry cows are kept that Josh and I shifted yesterday. I was supposed to shift the fence reel another 40 paces and let the cows have that for the day. When I got to the pasture I realized something was wrong and that the cows had gotten through the reel I had set up yesterday and were now working towards eating the rest of the pasture! I rode off to get Josh and when I told him he chuckled a little but didn’t seem too surprised. We drove back to the pasture and I set up a new fence reel only 20 paces ahead of the one the cows got through while Josh corralled the cows for me. Once he left I set up another reel of fence line 50 paces ahead of the one I had just set up, as a safety line in case the cows got through again.  

Dry cows on pasture after putting up another fence reel

Next I went to the crop of forage rape that Herd 2 cows eat from every morning after milking and put up another fence 8 paces in front of the current fence.

After shifting all of the cows, I took grain to the calves that had just been weaned. They still were not very happy about not getting milk. Next I fed the two mobs of calves still on milk and was finished working for the day by 11 AM.

Tonight Becs’ mom and dad came over for supper and to watch the rugby match between New Zealand’s All Blacks and Ireland. I had no idea what was going on but it was an impressive game to watch, with the ball and its players always moving. The All Blacks beat Ireland 21 to 19 and I am off to bed!

Sunday, June 17, 2012 

This morning was early and cold. I started milking at 5:30 for Rhoxus so he could draft cows for breeding today. Once Rav arrived at 7:30 I was able to do the rest of my chores. First, I shifted the Herd 2 cows onto the crop of forage rape and then took the 4-wheeler to shift the dry cows in pasture 68. Luckily, the cows had not gotten over the fence I put up yesterday. After putting up another fence line 40 paces in front of them, I let the cows onto their fresh grass for the day. My next job was to feed the weaned calves their grain and then feed the milk calves. By 11 AM I was done for the day!

Herd 2 on the feedpad this morning before milking.

Next Friday, Josh and Becs are going to Wellington to see a University friend who has an awards banquet. We will be staying in the center of the capital city so I will be able to do some sight-seeing while I am there! Hopefully we will get there at a good time Saturday so I can ride the cable car and visit the Te Papa Museum of New Zealand.

Monday, June 18, 2012

It has already been 3 weeks since I arrived!

This morning Josh and I rode to the farm together in the white ute at 7 AM. A hard frost had settled overnight so there was not much we could do with the pastures. If grass that has frost on it gets stepped on or run over, it can break the blades of grass and damage the so they will not grow back well. Usually the frost lifts within 10 minutes of the sun coming up, but there were so many clouds that the frost did not lift until about 9:30 AM.

Sunrise on this frosty morning

Once the frost was gone I was able to shift the dry cows and let the Herd 2 cows onto the crop of forage rape for the day and shift the fence reels. Next I fed the weaned calves their grain and the 2 mobs of milk calves. By the time I finished it was time for lunch.

I went back to the farm at 2 PM and milked the afternoon milking because one of the scheduled milkers was gone. After a long day of work I came back to the house, at supper, and am going to bed.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

I got to the farm at 7:30 this morning and did my usual chores – shifted dry cows and Herd 2 cows, fed grain to the weaned calves, and fed the 2 mobs of milk calves.

Sunrise over the dry cows I shifted this morning

 It rained quite a bit last night and the areas of shade in the pasture where the milk calves are were pretty muddy. After I finished feeding milk to the 2^nd mob of calves I tried to pull away, but the blue ute I was driving would not move. Once I figured out my back tires were spinning I tried to put it in reverse. After that didn’t work I unhooked the calf feeder but still could not get unstuck. Of course I was at the pasture down the road from the farm and do not have a cell phone. Luckily a man driving a big sprayer truck was nearby so I recruited his help. He was super nice and even had a tow rope to pull me out of the ruts my back tires had made.

By the time I made it back to the farm it was 10:30 AM, a lot later than I should have been. After washing the calf feeder I helped clean up after milking by hosing down the exit races from the holding area of the parlor as well as the front of the feed pad. Then it was time for lunch.

I drove back to the farm for the weekly farm meeting at 1:45 PM and then stayed for the afternoon milking to draft out late calving cows from Herds 1 and 2, and put them into Herd 3 at the end of milking. Once I was done it was time for home.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Once again this morning I was at the farm at 7:30 AM. I started by shifting the dry cows and Herd 2 cows. I used the 4-wheeler to tow the calf feeder to feed calves this morning and did not get stuck! Herd 3 cows were milked late this morning because of a malfunction with the rotary parlor. It didn’t take long for the repair team to show up and they were done milking only about an hour behind schedule.

Herd 3 cows in the holding area waiting to be milked

At 12:30 PM I came back to the farm from lunch and drove the Herd 1 cows to the feedpad to eat their mixed ration before the afternoon milking. After that I went to the cow chute where the LIC AB technician was breeding today’s cows. He asked if I knew how to breed and when I said yes, he told me to grab a sleeve and I helped him finish by breeding 4 cows. 

The rest of the afternoon Sam and I worked on some projects. First, we combined the 2 pastures of weaned calves I have been feeding grain. Once the calves saw me driving the blue ute, they all followed me to the new pasture, even though I wasn’t towing the milk feeder. Our next job was to feed the small group of lame cows a bucket of corn silage. Sam loaded the feed into the wagon and then showed me how to drive the John Deere 6310. After that we worked on fixing the underground broken water line next to the parlor. The jagged ends of both water lines were exposed so we needed to dig them out and saw them off clean. Next we found some extra pipe, fitted connectors to both ends, and placed this pipe between the broken ends. The next test will be to turn the water on and hope there are no leaks!  

Thursday, June 21, 2012

This morning I got to the farm at 7:30 and shifted the Herd 2 cows onto the crop right away. After that was done Sam, Rav, and I went to the herd of dry cows I have been shifting and took 100 of those cows out of the 170. We drove these 100 cows down Burnside Road (the road Ashton is on), took a left onto Ashcott road (the road I live on) and then took another quick left into a new pasture of fresh grass. The pasture was already sectioned off into smaller sections with a fence reel, so once we got the cows into the appropriate paddock, the job was done. One the way back to the farm Sam let me drive his 2-wheeler (dirtbike), which all employees at Ashton drive.

After an uneventful first dirtbike ride back to the farm, I tail-painted all of the AB cows for the day and then fed the milk calves. Then it was time for lunch.

I returned to the farm after lunch and drove the Herd 1 cows off the crop and onto the feedpad. Next I treated a sick calf in one of the milk mobs. My next job was to take a lame cow from pasture 64 and move her to pasture 49 with a small group of cows from pasture 48 for the vet to look at. It was slow moving the lame cow, but I had the 2-wheeler so it was good practice. Once I got the cow to 49, I set up a reel of fence in the corner of 49 with the water tank. Then I drove the 8 cows from 48 into the paddock of 49 I set up. The job was perfect practice for riding a 2-wheeler and I was also reminded that electric fences and dirt bikes are not a good combination. The little incident I had made the job take about an hour longer than it should have, but after getting the bike out of the tangle of fence line all by myself (after a few shocks and choice words), I felt very resourceful (especially since I did not have a cell phone, again).

Rainbow over the farm I could see from the pasture

Once I made it back to the parlor Becs had one more job for me. I needed to draft out all of the cows eligible for breeding (the ones with tail paint) out of Herd 3, divide them in half, and put a group in Herds 1 and 2. These are early lactation cows that calved in the autumn (March – May) so by putting them in Herds 1 and 2 they will get the extra energy they need from the crop. Now Herd 3 is made up of late lactation, pregnant cows that will be dried off in the middle of July because they will calve later during the spring in September.

Tomorrow Josh, Becs, and I are driving to Josh’s parents’ home in Featherston for the night and Saturday night we will stay in the capital city of Wellington. I spent the rest of the night packing and planning out what I wanted to see while at the capital.

Friday, June 22, 2012

This morning I had to go to the farm to feed the milk calves. I got there at 8 AM and was done by 9:30. Becs and I went back to the house together and by 11 AM her, Josh, and I left for my first weekend away since arriving. We drove about an hour before stopping for lunch at the original Tui Brewery, the iconic beer of New Zealand, in Pahiatua. After lunch I got my own Tui mug to bring home that came with my beer!

My Tui Brewery Mug

We got back on the road and drove about a ½ hour to Masterton, where Josh and Becs had a meeting at 2 PM. They dropped me off on main street and I had about time to explore the main drag of Masterton and visit gift shops. 

At 3 PM Josh and Becs picked me up and we drove the rest of the way to Josh’s parents’ (Alec and Julie) house in the small town of Featherston. The rest of the evening was spent visiting and talking with Josh’s parents about everything from dairying in New Zealand and the US to life in general. Josh’s parents own and operate a 650-sow piggery (hog farm), with about 12,000 hogs total, as well as a 400-cow dairy. Unlike Ashton, they only have spring calving (which is much more common). Josh’s dad has been to Iowa to look at some of the large-scale pig operations there, so he has a sense of the large-scale hog operations in the US. After the night was over, it became apparent that animal welfare is becoming a large concern for dairy farmers in both the US and New Zealand. The focus differs between countries. In New Zealand, the general public sees it as good practice to let the cows be outside instead of inside. In the US, cows are kept inside most of the time to avoid weather extremes like frostbitten teats or heat exhaustion. 

Dairy farming: a universal fine art

Saturday, June 09, 2012

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/).  

http://www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz/pages/regional/7

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.     

Today I learned how to drive on the wrong side of the road...

Day 5 – Friday June 1, 2012

This morning I was up at 4 AM and at the farm by 4:30. I drafted all of the CIDR cows out during milking, but got a ½ hour break for breakfast while Becs took over for me. Once milking was over, the primary veterinarian for Ashton, Hamish, arrived to put CIDRS in all the cows I drafted. Once all the cows were in the milking parlor, we set the parlor speed to move slowly enough that Hamish could insert the CIDRs and Becs could give the GnRH injections as well as call out cow numbers for me to repeat and record them. The job only took about an hour once we got going, even though there were 181 cows!

Ashton uses a similar CIDRsynch on their non-cycling (anovular) cows similar to the one I am familiar with with: GnRH + CIDR, 7 days later pull the CIDR + PGF2α, 2 days after give GnRH, and finally breeding beginning the next day. Starting this protocol today will allow for these cows to be ready to breed by the winter mating period which begins on Monday, June 11^th.

From 1-2 PM I went home for lunch and then returned to learn how to feed calves with Becs. Calves at Ashton are fed two times per day plus grain and kept in group pens of 18 calves in a calf shed until about two weeks of age. Once calves drink well enough they are moved out to pasture in larger groups of as many as 47 calves. These calves get fed up to 4 liters (1 gallon) of milk per calf once a day. The milk calves that were born from March to May during the fall calving season at Ashton are now only being fed once a day.

Becs filled the large, 60-nipple mob feeder full of milk (500 liters), and we drove that down the road to the pastures to feed all 5different groups of calves, with about 30-40 calves per group. In order to feed the calves, we would drive into a pasture and let enough milk out of the tank for about 4 liters per calf. The calves would gather around the feeder and drink until the milk was gone. With a little convincing, they left the feeder to eat the grain we put out for them while they were drinking and then we would drive off.

This is how it is supposed to go…imagine learning to feed the calves and how to drive a stick shift truck…all while remembering to drive on the wrong (left) side of the road. Luckily Becs was there to help me and after I got the hang of switching gears and driving on the wrong side of the road, feeding calves was the part I could handle the best. Tomorrow I get to try it myself so hopefully that means Becs thinks I am capable of doing the job alone.

Feeding calves day 1 - the manual blue Ute (truck) I learned to drive  

By the time calves were fed it was 4 PM and it had been a long day, but good, day of work. Since tomorrow is Saturday, Josh and Becs like to keep the weekends light, so all I have to do is feed calves in the morning and help dry off some cows.

Day 6 – Saturday, June 2, 2012

This morning I did not have to be to the farm until 8 AM to feed the calves. Becs left me to take care of them by myself after helping me fill the tank on the mob feeder. I drove down the road, into the first calf pasture, and fed the calves without a problem. Unfortunately while exiting the first pasture a handful of these calves decided to follow me and not go back in, so Josh and Becs came to help me get them back in. After that I was able to feed the next two pastures of calves by myself without any issues.

I only had enough waste milk to feed 3 of the 5 mobs of calves, so I helped to dry treat 70 cows after morning milking. Once this was complete I was able to finish feeding calves and by 1 PM I was done for the day.

Feeding calves day 2 - all by myself!

Day 7 – Sunday, June 3, 2012

Frosty morning drive to the farm

This morning I was at the farm at 8:30 and was in charge of feeding calves. I filled up the mob feeder tank to 500 liters of milk and drove down the road to the pastures full of hungry calves. All of the calves were fed and none of them got out. Success! I finished feeding by 11 AM and after I washed out the feeder I was done for the day.

This weekend Josh and Becs have three couples of friends they met at Massey University visiting. Tomorrow (Monday) is a federal holiday in New Zealand because it is the Queen [Elizabeth II]’s Official Birthday, so the long weekend was ideal for their friends to travel from all over the north island.

According to the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, the New Zealand government system is a fully independent parliamentary democracy. A Prime Minister, elected every 3 years, is the head of the government and laws are passed by majority support of members of Parliament. However, New Zealand is also a constitutional monarchy; Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is considered the head of state. The country was officially founded on February 6, 1840 after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by William Hobson, other supporters of the British Crown (Queen Victoria), as well as native Maori chiefs.  

Day 8 – Monday, June 4, 2012

Since today was a federal holiday and the workers get paid more, the farm was pretty quiet. However, as most farmers know very well, cows do not take federal holidays. This morning it was my job to be there at the start of milking (5 AM) to mark cows that will not be dried off this week, but instead will be milked through the spring calving season so they can be bred to calve for next spring's calving season (August - October). I worked until 11:30 AM and then was done for the day.

View of the feed pad from the parlo where the cows are fed concentrates, a mixture of corn silage and by-products, before milking 

This afternoon I was able to finish writing my article for the Bel Group's June newsletter that I was asked to write and catch up with friends and family on facebook. Tomorrow the plan is to dry off about 200 cows so it will be a big day back to work.

I cannot believe it has already been one week since I arrived here! My hosts have been great and so has everyone else on the farm so far. They are all really interested in learning about farms in the US. Since 95% of farms in New Zealand are pasture-based, most can hardly imagine that the greater portion of farms in the US house cows in freestalls all year round and do not rely on pasture as the main feed for their cows. 

Day 9 – Tuesday, June 5, 2012

This morning I drove to the farm to get there by 7:30 but took some pictures on my short drive there because of the beautiful sunrise!

Once at the farm I helped Becs draft 150 cows from Herd 3 to dry off. After milking was over, Josh and Becs, Sam and I, and this morning’s milkers dry treated these cows. It took until about 1 PM but went pretty smoothly. I stayed to help clean the parlor and holding area and took lunch at 1:30 PM.

After lunch I returned to the farm to move one cow that had been sorted out from the cows being dry treated that needed to be moved to a different pasture. I rode the 4-wheeler to drive her to the correct pasture and then went home. I spent the rest of my workday (until 5:30 PM) entering cow treatment data into the farm’s computer system from sheets of paper used in the parlor.

This afternoon Josh and Becs had an off farm meeting so I was able to use the computer in their home office to enter data, cook supper, and relax. I read an interesting article on the front page of today’s newspaper, The Domion Post, entitled “Dirty dairying laid bare.” The story summarized how “the unlawful discharging of dairy cow effluent into waterways or on to land has taken its toll on the environment, on farmers, and on regional councils,” with almost 200 firms or individuals prosecuted and $3.2 million in court-ordered fines. The president of Federated Farmers in New Zealand, Bruce Wills, admitted that increased efforts are needed to further lower the amounts of mishandled effluent discharges, but also that regional councils are being stricter about infractions. I found it interesting that the number of incidences has been on the decrease since 2008 but it still can make the front page of the newspaper. Another consideration that needs to be taken into account, and is also addressed in the article by Bruce Wills, is that the number of cows in New Zealand has nearly doubled from 3.4 million to 6.1 million in the last 20 years. It has been apparent in my first week here that Kiwis care very much about their country and preserving its natural beauty. 

The weather was cloudy today and rainy now, but that means it is warmer outside. Typical temperatures so far have been in the upper 30s to low 40s at night and then upper 50s to lower 60s during the day. The temperature change has not been as big of an adjustment as the short days – it is dark by 5:30 PM and the sun does not rise until 7:30 AM. At least after June 21^st the days begin to get longer!  

Day 10 – Wednesday, June 6, 2012

I started at the farm at 7:30 again this morning. I started by drafting more cows from Herd 3 to dry off after milking – 185 total. Milking was done by 10 AM and then it took until 11:30 AM to dry treat all of these cows. Tomorrow the plan is to dry treat 200 cows but it should be the last day for large amounts of cows. I will be at the farm by the start of milking (5:30 AM) to draft out cows from Herd 1 for dry treatment.

At 1:30 PM I returned to the farm after lunch, fed the weaned calves some calf grain, and then helped to put the dry cows to a specific pasture. By that time it had gotten much colder than this morning and started to rain…and now at 6 PM it is still raining.

After putting the dry cows out to pasture I went home and Becs and I went to town to get some farm supplies and groceries for the BBQ her and Josh are throwing for the employees at Ashton farm to celebrate the end of the fall calving season. By tomorrow, milking will take less time than at the beginning of the week so having a BBQ now makes it easier for all employees to be there.    

Day 11 – Thursday, June 7, 2012

This morning was early – 5:30 AM at the farm to draft 150 cows from Herd 1 and the rest of the cows from Herds 2-4 for dry off as well. After milking everyone worked to dry treat cows and there were 222 total! By the time we were done it was noon and time for lunch.

After lunch Sam and I moved 160 dry cows out to a pasture in the lot across the road from Ashton called McGreggors. In order to do this we took 117 dry cows that were already on pasture and then sorted out 43 dry cows from another pasture to add to the large group to make 160 cows total. We then drove this mob down to McGreggors where they will stay for the winter until calving this spring (August – October).

Sam and I were done around 4:30 PM; I was done for the day so I drove back to the house and got ready for the BBQ Josh and Becs held at their house last night for the employees at the Ashton farm to celebrate the end of their fall (March – May) calving season. Josh grilled lamb chops, chicken, and brats once people began to arrive. It was not a big gathering but was nice to sit around with everyone and talk. By 9:30 PM most everyone had left because most have to get up early tomorrow for work – including me. Good night!

Below are pictures of my host family - Josh & Becs, their dogs Wallace and Dynamite, and their thoroughbred horse, Harvey.

Harvey - Becs's horse

Wallace (its a girl!)

Dynamite

A recent picture of Josh and Becs

Day 12 – Friday, June 8, 2012

Sunrise this morning

This morning I woke up at 5:30 AM and was at the farm by 6:15 with Becs. I took over milking for Rhox and put units on all 400 cows from Herd 2 while he helped Becs and the vet Hamish with CIDRS. CIDRS had to get pulled out of all the cows that got them last Friday and Lutalyse was given as well. Breeding for next fall’s calving season officially begins this Monday, but some of the CIDR cows will come into heat Sunday. It will be a busy week!

After Herd 2 was done I was able to go feed calves. Next week these calves will need to be weighed again to see if they are big enough to be weaned. Calving begins mid-July so hopefully I will only need to feed one mob of calves after the weighing. It would be nice to have some weekends off from feeding calves before the calving madness begins!

Once I got back from feeding calves I helped Becs and Haymish put CIDRS into 70 more cows. After that was done I was able to have the afternoon off. Josh, Becs, and I went into town and then came home for a relaxing afternoon since it is their weekend off.  

Everybody drives on the wrong side of the road! (or is that just US?)

This summer (winter season here) I am working as an intern for the Ashton farm of Bel GROUP Farms, Ltd. in the Hawkes Bay area of New Zealand. Planning for this internship goes back to the week of World Dairy Expo this past October, when I made contact with John Roche of DairyNZ who started searching on my behalf for any possible internship in New Zealand. In February John contacted me with an offer to work for Bel GROUP Farms, Ltd. and I started the planning process of contacting Bel GROUP, purchasing flight tickets, and setting up the internship to gain credits. Thanks to the support of the Dairy Science Department and Ag Hall’s International Program at UW-Madison, I was able to get enough scholarship money to pay for the trip over. In the end, all of the planning for this internship went very smoothly – everything sort of just fell into place.

And finally, after countless hours of planning, packing, and travel, I can say…greetings from Bel GROUP's Ashton Farm in Waipukurau, New Zealand!!!

So my first blog is only a little short of a novel, but as most would expect I have learned so much since I left that I feel it would be good to write everything down now since I have the time and can still remember (mostly). I am hoping this blog will serve the following purposes: 

1.      Communicate with friends and family on what life is like as a Kiwi (New Zealander)

2.      Compare and contrast dairy farming in New Zealand with the US

3.      A daily journal to record my thoughts, memories, and reflections

4.      Provide reports for my internship credits through UW-Madison

Travel

My first flight left Minneapolis at 2:55 PM on Saturday, May 26 and arrived in LAX by 5 PM (LA time) and was rather uneventful but went well. Once at LAX I retrieved my luggage and checked in to Air New Zealand for my flight to Auckland that left at 10:30 PM. After a little bit of shifting my luggage between suitcases to reduce the weight of my carry-ons, I made my way to the departure gate where I waited and made my last few calls.

Picture from my window just before passing over Las Vegas to LAX.

At 9:45 PM I boarded for my flight and at 10:30 PM we were off. I sat next to a wonderful New Zealander named Lila. Lila introduced herself to me while we were waiting at the gate before take-off, asking if I had ever been to New Zealand before and what I was going to be doing. She lives in Auckland now but has also lived in Australia and the US. Once in the air, the staff served supper and I tried to watch a movie but fell asleep for about 4 hours. Afterwards I woke up and watched 2 movies until the staff served breakfast 2 hours before landing. Somewhere above the Pacific Ocean we crossed the international dateline, and it suddenly became Monday. The city of Auckland came into view while it was still dark out – a sprawling city of light surrounded by water – and we landed shortly after. I made it through customs smoothly after picking up my checked luggage, said goodbye to Lila, checked my bags for my short connecting flight to Napier (only 40 minutes), and went to my gate on the domestic side of the airport.

Day 1 – Monday May 28, 2012

At 10:30 AM I landed in a tiny airport of the town of Napier in the Hawkes Bay area of New Zealand. Waiting for me was Josh Dondertman, half of the management team for the Ashton farm. He and his wife, Rebecca (Becs for short) manage the 2600 cow dairy herd, which is one of seven farms owned by Bel GROUP Farms, Ltd. Josh and I left the airport after I tried to get in the wrong side of the car (like Europe the driver sits on the right side of the car and they drive on the other side of the road) It took about 1 hour until we reached Josh and Becs’ home in the small town of Waipukurau (AKA Waipak for short). Once home, I was able to set my stuff down and change before Josh drove me to Waipak to run some errands, then to the farm to introduce me to Becs, and then to meet Justine Dalton, my internship coordinator) at the Bel GROUP office. Afterwards I met the owner of Bel GROUP and got a pair of coveralls, rain jacket, and boots for my stint as an intern here. By the time we got home it was around 5 PM, already dark (remember its winter here), and I was so tired! Becs was back from the farm by then and we ate supper. I went to bed by 8 PM, exhausted from almost 36 hours of travel.

Josh and Becs's house where I am living.

Day 2 – Tuesday May 29, 2012

This morning I woke up at 6:15 AM, ate breakfast with Josh and Becs, and rode to the farm with them at 7 AM. Once at the farm I shadowed Rhoxus (a middle-aged Filipino employee that has worked at Ashton for 5 years now) in the milking “chute” (milking parlor).  Most of the milkers at the Ashton farm are of Filipino decent (which is becoming more and more common in New Zealand), except for Rav, a young intern about my age from India. While milking I met Rodel and Bong (both middle-aged Filipinos with families), and David (New Zealander in charge of feeding) and Basil (also a New Zealander).

Dairy farming in New Zealand, unlike in the US, is almost exclusively pasture-based with seasonal calving. The Ashton farm is also a pasture-based, rotational grazing farm but is the largest farm in the Hawkes Bay area with 600 hectares (1500 acres) of land. The farm currently milks about 1700 cows in a 60-cow rotary “chute” (milking parlor). The farm recently finished calving in 900 cows for their fall calving season (March – May) and are working to dry off 600 more cows by the end of next week that will be their spring calvers (August – October). During the winter season (June – August) they will only be milking 1100 cows. Currently there are 4 “herds” (groups we would call them), each with about 450 cows, plus a small pen of about 100 lame cows that stay in pastures close to the parlor, and a pen of about 30 treated cows that get milked. “Caps on” (milking) begins at 5:30 AM and takes until about noon. There is enough time for the employees to have lunch and take a nap before they return for the evening milking, which begins at 2 PM and ends around 6:30 PM. The afternoon milking takes less time because the lame cows only get milked once a day.

60-cow rotary parlor at Ashton milk about 400 cows an hour!

Once down with milking, Josh showed me how to drive the farm’s 4-wheeler, which we took home through the “races” (lanes) between the pastures that lead back to the house. There I had a quick lunch and returned to the farm by 1 PM, where I met Sam (a New Zealand intern a little older than me who started at Ashton about 6 weeks ago). Sam, Basil, and I set up a weighing scale at a corral about a ½ mile down the road from the farm to weigh milk calves that were born in the past couple months during the fall calving season. Then the fun began. I rode with Sam on the 4-wheeler while Basil rode a dirt bike. We rode back down the road to a pasture across from the farm to drive the rest of the milk calves that needed to be weighed down the road to the corral. It went a lot smoother than I could have anticipated, even while crossing the intersection that is halfway between the farm and the corral we were going to. The fence lines on both sides of the road really help to guide the calves. Once in the corral, the calves were dewormed and weighed, and any calf over 80kg for Fresians and over 75kg for crossbreds (Fresians x Jerseys) was separated from the others to be weaned. Sam and I went back to another pasture down the road to get the calves he had weighed and weaned yesterday. We drove them back to the corral with a little help from some guys that drove by, since it was me (the rookie) driving the 4-wheeler and Sam on the dirt bike, trying to move the hungry calves that had just been weaned the day before. Once back to the corral Basil dewormed these calves while Sam and I separated the light calves into three smaller groups. After we were all done we had to drive the light calves down the road, back to three different pastures, where they will be fed milk for another two weeks, and weighed again until they are heavy enough to be weaned. Lastly, the newly weaned calves were driven down the road near the farm to their own pasture.

By the time we were done moving and weighing calves it was 6 PM and already dark out. After taking down the scale at the corral, Sam realized he had lost his phone in the afternoon’s adventure so we drove around in the truck, calling it with Josh’s phone to try to find it with no luck.

After a long first day, I drove the 4-wheeler back to the house where we ate supper and I went to bed.

Day 3 – May 30, 2012

This morning I woke up at 6:30 AM and drove the 4-wheeler to the farm by 7:30. I was in charge of giving shots of vitamin B12 in the parlor to all milking cows with tail chalk on them. I gave shots to herds 3 and 4, the lame cows and the treated cows this morning. After milking was done, all the milkers, myself, and Sam helped to dry treat ~70 cows. At 12:30 PM I went home for lunch and was back to the farm by 1:45 PM for a quick meeting and then to give shots for herds 1 and 2 in the afternoon milking. By 4:30 PM I was done for the day and came back to the house, took some pictures, and started writing.  

View of the sunrise over the cows on my drive to work this morning

View of the sun setting over the mountains after work today

Day 4 – May 31, 2012

Lesson of the day: the grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side of the fence…as demonstrated by the cows at Ashton.

Today I was at the farm by 7:30 AM. Sam and I spent the morning driving 2 herds of dry cows to the cow chute next to the parlor to be tagged. I drove my trusty 4-wheeler and Sam took the motor bike (don’t worry, we wear helmets!). This week all 2600 cows on the farm are being tagged with an electronic ID system that will be read while the cows are being milked in the parlor. This will allow for specific cows to be automatically sorted once they exit the parlor, eliminating the need for one worker to manually sort cows during milking. It took us until noon to move these 2 herds of cows to the parlor and sort out a small group of specially-marked cows out of one of these herds. We were about to move this small group of cows to another pasture with another herd of dry cows when it started pouring. We sped back to the farm, mud flying everywhere since the “races” (cow lanes) were really muddy. Luckily, I was wearing the heavy rain jacket and coveralls the farm gave me on Monday so only my face was wet. Sam, however, was soaked. It poured for about 15 minutes and then stopped, marking time for lunch.

Driving the 4-wheeler to drive the cows down the "race" to another pasture.

Every month Bel GROUP put on a barbeque at one of the farms. Today it was held at Ashton so I was able to meet some of the workers from the other farms. I was asked to write an article for the June Bel GROUP newsletter, introducing myself and writing about the similarities and differences I have noticed so far about dairying in the US vs. New Zealand.

At about 1:30 PM Sam and I went back and finished putting the newly tagged dry cows back to their pastures, and separating some of the pastures into smaller paddocks using portable fence posts and fence lines. There are 80 pastures at Ashton used for the rotational grazing and most of these are split into smaller paddocks for cows to graze on. Once a herd of cows have eaten that down, the paddock is enlarged so the cows can be given fresh grass. Josh is the mastermind behind making sure the pastures are rotated properly and managing the cows so they are the correct body condition according to their stage of lactation.  

By 3:30 PM Sam and I were done so I helped finish tagging the last of the dry cows for the day. About 500 cows got tagged today, and more will be done tomorrow. At 5 PM I left the farm, came back to the house, and ate supper with Becs and Josh. Tomorrow will be an early, long day, since the vet will be there after morning milking to put in 200 CIDRs into cows. In order to be able to do this in the parlor during the time between milkings, the morning milking will start an hour early at 4:30 AM, and I will need to be there to sort out the CIDR cows.

Cows out in pasture.

Good night!