11/10/2021

Week ending 11-10-21 farm notes:

FARM PERFORMANCE

Pasture Growth Rate (PGR) continues to climb this week to 79 kg DM/ha/day.  Average Pasture Cover (APC) increased to 2344 kg DM/ha. At Owl Farm we aim to keep APC between 2000-2400 kg DM/ha to maximise pasture production. Early identification and timely silage making is required to maintain quality feed for the milking cows.  With current growth rates we only require 109 ha to feed the milking herd. This is equivalent to removing 22.6 ha of the area for silage and has the effect of increasing stocking rate to 3.76 cow/ha and lifting pre-graze cover to 3200 kg DM/ha, grazing 4.95 ha/day which maintains a 22-day rotation on the grazing area. With paddocks being previously well grazed we can still offer quality feed at this pre-graze cover during October. This allows us to identify suitable paddocks that will be ready to cut for silage in approximately two weeks. Paddocks that had a wet weather grazing or poor residuals, paddocks with good contour and accessibility for machinery, paddocks that are mature and well established (> 1 year old), are currently around 2100-2500 kg DM/ha cover in the bottom half of our feed wedge.

Milk production is slowly declining from its peak of 2.27 kg MS/cow in early September to 2.06 kg MS/cow/day a month later.  We have had more than 10 weeks of production at over 2 kg MS/cow/day with 98% excellence quality and SCC sitting around 60-80,000. Milk production is 1% ahead season to date, and 1.8% ahead month to date.

Cows are being offered 20 kg DM/cow/day (pasture) with no other supplements.

Cows in the hospital mob or waiting for insemination have access to PK in the paddocks close to the shed.

Brassica crops are germinating and each crop paddock has a slug monitoring station using carpet squares and crushed Weetbix for bait. These paddocks are being checked twice a week. We are finding around one slug under the carpet per eight paddocks checked at the moment, with no visible slug damage. This indicates the initial slug bait (5 kg/ha) broadcast at sowing is working and we expect to need more bait again next week, approximately two weeks after sowing.

Mating continues to go well, with 91% of all cows submitted for mating after three weeks. Industry target is 90%, and last season we achieved 88%.

With Tom having a well-deserved break this week off farm the team are well supported to continue identifying cows to be mated.  We budget $5k annually for heat detection aids and fresh tail paint. We use LIC’s Heat Patch Plus which cost $2.80 each, are self-adhesive and allow the dye to bleed to the edge of the patch over time to indicate the length of time a cow has been on heat. Investing in Protrack for accurate drafting means that the team have the facilities and skills to select cows while bringing them in to the yard and at cups-on using the tail paint mirror.  Our policy of “if in doubt draft her out” buys time to observe, look at data and make a decision on whether to mate a cow each day.

ANIMAL WELL-BEING

Calves are shifted every two days into a fresh paddock. Daily each mob gets 80 kg Feed Grower 20% and 20 kg PKE (offering around 2 kg meal/calf/day).  Old meal is cleaned out and recycled to the hospital mob to ensure calves have fresh meal every day. Maintaining a clean calfeteria every day is also important for optimum calf health.

Our 90 rising 2-year-olds out grazing weighed 327 kg (range 282-382 kg) on 11^th October.  This is 21 kg above target weight with only three animals now underweight compared with eight in September.  These heifers gained an average 0.9 kg lwt/day since 3^rd September and require liveweight gains of 0.56 kg/day to reach target weight at calving.

BUSINESS HEALTH

Nothing to report this week.

ENVIRONMENT

We have taken the time before crops were drilled to empty slurry onto some paddocks.  It’s been important during the wet September/October period to ensure that the underpass sump has been working to contain effluent washed down and the high volume of rain going through it. A well-drained underpass also helps reduce issues with lameness.

QUALITY WORKPLACE

Great news on the new 2021 Resident Visa that the government announced recently.  This provides a pathway for LaArni to secure her and her family’s future in NZ after four years of commitment to both Owl Farm and the dairy industry in NZ.

As a school/demo farm it has been our priority to ensure a safe workplace for visitors to the farm.  This also includes keeping up with government advice around COVID best practice management. As a team we have provided support and flexibility to allow team members to get vaccinated, given them time to make appointments and provided light duties afterwards to ensure a speedy recovery and return to work. A staggered approach worked best for our team as we are close to vaccination centres.

We have discussed what the process would be on farm if a team member did contract COVID and how the team would cover the workload. DairyNZ has some business continuity resources and an informative webinar available on their website. https://www.dairynz.co.nz/business/adverse-events/coronavirus-covid-19-information/supporting-your-team-on-farm-during-covid-19/

COMMUNITY

Tonight we join the DairyNZ Wednesday night live session on youngstock management to share our journey on monitoring and managing replacement heifers. Join the link below from 7-8pm.

https://dairynz.zoom.us/j/2176561353?pwd=cmlDMHRidUQ0dzJTcklBTGR5Z3RGQT09

PLANNING FOR THE MONTH AHEAD:

• Monitor slug and pest numbers
• Weigh calves
• Make more silage

Cheers from Jo + Tom