For many farmers, the decision to switch to full-season once-a-day (OAD) milking is a hard one. After dabbling in OAD during autumn, and on the advice of one of the foremost OAD experts in the country, Christine Finnigan took the plunge.
She’s now into her eight-season of full OAD and has just bought a second OAD farm.
“For me OAD is about sustainability and repeatability,” she says.
“I wanted a simple, less-demanding system with good financial results. I saw a lot of tired people in the dairy industry and saw a lot of good people leaving the industry because of this.”
Under her twice-a-day (TAD) system they were OAD milking from February onwards and achieving good results.
“If I can run a system that gives me similar production to TAD, has stock income close to $1/kg milksolids (MS), few lame cows, high six-week in-calf rates and low empty rates, while having a better quality of life and attracting the next generation, then I must be better off.
“Colin Holmes made the quiet, unassuming suggestion that OAD might suit and this was in the back of my mind, so in 2009-10 we made the change.”
Aspects of the change in system came easily, like foregoing the afternoon milkings but the biggest change was a change in thought process. The hardest hurdle to overcome was the decision to make the switch and how to make the new system work.
“Deciding how you will actually do it, how many cows you will have, going straight into OAD in spring and how to make that all work. Are the cows going to burst? But they don’t.
“They are amazing at what they can adapt to, but there are so many questions in those first few years.”
Although the farm is located near coastal Manawatu it has mainly clay soils with sandy ridges, making it prone to wet winters and autumn droughts which can be challenging to manage.
“Most years we winter on, but if we get an autumn drought then I will winter off about 40% of the herd to make sure we can get high enough covers going into calving.”
Because research at the time suggested it, Christine increased her stocking rate by 17%, to 242 cows, to compensate for the loss of production OAD would bring.
In retrospect Christine says this was too high for her farm, especially given the tough spring that year, and led to a big drop in production that first season. Fifteen in-milk cows were sold after the first herd test in September to lighten the load.
Christine Finnigan’s cows are happy and healthy.
With any system there are challenges and OAD is no exception. Being more attentive is key when you might only see your cows once a day, which in some cases could be make or break.
For this reason the colostrum mob are checked in the afternoons as well as a precaution in case any major things were missed during the morning milking.
It’s not just practical things either that can be a challenge. To cope with a higher volume of milk going through the system in one milking, the refrigeration unit had to be upgraded and the milk pump sped up.
“Peak milk on TAD can be about 15 litres per milking. On a good year on OAD they can pump out 22l a milking, so we are now putting about 4300l through the system in one milking versus the 2800l we were doing on TAD.”
'It makes the business really sound and repeatable and that doesn’t necessarily equate to a certain amount of milksolids produced.'
Under dry conditions Christine watches carefully the litres per cow. As this drops, somatic cell count lifts which is also a TAD problem.
Eight seasons in, production has levelled out after an initial drop but she says profitability will always come before production and making the most of the land she has is key to this.
“The land here has been a dairy farm for 100 years. It’s not irrigated Canterbury land, we are never going to make $8000 per ha EFS, we just don’t grow enough grass.”
She says you have to make the most profitable decision for your farm. If feed is short, instead of buying in more she drops empty cows from the herd by mid-February and manages through the autumn with maize, her own silage and a reduced stocking rate.
“It makes the business really sound and repeatable and that doesn’t necessarily equate to a certain amount of milksolids produced.”
Creating a sound business is why Christine was able to buy another farm. The new farm in Linton is run by James, one of her two sons. Her other son, Kieran, works on the home farm with Christine.
“All corners of your business have got to work, and they all have to integrate. If you’re too far one way or the other, things don’t balance out.
“It has to be without personal cost, animal cost and environmental cost, and for us OAD does all of that.”
FARM FACTS
- Area – Oroua Downs, Manawatu
- Owner – Christine Finnigan
- Cows – 220 crossbred
- Breeding worth – 108
- Production worth – 139
FINANCIALS 2014-15 SEASON
- Production per cow – 364kg MS
- Farm working expenses – $3.74/kg MS
- Cash surplus – $2.59/kg MS
- Profit per hectare – $2065
