A Tui advert shared by the Southland Demonstration Farm in early June jokes about the oncoming tidal wave of work heading farmers’ way. So, what do we need to get right to ensure a successful calving?
Many top farmers with great systems already in place – but one interesting change is on the Korteweg farm, just out of Stirling in South Otago. Milking 580 cows on the 175ha family farm, Stephen, Rhonda, and son Mathew are building on the top performance proven by the farm. Mathew, on returning from Australia with partner Catherine, has taken over from older brother Blake and his wife Sara.
Other than growing up on the farm this will be Mathew’s first full season onfarm, and something important to him is to have ‘big ears and a small mouth’. He believes there’s plenty of information out there and you just have to listen.
Catherine, who is looking forward to her first calving, said Stephen has years of experience on the farm and they are not there to run the show straight away. Currently there is one full-time employee, Daniel, but for spring an extra employee will join the team. This is a big decision but one that Mathew and Catherine believe will help manage fatigue and stress as well as optimise farm results.
With a good structure in place each team member knows what they and others need to do to achieve their goals. Clear and regular communication within the team and ensuring they are always open and approachable means they can all perform at their best.
Along with some great infrastructure, including a calving pad and loosed house wintering facility, Mathew has started a ‘seen it, but haven’t done it’ board.
“It’s for those jobs you drive by and think ‘I need to do that’, and it’s not until Stephen drives past when you are reminded,” Mathew said.
“It means we are always working ahead of the rush by prioritising these small tasks.”
Mathew has taken the time to look through their predicted calving spread, so he knows the mean calving date is within two weeks of the planned start of calving. It will be a hectic start, but steady from then on, which helps with staff planning, allowing Mathew to focus on pasture management and getting it right.
“In this area the biggest leveller is the weather,” Stephen said.
“There are some options to limit the impact, but it can often set the tone of the season.”
The DairyNZ QuickStart People Productivity Kit is available at www.dairynz.co.nz.
James Lawn is DairyNZ’s consulting officer for South Otago.
