Thursday, March 28, 2024

Cow housing expands options

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Low-cost, reliable irrigation and a 600-cow TechniPharm cow house on a north Otago dairy farm have enabled it to be a highly productive, efficient business that milks year-round.
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Beaumont spreads over 165 hectares of flat land at Papakaio, 15km north of Oamaru, and it’s now for sale with the 580-cow herd available at valuation.

The farm calves three times a year to keep production flowing to achieve 288,000kg milksolids (MS), plus 24,300kg MS for a winter milk contract. Following spring calving, another 30 or so are calved just before Christmas and another batch at the end of autumn for the winter milking. The latter combine with good empty cows to total about 200 cows to milk through winter.

Mark and Melanie Kingsbury bought Beaumont a little over a decade ago and set about updating irrigation and adding the cow house to increase efficiency and productivity. Initially, the farm was irrigated entirely by border dykes but today a centre pivot irrigates 70ha, while K-line is used for 61ha and border dyke over the remainder.

Water is sourced from 120 shares in the Lower Waitaki Irrigation Company, and 35 border dyke shares, and Dave Finlay from PGG Wrightson describes it as one of the most reliable, low-cost irrigation schemes in the country.

“They can irrigate on-demand as long as they’re compliant with the rules, so that’s a real plus. And it’s very efficient and reliable.

“The other feature of this farm is the cow house which allows them to utilise feed well and also collect the effluent which has led to big savings on fertiliser.”

Effluent from both the cow house and the nearby dairy pass through a separator and into a million-litre storage tank, from where it can be pumped out to paddocks through the centre pivot or travelling irrigator. Sludge can be sucked out by slurry tankers and distributed on to pasture as well and Kingsbury says it’s made significant fertiliser savings on the farm to the point they are only applying maintenance levels.

The cow house has been a useful management tool on the farm, allowing them to capture the premium of winter milk contracts as well as achieving better feed utilisation. In the past the farm had a contract to supply Cadbury through winter at $3.50/kg MS above Fonterra’s payout and now it has a Fonterra contract at $1.40 above its base payout.

“When the cows are inside they’re using less energy to keep warm or walk around, so feed utilisation is almost 100% and that keeps costs down. We still only use supplements the same as everyone else does, on the shoulders of the season and for the bulk of the season they’re grass fed. So our farm working expenses are under $3.50/kg MS.

“We’ve got a nutrition programme and we plug in whatever feed we have into that programme and it tells us what to feed and if it’s a balanced diet. And that depends on the class of stock.”

A central lane system through the cow house is used to deliver feed to individual bails and at times that can include carrot and potato waste purchased on contract.

Through winter when the cows are warmer and using little energy to find their food, the result is they eat about 2kg drymatter less a day, Finlay points out.

“It has other pluses as well. The main herd can be milked into June because they’ve got the cow house. It also allows them to maximise their stocking rate without causing damage to the soil. And the rising two-year-old heifers are brought back before calving.”

Even in summer the cow house has proved to be a useful addition to the farm for the cows to escape the heat.

The nearby 36-aside dairy has been modernised significantly and now includes a GEA system to record litres and somatic cell count, and an in-dairy feed system for molasses and grain. A 40-tonne grain silo with mill and auger sit beside the dairy, and a concrete bunker for the vegetable waste. Other facilities around the farm include a haybarn for 600 round bales and two implement sheds.

Good lanes lead between the dairy, cow house and 47 main paddocks and the farm has been set up for ease of management.

These days, the Kingsburys’ daughter, Larissa, manages the farm with two other full-time staff and two relief milkers.

The main dwelling is a five-bedroom home, while other staff are catered for in a three-bedroom cottage and a one-bedroom single person unit.

The farm is for sale by negotiation and includes the feed wagon, two tractors and a loader. Possession date is negotiable. To view the farm visit www.pggwre.co.nz or for further information contact Finlay on 027 433 5210.

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