Friday, March 29, 2024

Right up to speed

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David Bartley would rather have his foot on the accelerator than the brake.
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That applies to the automotive businesses he owns in Auckland, and also the Waikato dairy farm he manages and oversees for his family.

As part of an intensification project begun in 2012 he’s recently had the first solids separator of its kind in New Zealand installed in the farm’s new effluent system.

When David took over managing and overseeing the 68ha family farm in 2010 he recognised with a herd of 220 cows producing an average of 77,000kg of milksolids (MS) a year they were quite small compared with the average Waikato dairy herd of 320 cows.

“I knew we had to make a change and increase production but not at the cost of the environment,” he says.

“We decided the best way forward was through increasing the number of cows milked and also increasing production per cow and looked at how to efficiently do this.

“We were always struggling to milk past March because of the increased incidence of summer dry spells, so the logical choice was feed bunkers and a feedpad to add consistency and certainty to the milking season.”

The use of bunkers and a feedpad would also minimise wastage and improve efficiency of converting supplement, especially maize silage, into milk. 

AgFirst consultant James Allen had been working with the Bartley Family Trust and 50:50 sharemilkers Barry and Linda Old. Over the past 16 years his advice was usually about fertiliser and feed management, but when the decision was made to intensify, the priority shifted to ensuring it was economically and environmentally sustainable in the long term.

“We could put on another 50 cows now and do 150,000kg MS,” he says

“But for now we are aiming to consistently produce 120,000kg MS of premium milk every season as efficiently as possible. A detailed analysis was done with Farmax modelling looking at the production and profitability of proposed changes. Overseer modelling plotted the likely changes in nutrient output, indicating the change in nitrogen leaching would be minimal, with a slight lift from 33kg N/ha to 34kg N/ha. 

“That’s at the very favourable end of the scale,” AgFirst engineering consultant Davieth Verheij says.

This was because of the move to a faster low-rate travelling irrigator system via underground pipelines to the entire farm, giving huge flexibility about where effluent is applied. Increased use of low protein feeds and greater effluent storage enabling optimal timing of applications were also factors.

There’s been a big drop in fertiliser requirements since the system was completed. Previously there were two applications a year of 21 tonnes of an NPK mix, with 40t of urea going on behind the cows at a rate of 60kg/ha. Soil tests are done every two years. 

Once the go-ahead was given the AgFirst engineering team started designing the feedpad, feed bunkers and effluent system. This was made easier by David having a clear vision that he wanted to do the job just once and do it right. It was also important to design it as a complete system and not just add-ons to an existing system. But contradicting this vision was the updated solids separator. It replaced one that was less than 12 months old, but is light years ahead in every aspect, David says. 

Landcare mapping was used to indicate soil types and effluent application risk. 

“It showed the soils were high risk so we did infiltration tests to prove that it was not,” Davieth says.

“That showed us how large a tank we needed then we did all the budgets.”

With groundwater just one-metre down, above-ground storage was preferred. In April last year earthworks contractors, Matamata firm McPherson Contracting, moved on to the farm. Three firms quoted for the concrete infrastructure and the most expensive was selected. 

“This was because we could see the value, quality, functionality and longevity in the more expensive quote,“ David says.

About 16,000m3 of soil was skimmed off a 3ha paddock with a slight rise to form the site at a cost of about $40,000. 

“A big constraint was that the slope fell the wrong way from the dairy so the site had to lift and all levels had to be perfect,” Davieth says. 

David says it’s obvious to him where the extra money they spent went, with all concrete on the 22m-wide feedpad thicker and better quality in terms of make-up and finish. The nibbing is all formed from prefabricated concrete slabs, not just added to the top of the feedpad base.

The new separator and effluent tank.

New targets with new infrastructure

David Bartley’s Waikato farm achieved 1700kg MS/ha last season and is now targeting 1700-1800kg MS/ha from 280 cows with maize silage and grass silage grown on the runoffs and palm kernel bought-in at the best price possible. Palm kernel isn’t contracted but purchases are made strategically. There’s 140t of storage available in a remodelled shed that trucks can back straight into. There’s also two purpose-built palm kernel bunkers next to the grass and silage bunkers. About 300t was fed last season in trailers and this year they’re well prepared with extra grass silage in the bunker and 22ha of early maturing maize silage planted.

About 140t of maize was fed last year and up to 400t could be available this season, depending on yield, to allow the herd to milk through to the end of May. While 100t of grass silage was fed last year, this year they have 150t available.

There’s a July 20 calving date for both cows and heifers. Sharemilker Barry Old, an AI technician, nominates LIC and CRV Ambreed sires and uses frozen semen. There’s a six-week mating period with CIDRs used on the cows that aren’t cycling. 

The emphasis is on producing a larger size Friesian-crossbred cow with a good udder. They tail with Jersey bulls. 

Their empty rate averages 15%, which Barry hopes will come down through the better feeding that started when the feedpad was completed. David is more than pleased with the future-proofing the new system has provided.

“When Tatua indicate they need increased supply we will be able to do it but not by compromising the environment. So we’ve got lots of options available depending on weather and economic environment and we are looking very long-term especially at sustainability.”

The family has great confidence in Tatua.

“It constantly pushes the boundaries in the products it makes and how it markets them, and as a shareholder and supplier we need to push the boundaries too in terms of quality and consistency of milk.”

The farm has supplied Tatua for the past 40 years and earlier this year was one of only three
that received an award for supplying quality premium milk consistently for 10 years.

And what’s being planned now the intensification project is complete?

“The bottleneck of our operation is the 35-year-old 20-aside herringbone dairy,” David says.

Options are going to a fully-automated 30-aside herringbone or fully robotic.

“More reading and analysis,” David says.

“But long-term I think robotic is the way to go.”

Farm facts

  • Location: Tatuanui, Waikato
  • Owner: DBM and RC Bartley Family Trust
  • 50:50 sharemilkers: Barry and Linda Old
  • Herd: 280 cows, Breeding Worth 143, Production Worth 168, recorded ancestry 99%
  • Production: 2014-15, 116,250kg milksolids (MS), 2015-16 forecast, 120,000kg supplied to Tatua
  • Supplements: 2014-15 season, 300 tonnes palm kernel, 140t maize silage and 100t grass silage.
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