Monitoring pasture growth has always been a priority for Aaron Price as he grows his business in the dairy industry.
Weekly farm walks are a must, measuring covers going forward as well as monitoring residuals left behind.
“It’s the only way to know what the covers are before you can see it by eye. You can make decisions a week earlier than you would without measuring.”
The Waikato sharemilker uses palm kernel as an instant top-up when there is a feed deficit, but otherwise it’s always pasture first and foremost.
“I think people are too inclined to put supplement in and then scared to pull it back. But high-quality grass is just as good as any other feed.
“Bought-in supplement should only be used in a deficit. If you can grow more grass and utilise it, it’s the most profitable way.”
Aaron is one of 12 farmers selected for the Agriseeds Grass to Gold programme, which works with the farmers to improve businesses through a focus on pasture.
Getting involved with the programme gives him access to a vast amount of resources, knowledge and professional advice, and he gets to work alongside Agriseeds specialists to analyse his feed wedge data.
Further improving his skills in pasture management will ultimately increase his profit, Aaron says.
‘I want to stay in farming long-term so it’s important to not spend all my time at the dairy.’
Originally from a Waikato dairy farm at Tatuanui, Aaron studied a Bachelor of Agricultural Commerce at Lincoln University.
After a couple of years working in sporting retail, he returned to the dairy industry as a herd manager for one season before starting a sharemilking company with friend John Assen five years ago.
The partnership has been a way to get into herd ownership faster. The plan was to go their separate ways after three years, but it has been so successful they took on a second job and expanded together.
John manages the original 400-cow operation at Taupiri, while Aaron moved to Tahuna near Morrinsville last season and milks 249 cows on 80ha effective.
They earn an equal salary, which they review annually.
“We set it at the lowest wage we can live on and everything else stays in the company.”
They have monthly meetings to manage cashflow budgets with any profit used to pay down debt at every opportunity. Everything happening onfarm is discussed, but the farms are managed independently.
“A lot of what we do onfarm is very similar, we have the same principles,” Aaron says.
But they do have autonomy and it’s up to each of them to make their own onfarm management and spending decisions.
Debt reduction opportunities will be scarcer this year with a lower milk price, but it’s still achievable, he says.
“The payout, it’s just part of dairy farming. I focus on what my expenses are and what I can control.
“But that’s why I want to have less importance on bought-in feeds and be more self-sufficient. I want to be less reliant on outside factors.”
Aaron and John have invested in their own contracting gear to be able to spray, chisel plough, power harrow, roll and sow their own chicory and grass, with contractors mainly called in to plant and harvest maize.
High-quality grass is just as good as any other feed.
The machinery is used between both farms, an hour’s drive each way on the tractor, but the saving on contractor costs is worth it. Being able to determine the timing of crops and re-grassing is pivotal to maximising feed grown onfarm.
The Tahuna farm has inconsistent growth because of the older pastures, with paddocks growing anywhere between 10 and 19 tonnes drymatter (DM)/ha/year.
Aaron is working with his farm owner on a programme to re-grass 15% of the farm every year, structured around growing 8ha of chicory and 3ha maize each summer.
He has planted Trojan perennial ryegrass at 19kg/ha, along with 1.5kg Kotare White Clover, 1.5kg Weka White Clover, 4kg Tuscan Red Clover and 3kg Safin, a super-fine leaved cocksfoot.
In its first season the new pasture is already proving its worth. It grows on average 1.5 times more grass than the older pastures and cows can go into paddocks five days earlier.
But no matter what grass is in the paddock, it has to be under a good management programme to maximise its value.
The new pastures are sprayed for weeds before the first grazing and then cows are only let on for a couple of hours through winter. In spring, Aaron sprays the rest of the paddocks for broadleaf weeds.
‘The payout, it’s just part of dairy farming. I focus on what my expenses are and what I can control.’
He sticks to a 22-day round during spring, pushing out to 30 days in summer and 80 days in winter.
He aims for no less than 1500kg DM/ha residual left in the paddock, which is key to getting good growth before the next round.
Normally he is vigilant with topping during spring, but has let the cows do the work this year to try and keep costs down.
The farm was a System 4 last year, but Aaron would like to revert to a System 3 this year if there isn’t an extended dry period.
“We couldn’t measure growth rates last summer, they were so low.”
He bought extra supplement to milk through to early May to maximise returns from the high milk price, but in a low payout year he plans to feed them only as long as it is still profitable to do so.
He has done his figures and has a feed plan in place to work to so he doesn’t milk beyond a break-even point. He is conscious he has to have enough feed to maintain cows after drying them off to build their condition score for calving and get them through winter.
Last year Aaron bought 221t palm kernel and 200t DM of maize silage, but will buy less maize this year.
“I stop and start palm kernel, but I only open the maize stack when I know we have an ongoing deficit.”
The 8ha of chicory grazed from early December through to the end of March gave the cows another 3kg DM/day.
The farm has 30ha irrigated from Piako River, which helped extend grass growth last summer until the river levels were too low and irrigation was stopped in January.
The irrigation is a labour-intensive system that takes up to two hours a day to shift.
The farm still has a two-pond effluent system with consent to discharge, but Aaron is working with his farm owner to install pumps and pods to connect to the existing irrigation line, which will be easier.
Spreading effluent will reduce the need for nitrogen fertiliser, which is one of Aaron’s goals. Last year he applied 177kg N/ha, but would like to reduce it to 150kg/ha.
Apart from nitrogen, the farm owner puts on a capital spring dressing of an Abron fertiliser mix.
In his first season, Aaron installed a mineral system in the farm’s water supply to administer copper, selenium, iodine and magnesium chloride. Cows are blood-tested before mating and mineral dosage is adjusted accordingly.
Animal health is not worth compromising in a low payout year and Aaron won’t be cutting down the minerals. To reduce costs Aaron chose to not use CIDRs this season, but through good management got the same submission rate, with 89% of the herd in the first three weeks.
Wages are another cost Aaron can’t reduce. He has one full-time employee, Manish Parmar, who Aaron is paying to study Level 4 National Certificate in Agriculture through Primary ITO.
“I have complete trust in him and can rely on him which allows me to have a more balanced lifestyle. I want to stay in farming long-term so it’s important to not spend all my time at the dairy.”
Aaron plans to keep sharemilking at Tahuna until he can buy his own farm, unless there’s the opportunity to expand with a bigger sharemilking position close to Hamilton.
His wife Sarah is a nurse working as a diabetes clinical specialist at Waikato Hospital so finding jobs close to the city is important.
“It depends on what debt level we want. But farm ownership is the plan within the next seven years.”
The two-time runner-up in the Waikato Dairy Industry Awards Sharemilker/Equity farmer of the Year competition has entered the awards for the fifth time this year.
Many people would have hung up their hat, but Aaron is determined to improve until he is at a standard where he deserves to win the title.
His resolute attitude is reminiscent of his philosophy to take any learning opportunity he can to improve his farming skills.
Key points
Sharemilker: Aaron Price, Creamy Cow
Location: Tahuna
Area: 80ha effective
Herd: 249 crossbred
Production 2013-14: 100,247kg milksolids (MS), 430kg MS/cow, target 2014-15 106,000kg MS
Supplements: 2013-14, 221 tonnes palm kernel, 133t purchased maize, 70t maize onfarm, 8ha chicory, 20 bales grass silage.
2014-15, 250t palm kernel, 100t maize purchased, 3ha maize grown onfarm, 8ha chicory
Pasture eaten: 2013-14, 12.3t DM/ha
