The cows on Gareth and Diane Parkes’ farm have a diet that includes crushed barley, mineral pellets, canola cake, green-feed maize plus maize silage, pit grass silage, lucerne balage and molasses. Since the couple took over the farm’s management three seasons ago, production has increased by 43% and they have achieved about 1500kg milksolids (MS)/hectare, which makes it one of the top producing dairy farms in the top of the south.
The couple are 50:50 sharemilkers on Gareth’s family’s 100ha effective farm at Linkwater on the edge of the Marlborough Sounds. From the farm, you can see the tip of Pelorous Sound in one direction and Queen Charlotte Sound is just a kilometre along the valley in the other direction.
It’s a valley floor rising up steep slopes either side and the farm straddles the main road with an underpass connecting it all. Nothing is irrigated here, apart from effluent spread over pasture, so baking summers take their toll on grass growth.
They’re milking about 300 mostly purebred Holstein-Friesians which gave them a good base when they returned to the farm after five years working on a dairy farmer’s drystock farm, with the goal of lifting it to 320 cows.
Crushed barley, mineral pellets and canola cake are measured then combined in the Parkes’ mixing silo.
Between the cow type and high protein feed, the herd produces protein levels that achieve 12 to 14 cents a kilogram above the base payout and Gareth says that just about pays for the barley alone.
“We treat them like queens, which is hard for staff to understand, especially when they come from large herds and every cow is just a cow.”
They employ two full-time staff, which makes them reasonably high staffed. That’s because of Gareth’s back problems rather than the intense feeding system which changes through the season to cater for the cows’ needs and the state of the pasture. Their third child arrived home the night before Dairy Exporter turned up which means Diane has her hands full, though she still managed to rear the calves.
Meanwhile, the herd munches through the crushed barley and come November 10, the Parkes begin adding canola cake into the dietary mix to compensate for the falling protein levels in the grass. It’s not as powerful as the Australian canola grain, Gareth says, but not as expensive either and still high in metabolisable energy to provide energy.
“For us to get the same bang out of palm kernel, we’d have to feed out 3-4kg per day. And you get the protein levels too high with too much palm kernel.”
About 14 tonnes, or 500-750g/cow/day, of canola cake is fed to the cows through to New Year’s Eve by mixing it in the mixing silo with the crushed barley and mineral pellets. Scales on the silo allow them to add accurate amounts of each ingredient.
‘We treat them like queens, which is hard for staff to understand, especially when they come from large herds and every cow is just a cow.’
Added to the bought-in feeds are the supplements made on the farm and runoff. Sharon lives 4km down the road on a 250ha runoff with about half of that effective, while this year they have also leased a 30ha block of land the other end of the valley to guarantee more supplementary feed, which is Gareth’s department.
“I’m a bit of a perfectionist with my cropping; I like to make sure the ground is worked right and the fertiliser is right and the pH is right and get them in on time to catch the rains.”
This year they made 88t (wet weight) of pit grass silage and have 11.5ha of maize planted for silage, though about 2ha is fed to the cows as green chopped feed from the middle of February to keep them going until the maize silage is ready about March 10. The green chop is mixed with lucerne balage to help hold the protein up, as well as grass pit silage to keep the cows fully fed through that late summer period.
“It means their guts are all in tune for the maize and the change to silage is easier,” Gareth says.
It’s also very high in sugar which puts weight on the cows rather than risking them losing weight.
He takes the maize silage out early, between 33% and 35% moisture, which means he loses a little drymatter but he would rather use it to put milk in the vat.
“We’re not trying to fatten bulls, we’re trying to milk cows.”
This is the first year the Parkes have grown lucerne. They expect to get two cuts off the 8ha block by the end of February and Gareth hopes for four to five cuts next season.
When he’s feeding out green feed crops, or grazing the cows on kale through winter he also likes to add straw, which he has baled behind the harvester on the barley crop, to the cows’ diet.
He’s heard straw condemned as a dietary measure, but he’s adamant it helps to hold cows’ condition and even helps put on weight.
More milk in the vat with a high payout balanced out the costs of the higher-cost diet last season and farming expenses worked out at $4.07/kg MS.
Even with a lower payout, Gareth says it’s about looking after the cow and calf for the next season and the ability for them to produce 550kg MS again.
“On last season’s payout it was really worth it. This year we’ve made no change to inputs and kept going the same until February to make sure they’re getting in-calf and have condition on them. The only change we might make is drying off some higher somatic cell count cows so we aren’t feeding as many cows. Last year we kept them going because we were being paid well for them.”
Though the emphasis is on supplements for nutrition and extra milksolids, pasture management is still vital, so Gareth regrasses three to four paddocks a year and is a fan of mowing to maintain quality. He usually begins mowing from early October and continues through to December, either before the cows go into a paddock or after, depending on the pasture quality.
The nutritional programme for the cows has improved reproduction, though it is still a work in progress. So far the empty rate has been reduced from 18% to 10%, with a six-week in-calf rate now 68-70% and a calving spread between July 20 and October 5. Cows are artificially inseminated (AI) for five weeks and followed with stud bulls that have been bred or bought in. Heifers are synchronised for AI and followed with pedigree bulls, with the goal to get the heifers to 500kg by the time they calve.
One of the advantages of a purebred Holstein-Friesian herd is that the surplus calves are extra income rather than a byproduct, and nothing goes on the bobby truck.
The first 50 bull calves are raised to 100kg and sold on November 1, fetching $430 this season. The secret, Gareth says, is to have them ready by November 1 before North Island culls come onstream. Another 12 bulls are kept for breeding purposes. The remaining bull calves are sold to bull breeders at four days old for about $90 each and surplus four-day-old heifer calves for $150.
By calving early, they have 10 days of surplus milk before the Fonterra tanker stops in for its first milk pickup and they can get through August without taking milk out of the vat for the calves. Calves get two tonnes of starter muesli mix and then go on a diet that includes crushed barley, peas and corn at about five weeks old, with a bag of mineral pellets thrown into the mix.
“The meals you buy are being put out in bulk tonnage and it’s sitting around. If we can keep it as fresh as we can for them, it’s better for them. You can see the shine on them and can see they’re doing well. And it’s cheaper than buying meal for them.”
A good start and being fed well as youngsters means the first calvers have a good chance of getting to 500kg before they launch into their first marathon.
Gareth and Diane want longevity in their herd as well as high production and they’re already achieving that, with four 14-year-old cows still in the herd producing more than 500kg MS each.
Key points
Sharemilkers: Gareth and Diane Parkes
Location: Linkwater, Marlborough Sounds
Area: 100 hectares effective
Herd: 300 Holstein-Friesian
Farm working expenses: $4.07/kg MS
Production: 2013-14 154,514kg MS, target 2014-15 160,000kg MS, 550kg MS/cow
