Saturday, March 30, 2024

Pre-mowing boosts production

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Dairying is more than just a job for Jason Macbeth, it’s a hobby he relishes every day. And that enthusiasm helped him win the West Coast/Top of the South Farm Manager of the Year title. The 23-year-old is a contract milker on a 91ha Murchison dairy farm owned by Bruce and Jocelyn Palmer where he milks 280 cows to produce 1511kg milksolids (MS)/ha.
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He worked for two seasons as farm manager before moving to contract milking and hopes to move up to a 50:50 sharemilking contract on the farm in two years. Pasture management and keeping the cows fully fed are part of the equation that has put the herd in the country’s top 10% for production from a low-input system.

“I do a lot of pre-mowing in front of the cows and that has been a big one for us to increase production,” he said.

“We’ve seen we can increase cows’ intake and increase pasture quality at the same time.”

So far this season he has mowed the farm three times and that alone would increase production by an estimated 15,000kg MS, he said. Palm kernel is also fed to the cows throughout the season in two steel trailers set up outside the dairy so each row of cows from the 26-aside herringbone can have a feed after milking.

“We do that every day of the season no matter whether there’s a deficit or not, so they’re constantly getting 1-2kg a day and it’s working really well for us. They seem to be only able to eat a kilogram or two before needing a drink and going to the paddock.

“It’s those little things you’re always tweaking. I like setting little goals all the time, like trying to lower the empty rate and all the time staying lower cost and being lower input.”

The farm has no irrigation and though Murchison has a good rainfall, the valley has a three to four week dry period through summer that puts pressure on feed, so summer crops of turnips and chicory are grown to maintain production.

By the end of the season the cows have eaten through 15 tonnes of drymatter (DM) a hectare and a further 420kg palm kernel a cow, with the latter costing 33c/kg DM. Through winter, 120 cows stay on the farm and the remainder head to two runoff blocks.

Every two to three months he meets farm advisor Brent Boyce and the farm owners, giving everyone peace of mind by having ideas backed up before making any changes.

To get enough equity under his belt to step up to a 50:50 sharemilking contract, Jason has been able to rear 70 calves from the herd for himself each year and graze them free through to weaning. His parents own a pedigree Jersey herd, so he’s used their DNA-profiled bulls over rising two-year-old heifers to get a better selection of calves. He’s also bought a third share in a 156ha grazing block with family and friends.

“The good thing about that was getting away from the tax and the tax was what was hurting me.”

Jason also won the Reliance Feeds Leadership Award, the RD1 Farm Management Award and the Westpac Financial Planning and Management Award. Runner-up in the competition and the Primary ITO Human Resource Management Award went to Dobson Landcorp farm manager Hayden George, while third place and the Cuffs Accountancy Strategic Planning Award went to Takaka farm manager Alice Reilly. The Fonterra Best Practice Award went to Mawheraiti contract milkers Thomas Oats and Hannah Davies.

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