“As a sharemilker we’re profit and production driven and from what we budgeted on until the end of the season we’re losing quite a bit of coin now and the overdraft will take a bit of a hit.”
It will also mean a reduced income until the new season gets under way while his costs stay relatively the same, he said.
Bertram has fed out the last of his silage to his 440 cows, forcing him to pull the plug on the milking season.
The dry summer resulted in the sharemilker using all of his supplement stocks at the end of February.
“We bought enough supplement to get through to March because it was still cheap enough then. The plan was that if we have grass by the end of March – which we normally do and if we don’t and we have run out of what we have bought in then we’ll dry off – and that’s where we’re at.
“We ran out of levers to pull.”
Recent rises in feed costs meant it is no longer financially viable for him to keep buying in feed and milking his herd.
Instead, drying off allows him to improve condition on his herd and plan for the new milking season.
Ironically, the decision comes after he got 50mm of rain which saw his paddocks recover and green up.
“If we keep carrying on milking with what we’ve got in front of us they’ll lose weight and now is not the time of year to be losing weight off the cows.”
Bertram said he is not the only farmer in this predicament with most farms in his area without irrigation. Half of the farmers in his district are now half to fully dried off.
He now has a long wait till late July before he starts putting the cups back on his cows. He’s given his two full-time staff all of April off, which timed well with the covid-19 lockdown.
It was a bittersweet decision for him, coming in the same week he and wife Rose were named Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Share Farmers of the Year.
“It’s just been a season of two halves. We had a great winter and spring and we’re still up on last year’s production but with no milk coming in for the next six to eight weeks we’ll finish up behind,” he said.
The Government’s feed assistance plan for farmers struggling with drought-related feed issues was a nice gesture but not something he can use because he already uses a farm adviser, he said.
This three-level plan was designed to help farmers with their feed budget and offer the services of a consultant if needed.
“It doesn’t do anything for us but it’s good for the mental health space and the Government’s been giving the Rural Support Trust plenty of help and that’s good as there will be farmers struggling with that.”
