The six-week in-calf rate was 31 per cent, far from ideal. So the couple — who sharefarm at Alvie near Colac in southwest Victoria — took action.
After researching products on the market, they decided to invest in the Alta Cow Watch system. The Dutch invention provides collars for individual cows that electronically monitor them — including for heat detection for optimum joining time as well as eating habits — during their lactation.
The latter benefit has proven its worth time and time again, through financial and management gains.
Clint and Brooke’s 300-strong flat production herd now has a six-week in-calf rate of 68 per cent.
“Now we only join for six weeks and there’s no mop up bull, everything is AI (artificial insemination),” Clint said. “The genetic gain of the herd is a lot greater,” Brooke added.
Calving has been shortened from 10-12 weeks to six weeks. As Fonterra fresh milk suppliers, and with irrigation, the business calves three times a year; in February and March, July and August, and in December.
Brooke said the collars also monitored eating habits both on an individual and herd basis. Generally an unhealthy cow reduces her food intake, so faster detection of that reduction means a quicker diagnosis of an ailment.
“So (for example with) a post-calving cow if she drops for an LDA (left displaced abomasum) you could pick her up that day instead of five days down the track when she looks sick — you can pick it up the day her eating drops,” she said.
SAVINGS PLAN
BROOKE said the system saved them about $305 per cow annually. She is convinced the year-round health aspects offer greater benefits than heat detection, which is relevant for only six weeks three times a year. It also identifies non-cycling cows before joining, which saves time and money. The investment in technology paid for itself within a year and annually delivers more than double the financial returns for initial outlay.
Clint’s pursuit of a career in dairy began at school. Inspired by agricultural classes and a family connection with the industry, he started an apprenticeship and followed this through to complete a diploma of agriculture.
He then took on the role of farm manager at the property he and Brooke 50:50 sharefarm for owners Phil and Kate Harris of Larpent. Following two years of managing they have been sharefarming for four years after an initial purchase of 240 cows and machinery.
The business has grown to 300 cows, milked off 120ha, all of which is irrigated via centre pivots. The entire farm is 172ha and also hosts young stock. The dryland areas are sown to annual ryegrass — with PGG Wrightsons’ varieties Base and Extreme — mostly on the irrigation country.
ROCK SOLID
THE property’s soils are volcanic and Clint and Brooke admit the annual rainfall is “bugger-all” at 480mm.
The milking herd is fed entirely from feed produced on the farm, with the exception of a pellet fed at an average of 2.6 tonnes per cow per lactation.
Three calvings a year flattens out milk production, which suits both their fresh milk contract and pasture production.
“We can guarantee grass all year around so we might as well utilise it,” Brooke said.
Pasture plays a key role in the business.
About 15.5 tonnes/ha is grown each year, of which 10.8 tonnes/ha is grazed and 4.3 tonnes/ha conserved.
Milking cow feed costs are $2.20/kg of milk solids with 35 per cent of their diet bought in.
Movements to the cost of production come via the price of electricity for irrigation.
“Which is no different to other people buying in hay,” Clint said.
Clint said this season had been dry, therefore resulting in a longer irrigation season, which led to less homegrown feed because plants were stressed.
The upside, however, is that a slightly drier winter meant pastures haven’t been as damaged.
The couple cut hay and silage themselves, choosing to make “dribs and drabs” up until the end of April to maintain pasture quality, under the irrigation.
It is used when required from the end of summer and to get through winter to avoid “wrecking paddocks”.
PRODUCTION PUSH
COWS, which weigh an average 650kg, produce about 11,000 litres of milk or 715kg of milk solids per lactation.
“If you go any more than that, you will probably end up losing fertility,” Clint said about increasing production.
Reproduction and transition cow management has been a focus for the business.
Brooke said she had completed a number of reproduction courses “to gain user knowledge in terms of other little 1 per centers we can increase on”.
These include learning about drug protocols to increase the number of cows cycling in a shorter period, how reproduction drugs work in relation to the cows’ physiology as well as the calving side of reproduction.
Keen to ensure they “hit the ground running”, Clint and Brook have actively sought to improve transition management.
They have installed a calving pad with woodchips to reduce incidences of milk fever occurring because of high potassium in the volcanic soils.
“We can’t feed our homegrown hay to springers — they just drop over with milk fever straight away,” Clint said.
“We can’t put springers, not even on dirt, they lick the dirt and get the potassium out of the dirt,” Brooke said.
Transition management begins three weeks before calving when the cows come onto the calving pad.
They receive 4.5kg of lead feed a day and “all-you-can-eat oaten hay”, which is bought in.
NEED TO BREED
FERTILITY is the No. 1 trait the couple look for when making breeding decisions.
“It is because we have got such a long background of high production, high type cows we don’t need to focus on that in terms of breeding,” Brooke sad.
“We need to focus on fertility, and just feet and legs and body depth mostly.”
“To make sure the cows can carry the udders we are pushing onto them in terms of production,” Clint said.
Still in an “establishment phase” despite operating the Tipperary Holsteins registered herd, Clint and Brooke only sell heifers out of their heifers sired by a mop-up bull.
These go to the export market.
Sexed semen is used to join the heifers, with plans to establish and then maintain a younger herd to make the most from genetic gain.
Clint and Brooke have no plans to milk more cows at the farm.
They say the 20-a-side swing-over dairy is “maxed-out” with current cow numbers.
The farm operates with two full-time workers which cost 13c/kg of milk solids.
This year the pair received their first industry-wide milk quality award, named in the top 10 per cent of dairy farmers across Australia.
FRESH START
SUPPLYING a “fresh contract” means Clint and Brooke’s farmgate milk price is slightly higher than other Fonterra suppliers, but there are also a number of parameters they need to hit in terms of daily milk volumes and animal welfare.
“It (the Fonterra contact) suits the farm really well. Because of the irrigation it suited us to a tee,” Brooke said.
“The infrastructure we have here, it is a high-input style farm and with the overhead costs, to make that pay for itself you need that higher return and stable return,” Clint said.
“It provides us with security at the end of the month we know what we are going to get, a minimum amount, and we can work towards that every month of the year.”
Brooke said they were already complying with the animal welfare requirements.
“We want to do the best by the cows,” she said.
“You breed these good cows, you want to treat them properly and get the most out of them.”
Last year the couple achieved a return on equity of 12.2 per cent and have focused on paying down debt quickly to increase their borrowing capacity.
Last month, they were awarded sharefarmers of the year at the Great South West Dairy Awards held at Warrnambool.
“In terms of sharefarming it is a good stepping stone if you want to go down the path of owning, it is a great way to do it,” Clint said.
By: SIMONE SMITH
Source: The Weekly Times
Link: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/agribusiness/on-farm/cow-watch-boosts-fertility-for-colac-dairy-farmers/news-story/20a4536a30960d9b452b33c00dd79ea2