The busiest time of the dairy year is looming as farmers balance looking after their environment, stock and staff.
Federated Farmers Manawatu/Rangitikei president, James Stewart is always positive, even given the long hours coming up and the low dairy payout.
His 850 cows at Hiwinui, in Manawatu are about to calve the next few weeks.
Some farmers are already getting up to 80 calves a day in the lighter sand country, where they calve earlier.
Although it seems harsh to calve dairy cows now, Stewart says its timing coincides when the grass grows, the cows are eating it and producing milk.
Peak milk flows occur usually in mid-October, about eight to 10 weeks after cows calve.
Stewart says the first four days of usually eight milkings are when cows produce colostrum.
«The first day we call that colostrum the gold. The calves are born with no immune system. That first milk is full of antibodies that give the calf protection.»
A cow usually produces about 20 lires a day and each calf needs four litres a day. Colostrum is stored and fed to calves for several days and they get all the goodies that a mother’s milk contains.
Stewart says about 20-25 per cent of the heifer calves are kept as herd replacements. The other calves are sold and some are kept on the farm for beef production
«The beef price has been solid, and that has helped dairy farmers with selling calves for beef, and cull cows which have gone to the meat plant. Without beef prices holding firm, it would have been much harder for dairy farmers.»
Stewart says as milk is not worth so much, some dairy farmers will keep calves and raise them to be sold for beef in the future.
He says this is a busy period for dairy farmers and staff, as they deal with calving cows, colostrum, calves, feeding calves twice each day, and milking cows as they calve.
«We go from one extreme to the other. In winter the pressure is off. Then in late winter and early spring, it is really busy.»
Nonetheless, Stewart is looking forward to the new season.
«I think most of us were well over last season. Now it is a brand new season. And that’s what we are thinking about.»
Many farmers have a ratio of one staff member to 200 cows.
Stewart says many people in town don’t realise how often farmers and staff check cows when calves are due.
«There is an early morning check, usually about 5am, then another one when it is light at 7.30am, one about midday, one later during the day and one last thing at night, we would check them. Farmers usually check their cows at least four times a day.»
He says farmers are sorting out cows soon to calve to bring them closer to the dairy shed and nearby for checking often. Cows due in about a month, according to their udders and calving dates, are being put in a paddock further away.
«It is a busy time for all of us. We’d usually have one calf an hour during the busy time.»
Farmers have the knack of knowing when a cow is in difficulty. A cow should take about two hours to calve, and there should be a nose and two feet poking out. If there isn’t this is a sign that a cow needs help.
«There might be a leg back, or something like that. The position is what we watch for. We would bring a cow we thought was having problems to the shed.»
Stewart said most farmers had the skills to deal with that.
He says farm owners or managers have to make sure that their staff are sleeping and eating well.
«If they aren’t, then that’s a recipe for a disaster on the livestock front, or an accident.»
On his farm, the staff and he often have lunch together for team building. The lunch break is also a chance for him to talk and listen to his staff.
Although Stewart is a glass half full kind of guy, he finds it hard to take tough times in his stride, when so many commentators are talking about the low payout.
He says he is taking ‘ a wait and see approach’ to this season.
«I farm and others do, because we love it. I can’t say I do it for the money this year,» he laughs.
The faith still remains that dairy farming will get better.
«We produce the world’s safest food and it is grass fed based, a great marketing opportunity. How is shipping feed from the United States to cows in a barn in the Middle East sustainable? What’s the footprint of that like? Yes we have a footprint in New Zealand but it is one of the world’s smallest.»
Milk products are shipped from New Zealand at low carbon footprint rates. Trucking them to supermarkets is often where they log the highest footprint.
Stewart says he is sick of farmers often being made the scapegoats for all that is wrong with the rivers and the land.
«There has been a huge amount of work to reduce the impact of farming on the environment and we are seeing real progress from that with water quality improvement in this region. No it is not pristine. It’s not all bush anymore. But Kiwis do like to have their houses, bachs, boats, cars and they do like their cafes – a standard of living which comes at a cost to the natural environment.»
Source: Stuff
Link: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/82259926/dairy-farmers-prepare-for-the-busiest-time-of-the-year