Mario Arnold, Farm Manager for Bruce and Helen Donald, describes milking in the revamped rotary shed as ‘a walk in the park’ - at any time of year.
The 30 year old rotary farm dairy got a revamp two years ago with milk meters, cup removers, a feeding system and walk-over-weigher, all integrated through a Protrack Vantage farm automation system.
The result is that the 500-600 crossbred herd can be milked by one person in two mobs “easily”.
A recent relief milker captured the ease when he said “all you have to do is turn the shed on and off.
Bruce and Helen Donald have farmed their 200 hectare property at Tirau the Waikato for 30 years.
“We wanted to upgrade the shed to increase the efficiency of milking – and increase access to management information so we could use it there and then, when it’s needed,” Bruce says.
“The challenge was to make what would traditionally be a two-person job (milking 500-600 cows), a one-person job.
“Before the revamp, the shed was a standard 30 bale rotary, requiring Mario and I to be there – me at cups on, and Mario at cups-off pulling a string to draft the cows for mating, or animal treatments.
Before Bruce would be on the other side of the shed and Mario would draft – pulling string on the drafting gate.
“It wasn’t efficient use of our time, and wasn’t giving us the information we needed there in the shed, so we could influence cow productivity at the time we were with them.”
The Protrack Vantage farm automation unit was one of the more expensive enhancements to the farm dairy but, integrated with the other products, made the farm dairy a ‘one man operation’, “so it was worth the investment”.
Farm Manager, Mario Arnold, says having the herd records life in the farm dairy is essential to getting the best production out of the herd.
“We started with good herd records, which meant the Protrack unit began delivering from day one.
With the next big ‘drafting season’ coming up, with drying off or culling, Mario recalls that, pre-Protrack, they used to cull on empties only.
“Now we cull strategically based on a complex range of factors – production, weight, in-calf status, health and age being just a few – and having the herd records working for you really means you can leave it to the Protrack unit to do all the identification and drafting, while you get on with the important job of milking the cows well.
When drying-off, Mario forms groups of cows doing more or less than 4 litres per day which means, at a push a button, the group doing less, can be drafted off and dried off.
Similarly, during mating, paddock observations are entered into the system before the afternoon milking, resulting in the oestrous cows being drafted off in readiness for the AB technician who calls in the late afternoon.
The herd is put to LIC KiwiCross bulls for six weeks, with the last two weeks to Angus and/or Red Devon bulls. Around 100 replacements are reared each year.
Bruce says they used to stopped regular herd testing around seven years ago.
“The milk meters tell us volume on a daily basis, and we now herd test once a season for Somatic Cell Counts. Usually it’s the older cows with high counts – about 5%.”
Having the walk-over-weigher integrated with Protrack is another bonus.
“We like to maintain the herd at around 5 Body Condition Score right across the season, so the automatic feeding system and walk-over-weighers, integrated into Protrack, enable us to make decisions based on fact, rather that the more subjective ‘eye’ method we used to employ.
“On average the cows receive 1kg of Palm Kernel at every milking, but we’re able to moderate this based on whether she’s light or heavy, ensuring each cow gets the appropriate amount of grain.
“Feeding strategically has also meant the farm’s feed bill has decreased from the days when a standard amount was given to each cow regardless of whether she needed it or not.
The cows walk-over the weigher as they leave the shed giving us a far more accurate assessment of body condition score over eye – seeing cows every day as they enter and leave the shed makes it difficult to tell if she’s losing condition or not, but having the weight gives you the facts, so there’s no doubt, and you can set up feed groups to achieve optimum body condition score across the entire herd.
The herd is grazed in two groups, the Protrack unit drafting them at the start of the season. “Once 300 cows have calved, we split the mob into two herds by weight and breed – Jerseys and the lighter, young, cows in one herd, and the older, larger Friesian types in the second.
Mario isn’t missing the days when he had to manually record every health treatment for the Shed Inspector.
“Those days are long gone – all treatments are entered into the Protrack system so all the Shed Inspector has to do is go to the Health Report so he/she can see what’s been treated, the treatment and exact time each dose was given. “
The reliability of the system in identifying cows pays dividends when the inevitable happens and, for example, “a Colostrum cow which has been treated for mastitis, gets in with the milkers – the Protrack unit simply identifies her as soon as she steps onto the platform, so you can draft her out and return her to where she should be – without contaminating the milk and earning a penalty.”
Mario and Bruce both say the farm dairy’s automation has made it popular with relief milkers.
“No more detailed explanations of how things work – you simply show them where to turn the plant on, and off,” Bruce says.
And the level of automation and insight into each cow adds a degree of interest for Bruce, as an owner keeping an eye on production from the farm office, and for Mario in the shed.
Ask Bruce if that original investment in the Protrack unit was worth it, and he’ll say “there’s absolutely no doubt about it. We’ve got happy, informed staff who are milking the right cows, for longer.
“From a 30 bale rotary which would have struggled with 600 cows, we’re cruising.”
Mario Arnold (Farm Manager) and Bruce Donald
www.lic.co.nz |
