Dairy farmers report a good spring for calving
Calving: an extremely important part of the dairy business world. Photo: Jane Bellerby.
The majority of cows in Golden Bay have now calved, and farmers, when they can raise their heads out of the mud and shake off a little of their initial milking season weariness, are reporting a good spring.
In Ferntown, John Nalder and his partner Sue Brown, dairy section chair of Golden Bay Federated Farmers, milk 320 cows. They reported a slow calving, no vet callouts and no mastitis. “The slow calving is because of slow cycling at mating last year and it means many of the cows are three weeks behind. This season, with the cool temperatures in August and resultant slow grass growth, means I’m not complaining,” he says. He, Sue and their new worker Hazel Kerr, who is learning the ropes, are feeding out silage to compensate for the slow growth and are looking towards a good milking season.
In the middle of the Aorere Valley, Rob and Deb Haldane report “a good average spring”. Four hundred of their 680 Friesian-Jersey cross herd are regularly wintered off at Nelson Lakes, and this year they came home in tiptop condition. This is paying off in easy calving, good milk production and minimal health problems. Rob expects they will cycle well and get in calf again easily. Deb says the calves have predominantly been strong and healthy.
“We’ve had very few cases of scouring, which I often think is activated by the constant changes of temperature from hot to cold, which is typical of spring.”
At Rototai, Richard and Amanda Tait are sharemilking a 320 Friesian-Jersey-cross herd with Tony and Kathy Reilly. They say their eighth calving season there has gone particularly smoothly. Richard puts this down to the cows being in good condition going into calving.
“We’ve had no vet callouts either, and our main challenge has been keeping the cows out of the mud. We winter them over on the farm, which means some of the grass cover is a bit thin until steady growth kicks in.” To counteract this they feed extra baleage and regularly reseed about 10 per cent of the farm each year; putting the land first into turnips which is fed off as crop, then worked up and sown down in pasture grasses.
Pam and Donald Gardiner of Seaview Jersey Stud at Onahau are having a slow calving with low heifer numbers from their 190 cows. “Feed, which is traditionally tight at this time of year, has been slowed with the wet of recent weeks,” says Donald.
John and Deanna Byrne at Kotinga say their proactive approach to animal health is resulting in a smooth calving. They use dry cow therapy, have their 300 cows in good condition going into calving and winter them off so there is good grass in the crucial first weeks of the milking season. Dry cow therapy minimises mastitis, and the herd gets magnesium supplements so milk fever is minimal and some extra supplemented feed.
“Each year gets a bit easier and instead of going from one drama to another, the work runs smoothly,” says John.
Grass growth is acceptable but they would like a decent run of fine sunny days to really kick-start the spring growth. “On wet days the cows tend to waste a bit of the grass that gets trampled to mud and, like most farms, it’s a challenge to maintain a good grass cover at this time of year.”
Scott Petterson reports a similar spring at his Hamama farm.
“It’s gone smoothly, the cows were in good condition and the warm spring has been good for growth, though more sun would be appreciated.” He says that while farmers plan their feed management as best they can, the weather is always the variable which keeps them on their toes.
“Towards the end of calving there is also a need to be extra vigilant and not let the accumulated tiredness affect stock management. Farmers need to be constantly alert and watching their stock.”
Jane Bellerby
