MANAWATU | SHARE FARMER OF THE YEAR
Clean sweep of awards WORDS BY JACKIE HARRIGAN PHOTOS BY BRAD HANSON
S
am and Ellie Howard have spent hours improving the shelter and aesthetics of the Shannon property they are share milking, even if they may not be there long enough to appreciate all the benefits. Sam was named Share Farmer of the Year for the Manawatu in 2021 and added to his win of the Dairy Manager category earlier when he was managing a farm in Taranaki. Originally from the Manawatu, Sam and Ellie returned from Taranaki four seasons ago to move into a 50/50 share milking role with Shannon owner John Gardner on his 80ha, 240-cow Palmerston North property. Ellie hails from Australia and is a bovine and equine vet, working with 72
Totally Vets in Palmerston North, although she is currently on maternity leave with new son Archie. The couple brought with them a crossbred herd they had put together and are focusing on the breeding core of cows, from whom they are keen to get herd replacements, focusing on efficiency and fertility, along with good udders, feet and legs. The crossbred herd are producing an average of 1257kg MS/ha and 439kg MS/ cow, which Sam estimates is around 90% of their bodyweight. “We are aiming for 100%, but we run a largely grass-based system, with crops and some PKE bought in for supplement.”
EFFICIENCY EXPERTS
Sam and Ellie discuss all aspects of the
operation and with their emphasis on efficiency, have opted for using nominated semen over the top half of the herd for the first six weeks of AI - crossing with Friesian, Jersey or Xbred semen depending on the breed of the cow. For the next five weeks cows are inseminated with short gestation crossbred semen and for the past two years a LIC Wagyu contract has seen the lowerproducing 100 cows inseminated with the beef cross to move away from producing bobby calves. The Wagyu cross calves tend to be lighter and easier calving than the Hereford semen they were using previously. As the partnership vet, Ellie has set up the intervention programme of Controlled Internal Drug Release (CIDRs) and the Why Wait programme to improve the
Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | April 2021
