Mathew Boley
Benchmark Grow grass Grazeprofit grassPER hour worked • Maximum Make milk
Make money Progress
Flexible working day for family & leisure.
Reducing hours of operational work Healthy well fed cows Reducing or eliminating costs - inflation proof as possible High free cash to give us options.
Flat, heavy alluvial clay, sea level 360 milking cows Kiwi cross 85 IC heifers 120 yearlings
160 Ha milking platform
80 Ha run off (3 blocks) for wintering / young stock No meal fed for 8 years
Organic for 4 years Half herd wintered on deferred pasture & bales, half in cubicles / self feed silage stack Labour: 2 full time family, 1 part time
Worked for Jonny Rider in 1996
Natural progression from simple pasture only system New challenge Eliminating unnecessary operation work
Enjoy milking and managing cows Enjoy family and leisure even more
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
TAD
OAD
OAD
OAD
OAD
Litre per cow
3500
2650 -24%
2930
3200 -8.5%
3270 -6.5%
Solids per cow
282
231 -18%
258
280 0%
285 +1%
Very wide variation in production No signs of distress, peak at 19 litres
Good TAD cow is excellent OAD cow regardless of breed Cows very quiet, relaxed, more sociable Shorter energy deficit after calving, virtual elimination of non cycling cows
Very clear, strong heats Reduced lameness by up to 50 %
3 week Submission rates increase from 90% to 99% Calving condensed from 12 to 8 weeks Empty rate decreased from 12 % after 12 weeks to 7% after 9 weeks
Replacement rate dropped from 23 to 17 %
2006 Tad
Average Somatic Cell Count 000s 230
2007 OAD
181
2008
242
2009
239
2010
255
Moving cows dictated by residuals, not milking times Improved pasture quality Condition stored on cows backs – make cows work very hard in first round – natural flush
Expenses as a % of Income dropped from 63 to 48 % over 4 years. Purchased feed down 22%
Animal health down 13% Labour remained same with 100 more cows. Stock sales opportunity after OAD established
Shorter working hours Enhancement of family life
More balanced lifestyle – time for leisure Psychological effect Recruitment of quality staff in future
275 milkings compared to 550 More flexibility for time off
Less stressful at calving time 33% less time related to milking activities compared to TAD 9.5 hours per LU OAD
13.3 hours per LU TAD
Production per cow lower, esp. heifers Longer milking time, 15 min row times at peak Milk cooling requirements Capital cost of cows if lifting stocking rate Little research on OAD in high-input systems Need to plan what will fill time previously spent
milking pm every day.
Enjoy the lifestyle that OAD brings while children are young Use free cash to pay down debt and invest off farm Consider developing a further OAD farm in future stocked with surplus heifers Stop and be thankful every afternoon at 4 o’clock
Milking OAD makes dairy farming more enjoyable Important to ACT. Just do it. We still haven't found the downside to OAD
Change your mindset and go for it!