Once A Day Milking Michael Murphy
OAD Milking
Managing quota risk
Other tactical uses of OAD
Economics (Limited Data)
Quota Risk Assumption: 2011/2012
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Low/Medium Risk
2012/2013
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Medium/High Risk
2013/2014
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High Risk
2014/2015
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High Risk
Individual Farmer Responsibility
Manage risk yourself
Don’t leave to chance
Expansion? Yes
Reckless risk taking? No
Avoid Major super levy fine
Place of OAD to Manage Risk?
Drop B.F. Corrected milk about 23%
Herd SCC needs to be under control (80,000 – 160,000)
Higher EBI cows adapt better to OAD
OAD cow suitability = 77% correlated to EBI
Low EBI cows may get fat & dry off
Breed Effect? Yes
Suitable cows across all breeds
Jerseys drop less than Friesian/hols on OAD
X-breds? Probably in between Jersey & Friesian/Holstein
Higher % solids cows adapt better than low % solids cows
Taking Control Yourself
Farmer with quota for 100 Holstein/Friesian cows
Can go to 123-125 cows in high risk years
Using OAD for full lactation
Slash meal bill (preferably no meal)
Minor adjustment to drying off date & milk to calves, if necessary
Breed Adjustment ď Ź If
x-bred herd only go to 120% quota potential?
ď Ź Little
valid data on this.
100 Cows. Status Quo Option A Stay at 100 cows until 2015 season. Keep 45% heifer calves per 100 cows calved from 2013; cull @ 22%. 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
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100 cows 100 cows 121 cows 137 cows 158 cows
100 Cows. Status Quo Option B Expand to 125 cows in 2013. Keep 45% heifer calves per 100 cows calving. Cull @ 22%. 2013 125 cows 2014 125 cows 2015 151 cows 2016 172 cows 2017 199 cows + 41 cows compared to option A
Economics of OAD
Limited valid data
Drop in first couple of years -V- TAD
Selecting cows carefully closes gap with TAD
OAD farmers often make rapid business progress
OAD frees up time for lifestyle or thinking
Economics OAD V TAD (NZ)
Very similar
+15% more cows on same area
Using Jerseys: production down 5% hectare
Using holstein/friesian: production down 15% hectare
Milk protein & fat both +0.2% on OAD
MT Rates
Friesian
Jersey
OAD
9%
3%
TAD
12%
5%
NZ OAD -V- TAD EFS/hec
1528
1443
Stocking Rate/hec
4.35
3.8
•OAD EFS higher by 6.6% per hectare •OAD stocked @ +15% more per hectare •OAD cows healthier & heavier •BCS +0.25 to +0.5
Moorepark – Laurence Shalloo (Modelling) (A)
Same number of cows Big drop in profits
(B)
Increase cows +26% Slightly lower profit on OAD But no account taken of better fertility of OAD
OAD – A viable quota risk strategy? Yes, providing:
Have extra cows (+20% to 25%)
Good EBI herd
SCC well under control
No problem changing back to TAD
Other Tactical Uses of OAD
In feed pinch – low milk price year
Cows walking long distances e.g. 4Kms
Very busy, no help
Developing farm infrastructure i.e. Project management
Other Tactical Uses of OAD
Very bad roads (wet in Oct/Nov)
Lame cows
Heifers too small
Cows cycling badly
Valid Tool in Your Box
We frequently use OAD
Relieves stress on either cows or people Cows adapt more readily than humans!
Useful tool when expanding rapidly
Colin Holmes believes that OAD will be the wave of the future: But
need better selection of cows for OAD Committed OAD herds now doing +350 Kgs ms/cow And
+1100 Kgs ms/hectare