Spring - well calving anyway!

With the calving season, here it’s important to consider very carefully the approach to the big issue of calf/ young stock management.

Calf rearing/management always gets a lot of attention in the OrganicAg pastoral extension groups.

The future of production for the next 10 years is affected if the task is not done well. We compare the first 12 months of calf rearing to the first 15 years of child rearing, from birth, suckling, solid food, weaning, social development, growth spurts, puberty to potential reproductive capability.

The path from conception to adolescence and adulthood is a tricky one and a journey that will affect one’s ability for the balance of time.

The start aspect is hugely important. This is more so now with many small blocks buying calves and not even understanding they require milk –“I put them in a paddock of good grass and they did not survive” - these things are happening.

But here I wish to share some of the commercial farm scale organic practises used and the chosen options are varied from leaving calves on the cow, to full separation rearing.

For commercial farmers the importance of colostrum is well understood and of milk to the chosen weight or time for weaning.

Hay

Having hay available from day one in pen or paddock is valuable for gut development, many organic biological farmers will also have hay tea available for calves from day one to weaning, and this is also valuable intervention tool.

Hay tea is simply good meadow hay (not wrap/silage/baleage) soaked in water for 24 hours or so. It will turn a nice golden colour and have a sweetness to it. Play around, cold/warm/hot water, it is a living entityso treat it as such.

This is full of biology and they feed on the dissolved sugars. Helps to energise a calf that is not having its best day.

Many organic farmers use this mixed with the standard milk feed and as a milk replacer for a calf they are wanting to remove milk from for a day.

It is not a medical matter, this is always managed with ACVM approved products, but simple dietary matters are best managed with food /menu management. Humates, biochar and a range of free choice minerals, various lime/calcium products, clays (bentonite, zeolite etc) are always available - the practise allows the calf to choose which and how much they need/ require any given day - many of these are assist in toxin management, the calf knows when it is feeling off as do you.

Plants

As calves grow, a common organic practise is to ensure access to browse, plants that are nibbled at, shrubs, trees and in particular flax’s. It always amuses me how calves will chew on twine, plastic etc when a plant is not available, what are they after? Is it the saliva generated - a ph buffer, enzyme developer etc.

An in-milk cow should make around 135 litres of saliva a day, chew the cud for about eight hours a day - as with all innate behaviours, they start young and develop. If the plants/shrubs are not in the paddock/pen make them available by breaking/cutting growing tips (branch ends), poplar/willow/tree lucerne/ pittosporum etc, do not give flax that is not well anchored, the calf will swallow and generate flax balls that can cause issues (leading to death), best is to give them access to the whole flax bush, high fibre plants like ToiToi are another favourite. The use of these natural diet choices will greatly reduce the need for health interventions - good diet - less medicine, this also creates great young stock that become great productive animals.

Remember to consider: the first 15 human years is similar to the first one year of the bovine.

Access ranks “up there” in terms of priorities for farmers and maintaining farm access for stock and vehicles has been a challenge with high rainfall according to Kevin Wade of Wade Contractors.

“We provide general excavation services across the eastern Waikato – Te Aroha, Morrinsville and Matamata,” says Kevin, “and while most of the farms here are mature and well developed the continuous rain has caused damage to races.

“Most farm raceways are constructed of a crushed brown metal product which results in a at surface which is kind to cows’ feet.” e Wade Contractors team has been busy, leading up to calving, going onto farms and repairing raceways and culverts.

“Double fencing of open farm drains means they require less maintenance, other than spraying to keep them clear of foliage, but culverts have taken a beating from the incessant rain – many blocking or simply proving to be too small to handle water ow.

“We have been going in, where we can, to clear and in some cases replace culverts.

“With calving underway on most farms, access ways will be getting a lot of use so we predict some busy months ahead repairing and bringing the race surfaces back to a state which won’t be hard on cows’ feet.”

Kevin says they used to do a lot of Nova ow drainage work guided by laser operated trenchers.

“ is hasn’t been in as much demand over recent years but the volumes of rain we’ve been having will have highlighted any remaining wet areas, so we anticipate some demand from farmers wanting the precision and coste ectiveness that laser trenching provides.

“In town, demand for laser guided graders has increased as builders and property developers/ owners look to hold costs without compromising building sites.

“Our laser grader will level a site – on any contour land – to within plus or minus 5mm enabling the builder to simply erect boxing and lay concrete without any further ground preparation – it’s precise and very cost-e ective.”