Autumn has certainly arrived in Canterbury. The speed of the cows on the lanes has slowed down considerably and grass growth has dropped below 40kg dry matter/hectare in recent weeks.
Cows and staff are both ready for some time off to prepare for the next season.
We have moved over to a 10-in-7 milking routine, ie 10 milkings in seven days. This is a fairly recent concept in New Zealand (NZ).
Research has shown that it has little impact on overall milk production, and many farmers are now changing their traditional regime of milking twice a day for the entire season.
There are two primary reasons for the switch.
First, they want to give their staff a break towards the end of the season; and second, they want to reduce walking distances for the cows.
Grass
Grass on the farm is currently on-target, with an average pasture cover (APC) of 2,250kg DM/ha, and cows are on a 38-day round with some silage in the diet.
We have dried off heifers and several poor-performing cows in the last week, which will reduce demand.
The entire herd will be dried off at the end of May ahead of calving, which will be from the start of August.
Leaving the milking platform at the target cover at dry-off will be the priority in the coming weeks, so that the cows can start calving next season with grass in front of them.
Some silage is currently being included in cow diets to slow down the grazing rotation.
The emphasis on building covers is similar to spring calving herds at home in NI, but the impact of low covers in spring can be far more significant in NZ – with cows kept on winter crops and going back to grass when springing up before calving.
Deer
Besides milking cows, I was also recently invited to milk deer, and this is not something I ever pictured myself doing when I came here.
About 15 minutes from my farm, on the other side of Mount Somers, is another Irish man who commercially milks deer.
Simon, an Offaly native, has been in NZ for the last 10 years and has been managing this deer milking farm for the last four.
Deer milk has 25% solids and double the protein contained in cow’s milk.
Hence, Simon believes that the deer milk market will expand as further research highlights the qualities and benefits of this milk and more work is done to make it accessible to consumers.
Clusters
The steps involved in milking deer are similar to those taken for milking a cow.
That said, the clusters consist of two cups to accommodate the deer’s teats, which are alternated to milk out all four-quarters.
I was unsure of the temperament of deer during milking, so when cupping on, I was expecting a reaction similar to that of a new heifer coming into the parlour in spring.
Two cups are used to milk deer.
However, the deer have no issue with the process, as the parlour had been designed to minimise the interaction with humans, which obviously suits these animals.
Working outside of the parlour with the deer, I felt like a child on the farm helping their father, unsure if I was being of any use with these strange-looking cows.
The entire experience was an eye-opener.
I am not sure if I will be leaving the cowshed for deer milking yet, but witnessing the work being done in this space, NZ could soon be known for more than just conventional dairy farming.
Read more
Dosing a conveyor belt of NZ lambs
Impressed by contractor work in New Zealand
Autumn has certainly arrived in Canterbury. The speed of the cows on the lanes has slowed down considerably and grass growth has dropped below 40kg dry matter/hectare in recent weeks.
Cows and staff are both ready for some time off to prepare for the next season.
We have moved over to a 10-in-7 milking routine, ie 10 milkings in seven days. This is a fairly recent concept in New Zealand (NZ).
Research has shown that it has little impact on overall milk production, and many farmers are now changing their traditional regime of milking twice a day for the entire season.
There are two primary reasons for the switch.
First, they want to give their staff a break towards the end of the season; and second, they want to reduce walking distances for the cows.
Grass
Grass on the farm is currently on-target, with an average pasture cover (APC) of 2,250kg DM/ha, and cows are on a 38-day round with some silage in the diet.
We have dried off heifers and several poor-performing cows in the last week, which will reduce demand.
The entire herd will be dried off at the end of May ahead of calving, which will be from the start of August.
Leaving the milking platform at the target cover at dry-off will be the priority in the coming weeks, so that the cows can start calving next season with grass in front of them.
Some silage is currently being included in cow diets to slow down the grazing rotation.
The emphasis on building covers is similar to spring calving herds at home in NI, but the impact of low covers in spring can be far more significant in NZ – with cows kept on winter crops and going back to grass when springing up before calving.
Deer
Besides milking cows, I was also recently invited to milk deer, and this is not something I ever pictured myself doing when I came here.
About 15 minutes from my farm, on the other side of Mount Somers, is another Irish man who commercially milks deer.
Simon, an Offaly native, has been in NZ for the last 10 years and has been managing this deer milking farm for the last four.
Deer milk has 25% solids and double the protein contained in cow’s milk.
Hence, Simon believes that the deer milk market will expand as further research highlights the qualities and benefits of this milk and more work is done to make it accessible to consumers.
Clusters
The steps involved in milking deer are similar to those taken for milking a cow.
That said, the clusters consist of two cups to accommodate the deer’s teats, which are alternated to milk out all four-quarters.
I was unsure of the temperament of deer during milking, so when cupping on, I was expecting a reaction similar to that of a new heifer coming into the parlour in spring.
Two cups are used to milk deer.
However, the deer have no issue with the process, as the parlour had been designed to minimise the interaction with humans, which obviously suits these animals.
Working outside of the parlour with the deer, I felt like a child on the farm helping their father, unsure if I was being of any use with these strange-looking cows.
The entire experience was an eye-opener.
I am not sure if I will be leaving the cowshed for deer milking yet, but witnessing the work being done in this space, NZ could soon be known for more than just conventional dairy farming.
Read more
Dosing a conveyor belt of NZ lambs
Impressed by contractor work in New Zealand
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