Change embraced on family farm

Reporoa dairy farmer Gordon Brown says a new $86,000 feed pad ha helped cut costs and time.

REPOROA dairy farmers Gordon and Jackie Brown are proving long established family- owned farms are still open to trying new systems.

The couple's Forest Rd farm has been in the Brown-Stocker family since Gordon's grandfather secured a 60ha ballot farm in 1951.

More land has been purchased, or leased, from neighbours and adjoining properties since to bring the total up to 240ha and effective milking up to 700 cows.

The couple have been running the farm since 1996, first as managers, then 50/50 sharemilking before leasing the land off Mr Brown's parents.

In the last two years Mr Brown has employed a herd manager while he works fulltime at Miers Contractors.

He has decided to employ a contract milker next season which will allow him to spend more time with the family, although he will still help make decisions on feed management.

"I've always thought someone else could do a better job milking than me," he says.

"I came back to the farm fulltime from Miers six years ago but went back again after two seasons.

"I enjoy driving more than milking and this way I can still contribute to the running of the farm.

"At the end of the day both parties need to be happy."

For the past two seasons he has winter milked up to 250 cows, so each cow is milking 300 days of the year.

"I hate dry cows," he told a DairyNZ farm group discussion recently. "Winter milking provided good cash flow and milking 300 days helped the high leverage."

The farm achieves good milk production from a low stocking rate - on average last year 3.1 cows/ha, he says.

Last season the farm, a Miraka supplier, produced 327,000kg/MS (1363kg/MS/ha) and had targeted 285,000kg/MS (1188kg/MS/ha) this season.

Mr Brown uses "split calving" - one of the few farms in the region to do so - selling spring heifers to buy autumn calvers.

Calving begins for winter milkers in late March, and for spring milkers in late July.

Each winter, the spring calvers are wintered off for six weeks.

"I don't keep milking all empties, I do the sums and get rid of the worst," he says.

Last season he built a feed pad, with troughs found on Trade Me, to help cut at least 10 per cent off the annual $500,000 feed bill.

At a cost of $86,000, the 1700sq m feed pad will pay for itself in two years, he says.

"I've always wanted to put in a feed pad and the opportunity came up last season with the high payout which allowed us to pay for it from the cashflow.

"My bank manager might have suggested I use the $86,000 elsewhere but I think it is money well spent. At certain times we could be feeding up to 13kg of bought in feed a day so cutting back on wastage was important."

The cows feed on a mix of barley waste, sourced from a Marton brewery, kiwifruit, silage and lucerne, on their way back from milking.

As well as reducing feed costs, the feed pad has cut down the hours feeding out around the farm.

"I'm saving five to six hours a day feeding out and instead spend up to only two hours loading the troughs.

"It's also easier on the gear, and the cows enjoy it - they run to the troughs."

While the feed pad has taken the pressure of growing grass, Mr Brown also grows 30ha turnips, chicory, rape and kale, and this year, plantain.