Monthly Archives: April 2021

NIWA’s latest hot spot watch shows things have got really dry in the region within the last couple of weeks.

The driest soils across the North Island, compared to normal for this time of the year, are in Northern Waikato – and it doesn’t look like the situation will improve anytime soon, with no decent rain forecast.

Bart Van De ven is a sharemilker in Springdale, near Morrinsville.

He said he’s only had 55mm of rain since Christmas, which means he had to dry off his heard six weeks early.

“There’s almost no real rain forecast for another 18 days, so we’ll be well into May before we get our first real proper rain for the year,” he said.

“There’s a little bit of cover there, our average pasture cover at the moment is about 1600 DM/ha. It wouldn’t really matter if it was the start of March, but it’s now almost the start of May, so we’re about two months behind.”

Van De ven said organising this year’s feed budget was “pretty scary” ahead of the calving season.

“We start calving on the 15th of July, we try and have an average pasture cover of around 2300 DM/ha on the first of June.

“We’ve probably got about 35 days to do that, we’ve got cover at 1600 DM/ha at the moment, and we’re definitely not going to get there.

“So, we’re basically hanging on and hoping that the weather’s going to do the job for us.”

Van De ven said he was considering buying feed for the first time ever, saying the situation was “historic”.

“I’m about ready to buy in feed for the first time ever really. So yeah, it’s historic.”

Further west in Orini, dairy farmer Allan Crouch said they’re in the midst of a green drought.

“We’ve got supplement cows in good condition,” he said.

“So as long as we get rain, around early May, and I’m talking significant for us – it’d be 100mm to 125mm or even 155mm of rain to get us back to square one.

“It won’t be too drastic, but if it’s much later than early May, then it’s going to start impacting on your farm management.

“The cows would have to get knocked back to maintenance feeding, rather than putting a better condition on, we may need to start looking at importing a little bit of supplements, a bit of pumpkin or something to lengthen the rotation and try and maintain the cover that we’ve got.”

Allan Crouch has been farming in Orini since 1987 – he said in the last 15 years the seasons had begun to get more severe, which meant he’s had to adapt farming practices.

Source: waikato milking systems 

Monitoring a dairy herd is a 24-hour job but an agri-tech company is automating critical functions to ease the pressure, reduce labour and give back more time to farmers.

Waikato Milking Systems introduced its CowTRAQ™ Collars and its TracHQ™ software to the Australian market in May 2021, in partnership with dairy management technology company Nedap.

CowTRAQ™ Collars identify each cow in a herd and keep track of their signs of heat, position, eating, rumination, standing, lying, walking and inactive behavior 24/7.

The collars provide a precise and complete picture about the fertility, health, well-being and nutritional status of each cow in each herd.

Waikato Milking Systems regional manager for Australia, Rob Spencer, said the functionality of the collars offered farmers a chance to improve in several areas.

“We’re talking about a herd’s reproduction results, increased labor efficiency as well as farm management to get a more productive and sustainable herd.

“Better cow health and condition is also an important area where the collars can make a difference, by detecting health issues earlier.

“That means treatment and recovery can be more effective, fertility can improve and long-term it can reduce mortality rates.”

Rob said the data collected by the collars could save on costs and gave cows the individual attention they needed.

“Farmers can focus resources on the cows that really need attention, at the right time, with the correct treatment.

“The data can help farmers keep a close eye on the health, comfort and wellbeing of their animals while increasing production using the same or fewer resources.”

The data from each collar is continuously collected by an antenna which has a range of at least 75 meters around the parlor and 250 meters when placed outside for grazing cows.

TracHQ™ is the software driving the CowTRAQ™ collars. It translates the data into information the operator can understand and easily view on a PC, tablet or smartphone.

Everyone working on the farm with a connected device can have access to real-time information and insights.

TracHQ™ can generate real-time and relevant alerts, to-do lists, reports and maps to help manage and control the herd.

“TracHQ™ also integrates with our range of milking point controls, milk indicators, milk meters and milk analytical sensors.

“It can also connect with our automated systems to sort animals that are either on heat or have an alert that has been raised against their number.”

TracHQ™ is a modular solution so upgrading to include auto sorting and integration to milking solutions and feeding is simple, when the operator is ready to make that move.

With a three year, 100 per cent replacement warranty, and graded warranty thereafter, CowTRAQ™ and TracHQ™ is a technology package farmers can trust and rely on.

Typically the operating life is eight to 10 years so it outperforms and goes the distance.

Rob said the new technology would help farmers improve their bottom line by making data-driven decisions.

“Together, CowTRAQ™ and TracHQ™ give farmers an all-in-one, 24/7 cow management system to help them meet the challenges of operating a modern dairy farm.”