Lely order book 'slightly better'
Dairy automation company Lely reported a 3.4% decline in total turnover last year but notes that sales are picking up.
Ian & Carmen Comins, Kihikihi, set up their farming operation in 2018, starting with 80 cows and working on increasing to 110, saw many attractive benefits to putting in robots, starting with just one robot they put another in 2020.
Now looking to the future with their business and a focus on sustainability as they set their goal to reduce the amount of antibiotics used with a goal of decreasing overall bulk SCC.
They researched a company called AHV (Animal Health Vision) – which is an innovative animal health company. Working in partnership with AHV they are seeing huge benefits by reducing their penicillin use.
They liked the idea of strengthening an animal’s immune system rather than treating with penicillin right away.
They are developing a more natural approach to their herd’s health and focussing on why a cow is run down and therefore getting mastitis.
They believe it is better for the health of the cow, and the milk they supply, to have this approach.
During the last few years, the Comins have learnt to manually separate the cows with higher SCC, and with the right course of action, have seen positive changes within a couple of days. This has led them to better understand what can cause their SCC to change.
They can do this with help from the Lely management platform system to identify those cows that show the first indication of infection and have been monitoring the progress of the cows treated with the AHV products.
Comins have used the use of technology to help provide valuable information such as:
This report combines available sensors on the farm to identify the cows that need attention on first response. These health attentions give the Comins insight into the animal number, group, lactation, days production, sick chance, and sensor reason like – milk temp / SCC indication / activity, value and severity.
The Udder health report provides information of attention cows with suspected udder health problems. This list combines milk sensor information, (milk yield, conductivity, colour and optional cell count). These are just two of the reports that assist the Comins in identifying the animals that need their care and attention.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
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