'No downsides to OAD milking'
Matamata farmer Cam Houghton is an enthusiastic once a day milking advocate and is always looking to add to his farming knowledge, partly through attending SMASH events.
Once-a-day (OAD) milking farm consultant Leo Hendrikse says planning is a key element in succeeding with a conversion to OAD.
It may take a few years to get the right cows and infrastructure on the farm but this time and effort pays off in the long term.
“Don’t go into OAD on a whim,” he says.
The loss in production when farmers first convert to OAD can be as high as 25% or as low as 3%, depending heavily on planning and good professional advice.
The key thing is to balance income and expenditure, he says. “So if your production is down by 11% you need to reduce your farm working expenses by 11%.”
Hendrikse says most farmers who move to OAD stay with it because it is working for them.
Meanwhile Ed Jackson, who milks 190 cows OAD at Ashurst agrees with Hendrikse’s advice about the need for planning. His good planning enabled him to avoid a loss when he converted to OAD.
He was great friends with the late Professor Colin Holmes, one of NZ’s greatest supporters of OAD. Holmes gave Jackson many tips, especially planning to get the genetics right and getting cows that suited OAD.
“We have a variety of cows, most of them cross-breeds leaning more towards Jersey. The Jersey cow has the ability to hold the milk in her udder without the decrease in production you see in Friesian cows,” he says.
Jackson also rears extra beef calves, something they have always done. Now in his 5th OAD season, he says he’d never go back to TAD. OAD offers more lifestyle choices, providing time for family, hobbies and sport.
Alliance has announced a series of capital raise roadshow event, starting on 29 September in Tuatapere, Southland.
State farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) has announced a new equity partnership in an effort to support pathways to farm ownership for livestock farm operators.
Following a recent overweight incursion that saw a Mid-Canterbury contractor cop a $12,150 fine, the rural contracting industry is calling time on what they consider to be outdated and unworkable regulations regarding weight and dimensions that they say are impeding their businesses.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says his officials plan to meet their US counterparts every month from now on to better understand how the 15% tariff issue there will play out, and try and get some certainty there for our exporters about the future.
Brett Wotton, an Eastern Bay of Plenty kiwifruit grower and harvest contractor, has won the 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award for his work to support lifting fruit quality across the industry.
OPINION: Westland Milk may have won the contract to supply butter to Costco NZ but Open Country Dairy is having…
OPINION: The Gene Technology Bill has divided the farming community with strong arguments on both the pros and cons of…