| 31 Nick & Anieka’s fourth year as sharemilkers Anieka has always been interested in introducing breeds she likes, rather than the standard breeds seen in most dairy situations. Sue Russell For the past four years Nick Templer and Anieka Venekamp have been enjoying 50/50 sharemilking at Balfour, an hour north of Invercargill and an hour south of Queenstown. The farm is 230 ha (228 effective) and has good fertile soil underfoot. “One side of the farm is heavy and clay and the other side lighter and gravely. It works well for us to have this as we can make use of the pasture efficiently depending on the weather conditions at any given time,” says Nick. While in their fourth year as sharemilkers the couple have had a long association with the farm starting as contract milkers. “When we started it was a large Friesian herd doing around 460 kg milk solids per cow average. Each year we would buy a few cows to begin building our own herd. We’re focussed on breeding a small cow with more production as the Friesians created a lot of pugging and a higher impact on the environment,” says Anieka. The shift to the smaller cow began with first crossing a Jersey over the Friesians. Now the herd is crossed with a range of breeds, maintaining a high level of hybrid vigour in the process. Anieka has always been interested in introducing breeds she likes, rather than the standard breeds seen in most dairy situations. “I wanted better udder health, better feet and legs. I was sick of mastitis and lameness so I’ve chosen breeds to cross the herds with that are delivering better health outcomes.” One of those breed is the Norwegian Red. The herd also comprises 40 pedigree Ayrshires and 30 Milking Shorthorns. Anieka believes that every breed has the potential to bring something into the herd. “Driven very much by the philosophy of continual improvement the couple are pleased with how the DAIRY » Nick Templer & Anieka Venekamp Silage and Baling contractor servicing the Northern Southland District Proudly supporting Nick Templer & Anieka Venekamp Brent Eaton 027 485 5994 | Matt Muir 027 220 4000 | Office 027 428 4328 Email ewl.balfouroffice@gmail.com EWL Limited B BALFOUR ENGINEERING 2021 LTD PROUDLY SUPPORTING NICK TEMPLER & ANIEKA VENEKAMP 03 201 6470 o ce@balfourengineering.co.nz herd now looks and performs.” In all, 680 cows are milked and so far this year the season has been going well, ahead on production levels last season. The farm supplies Open Country. Helping out on the farm are three staff; David, Emman and Marvin who work a 5 on 2 off roster. Along with the farm, the couple lease two blocks, used as run-offs, for wintering and growing feed crops. With the additional blocks, the farms working footprint extends to 450 ha. One run-off is 2 km away, the other 8 km. The latter has always been part of the farm’s working, while the near run-off has been part of the business for 3 years. All the cows are wintered on grass and balage. A 54 bale De Laval rotary, complete with automatic cup removers and auto drafting works well. The farm runs to a System 3, with between 700kg and just over a tonne of supplement provided, in the form of grass silage and palm kernel, ddg and grain As a result of selecting bulls on traits that meet their requirements around capacity, stature, fertility and health rather than focussing on specific breeds has created a lot of options. And when we talk about a mixed-bag on breeds today, this includes VikingRed, Montbeliards, Fleckvieh, Normande, Friesian, Jersey, Blaarkop, Lineback, Norwegians Red. Back in 2008, Nick and Anieka decided to use Three Way Cross semen, introducing Montbeliarde and Swedish Red (Now VikingRed) before the practice was more common. Admitting she doesn’t like being the same as everyone else, preferring a bit of everything in the herd, Anieka says the decision to diversify the genetics in the herd has reaped production and animal health benefits. “We now produce over 500 kg/ms on average over the herd from a better smaller balanced herd.” Wanting to reduce the need for dehorning, the couple have started using high genetic merit polled sires, while dual-purpose breeds are helping to remove bobby calves from the system. Using Short Gestation Belgian Blue semen has been another good decision bring further positives in the look and performance of the herd. “Calves are very easy to rear and grow very well.” Another trait important to Nick and Anieka is Longevity. “You want to get as many years of good milk production as possible, having put the time and effort into a heifer.” With a practical and sound approach to their farming, both Nick and Anieka see a bright future in dairying.
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