NZ Dairy Autumn 2021

| 41 nz dairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Aokautere Farms • from page 38 Wetland ideal learning space Samantha Tennent, new General Manager for WelFarm, says good herd health is crucial to optimise performance. WelFarm programme a key benchmarking tool W ithout data and benchmarking farmers are in the dark about their performance, particularly when it comes to animal health and welfare. We need data and benchmarking to show what good looks like and where opportunities to improve lie. “One tool we have available to give us that benchmarking is the WelFarm programme,” Saman- tha Tennent, the new General Manager for WelFarm Ltd, explains. “With the increased scrutiny on our dairy sector to prove our farmers are operating sustainability and to continue our access to export markets, it is even more important we have the evidence that we are looking after our animals to a high standard. Animal health is also a big cost on-farm and good herd health is crucial to optimise performance,” she says. Tennent has a background in Veterinary Technol- ogy and has worked in the dairy sector across a variety of roles, recently as an Animal Developer for DairyNZ managing the InCalf programme. “The opportunity to help drive WelFarm intrigued me given my background and passion for dairy and I’m really excited to raise awareness across the sector and get more farmers into the programme,” she says. WelFarm is an assurance programme developed by XLVets and has been used on-farm since 2014. It is available to all farmers and veterinarians and utilitises data collected throughout the season to benchmark farms nationally and regionally. This helps identify areas where farm productivity and animal wellness could be optimised through effect- ing change. It also supports farmers who are making im- provements towards goals, showing them whether their efforts are succeeding. “We know small shifts in in-calf rates, reduc- ing somatic cell counts, reducing mastitis and increasing milksolids all have significant impact on performance and profitability, and how we use antibiotics and other drugs is continually under the microscope. WelFarm helps farmers understand what good looks like,” Tennent explains. Greg Lindsay, of Franklin Vets, has been using the programme with farmers for several seasons. “Through the reporting at the end of the season I was able to have a valuable discussion with one farmer how they were using lower levels of antibiot- ics, which was great but they were also using significantly less anti-inflammatories than others in the area. And since anti inflammatories are useful tools to manage pain it gave us the opportunity to talk about how they can be used on-farm to support animals, which can improve performance outcomes and animal welfare. They started using it for more procedures after that conversation,” Lindsay says. “I think that’s a great win, I had the evidence to show them where they sat and they were receptive to discussing ideas. Farmers regularly come to us for advice and WelFarm reporting provides a great pathway to develop plans towards their goals.” Tennent encourages farmers to discuss with their vets whether they are already offering the programme and vets to get in touch if they want more information and support to implement it in their clinic. Trevor Blenkiron Daniel Blenkiron 027 6626 217 0274 420 375 Supply of wood chip for calf sheds, cow race construction & maintenance Maintenance, Service, Installations, & Advice On behalf of Manawatu Spreaders and their team we would like to congratulate Grant and Rachel Bell on their dairying success in this region, and thank them for their support over the years. P 06 323 8393 M 027 5659150 “My sharemilker is actually a company and my equity manager is a shareholder in the sharemilk- ing company. He gets paid a salary regardless of how the season turns out, guaranteeing his income stream and then gets a share of the profits at the end of each season. I think it is a really good way of helping good people into the industry.” On other fronts, there’s been environmental gain in the form of establishing a wetland. The way the farm is shaped, 90% of the water running through it, to the Manawatu River is filtered through the new wetland boasting over 12,000 plants. Establishing the wetland was the task of Ray Richard, from Pahiatua-based Land and Habitat Consultancy. “We now have some financial support for this from Horizons Regional Council, who help fund riparian planting. Today, the wetland area has been extended up the main stream that flows into the wetland to cover a total of four hectares.” A mixture of natives and exotic plants have been used throughout the original 2.5ha swampy area. “Ray has done a fabulous job creating the ponds and structure of the wetland along with plant selection and we’re seeing more bird-life as a consequence.” Grant sees the wetland area as an ideal learning space for school students, to see a real living eco- system flourishing on a dairy farm. And with better pay-out years recently, the deci- sion to invest in a new effluent system including a three million litre effluent holding tank has future- proofed the farm. “AgFirst in the Waikato helped me to design the system,” Grant says. He says a lot of ‘bells and whistles’ were incor- porated to create a fail-safe system. “We have incorporated under pressure protection, over pres- sure protection, flow protection and GPS fail safes that are all monitored. Basically if there is any sort of malfunction or abnormality the pump shuts down and sends a text to advise the farm manager.