NZ Dairy Autumn 2021

82 | nz dairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Matthew & Sally Wright Greater precision, Karen Phelps Benjamin, Joshua and Malachi Wright love playing hide and seek in the maize paddocks. Matthew wright and farm worker Lionel Kumara check the herd on the 535-cow unit at Waverley. consistent, this method has worked well. At most this has seen him feed 2.5-3kgs of molasses per cow on a feed pad mixed with feed, to bolster en- ergy levels and ensure cows do not go into a ketotic state, to set things up for a successful mating. He also identifies cows on heat more stringently with PG shots administered on cows that have previously cycled to synchronise mating. CIDRs are used as necessary. There has also been a focus on transitioning cows so that their rumens have time to adapt to feed prior to calving. As a result they have few cases of milk fever and cows that calve are into bigger rations straight off the bat. Somatic cell counts have been another area targeted for improvement and have been reducing after four herd tests per year, treating any cows quickly and culling those that don’t show signs of improvement. Somatic cell counts averaged 119,000 last season. After completing five seasons on the Goble’s farm, Matthew and Sally, who works as an oc- cupational therapist, will move on at the end of the season. It’s an entire career change for Matthew who is taking up a new position as a farm consult- ant for Headlands Consultancy. Matthew says it’s about being closer to town pro- viding better work-life balance and more opportuni- ties for their growing sons – Joshua, 6, Benjamin, 4 and Malachi who is 16 months old. Also it’s a new personal challenge for Matthew who has an Agri Management Degree and is working towards a Diploma in Agribusiness Management. “I’m nervous because all I’ve done is farm but the door has opened so I want to pursue it and utilise my skills and knowledge to provide real value to farmers.” I nvestment in Allflex collars has resulted in greater precision and better farm outcomes for Kevin and Diane Goble. The couple have implemented the system on several of their farms including their 535-cow unit at Waverley. Contract milkers Mat- thew and Sally Wright have been using the system for just a matter of months but are already excited by the potential. “We’ve found really good value for mating but also animal health. As an example the Gobles had a breakdown when harvesting their maize on another of their farms so they decided to dump the load as green feed for the herd. “Next milking Allflex started drafting out a lot of cows so they knew something wasn’t right and got the vet in to take a look. It was acidosis so they could be treated immediately. It was something that wouldn’t have picked up so quickly by eye,” he says. For the Wrights it’s allowed them to continue to run the 50-bail rotary shed with one person during mating and monitor the herd for things such as heat stress. Matthew is still learning the system but has been impressed with what he’s experienced so far. It also works in well with the switch that was made to autumn calving, which has required more precision though at mating, which now takes place in winter. The cows have required specific inputs to maintain condition and continue cycling. Matthew has found that monitoring the cows’ bloods with a test kit he uses himself on-farm has helped ascer- tain ketosis levels. He completes this on a random selection of 12 cows, saying, because results across the herd were