NZ Dairy Autumn 2021

88 | nz dairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Simon & Miriam Broekhuizen Variables behind farming operation Photos: Simon Broekhuizen working the land. Young stock at the Cloan. Russell Fredric S imon Broekhuizen admits the variables that make up a dairy farm operation can some- times be like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. While keeping it simple and doing the basics well is a maxim of many dairy farmers, Simon candidly says his analytical mind can be inclined to work against him at times. “I tend to make things really complicated when it’s not. I don’t always have a really simple way of looking at it.” Married to Miriam, a qualified nurse, Simon manages his parents, Guy and Ella Broekhuizen’s 190 hectare/ 175 hectare effective property, one of two near Balclutha that they own. The second farm, 23 kilometres away in Romahapa, bordering the Catlins, is a 170 hectare effective run-off/support block. Two seasons ago the herd on the home farm was reduced from 500 to 470. “We are trying to find a balance between not having to feed out and still not making a huge cut of silage either, or having issues with surplus grass for a long period which I find difficult to manage.” However with the reduction in the stocking rate, the Broekhuizen’s are positive about having a grass surplus and being able to make silage off the dairy platform for the first time in several years. A Dairy NZ tool that Simon uses to calculate the stocking rate is Comparative Stock Rates (CSR) instead of the traditional stocking rate per hectare guide. The Dairy NZ website says CSR is a method of assessing the balance between feed demand and supply on farm and is a much better indicator of the match between feed demand and supply than cows per hectare. It is defined as the amount of liveweight per hectare creating feed demand and the annual feed available to meet that demand (kg Lwt/tDM). The optimum CSR level for achieving an appro- priate combination of milk solids (MS) production per cow, MS production per hectare and profit- ability is currently between 80 and 90. CSR can be used to compare across dairy farms, dairy farm systems and regions as it takes account of differences in location (grass growth potential), system (amount of supplement used) and cow liveweight, Dairy NZ says. Last season the Broekhuizen’s home farm’s stocking rate was 2.7 cows at 485 kilograms of liveweight per hectare, with 9.5tDM/ha pasture and crop eaten plus 1.8tDM/ha imported feed - • to page 89 Cnr of Frances and High Streets 0800 FOR CCMP 0800 367 2267 Momona 1 Bruce Road, Momona, Dunedin 0800 185 300 Your Dealer Call in and see the team www.ccmp.co.nz CCMP is proud to support Miriam & Simon Broekhuizen with the latest in dairy shed technology