| 97 nzdairy PEDIGREE HOLSTEINS » Streamline Holsteins & CULTIVATION SERVICES FULL GROUND WORK Roller Seed Drilling Mowing & Raking Grass Livestock & Deadstock Transport Round Silage & Hay Bales Small Square Hay Stone Trap Cleaning Feeding Out Heavy Lifting with Front End Loaders Sweeping Bales Cleaning Culverts Running Generators Alkathine Pipe Laying Nicecockcontracting@gmail.com Send us an email! BRANDT;YOURTRUSTED PARTNERFOR ANY APPLICATION. Brandt is your one stop shop for John Deere equipment. Experience the Brandt difference today. Brandt Pukekohe | 1 Comire Place Pukekohe | 09 237 0043 crowd at the evening general knowledge quiz,” Justin says of the process. The main part of the practical day involved fencing, hoof trimming in a crush pen, a soil management challenge and more. Justin’s big passion is Holstien Friesian breeding, so he has been trying to breed bigger cows with better dairy confirmation and reducing the overall herd size, while maintaining the same level of milk production. “I’m leaning towards overseas genetics now, so mostly North American,” Justin says. Justin likes to handle things himself on farm, meaning there is minimal use of contractors (aside from bailing and the cartage of grass). 100-tonne of maize is harvested each year, and 5ha of summer turnips, as part of his re-grassing programme. “The soil isn’t free draining, so paddocks do need to be shaped to help with drainage in the wetter months,” Justin explains. When the cows are dried off in early June they are moved up to the highland runoff block and returned to the dairy platform prior to calving. This gives the dairy platform a break for 6-8 weeks, which fits the system well as these are the wetter months of the year eliminating pasture damage. His main goals are trying to improve animal quality, in an effort to reach 90,000 kgMS. He uses Halter technology and has done so for the last two years and uses it in a number of ways - including for shifting cows four times a day, rather than two. Calving generally starts on August 1. The system is rather intensive, milking twice a day right up until dry off, in early June. He enjoys being a one man band and says it gives him the opportunity to make decisions fast and see the results of them at face value; something he says has helped him to learn quickly what works and what does not. “Initially we started off with fewer cows, when we did have more cropping on this land. We put in in-shed feeding about two years ago and that is working very well for us, it allows us to use a higher quality feed which enable the younger animals to reach their potential.” The overall FMG Young Farmer of the Year Award national winner will be announced in July in Invercargill. Judges were impressed at Justin’s grasp of dairy farming and overall, his positive attitude to the work and dedication to learning more on farm each season.
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