40 | nzdairy Milking is a year-round activity here With a predominantly Friesian herd Paul says there’s huge demand for progeny. Sue Russell Paul and Rosie Franklin own a substantial farming business, centred around dairying and dry stock operations in central Hawkes Bay. Home base is in Ongaonga, some 20km west of Waipawa and similar distance from Waipukurau. In all the farming operations spans 2200ha across three owned dairy farms, three run-offs and two leased runoffs and has a split calving herd of 4,500 milking cows. Milking is a year-round activity with approximately a third of the herd calving in autumn. The last time NZ Dairy spoke with Paul he was recoiling from the huge disruption caused by a bridge on giving away during Cyclone Gabrielle. “After all this time, and dealing with two Councils, nothing has happened. I’ve got another meeting later this week, but not holding out a lot of hope that substantial progress on reinstating the bridge will move forward,” said Paul, in late July. And when considering that cows and staff have to cross the river Paul says it’s a real frustration as well as a staff welfare issue. One solution, he says, would be for Regional Council, who are responsible for the river, to get in some containers, cut some holes in them and fill them with gravel. On the dairy units, Paul says, autumn was quite challenging impacting pasture growth and causing him to source some local grazing to keep the weight and condition on the cows. With such a large operation, staffing is an important priority. About 20 Filipinos are engaged and the staffing complement is full. Paul has also engaged a person to oversee the dairy operations, leaving Paul freer to concentrate on the dry stock All heifers are synchronised and mated to sexed Friesian semen to support ease of calving. A Jersey bull is put out to the remainder main herd. “Our heifers are just about through calving and our cows are just starting with quite a compact calving window. Collars have proven to be really useful. Our herd is mainly Friesian in genetic make up.” The emphasis is to try to rear everything that is worth rearing. With a predominantly Friesian herd Paul says there’s huge demand for progeny. Calves are reared through to 120-140kg and then sold. “We certainly try to minimise the number of bobby-calves. Regulations governing care of all calves reared and bobby calves are very clear, centred around ensuring they are well fed and housed appropriately. We take these responsibilities seriously and so do the stock transporting companies.” Bobby calves have to be fed well before leaving the farm and when they are picked up after a calving beat they are held in a separate pen and fed DAIRY PEOPLE » Paul and Rosie Franklin - Calf Rearing first thing in the morning after being brought in. Paul says calving for a portion of the heifers on one particular farm hasn’t gone so well and he’ll be attempting to understand the cause of this. The aim is to become more and more self- sufficient and to facilitate this, another lease block has come into the operation. He describes Hawke’s Bay as boom or bust depending on rainfall. He’s future-proofed dependence on what falls out of the sky with a storage dam capable of holding 500,000 cubic metres. Feed pads provide an opportunity to give the pasture time to recover and all the dry cows are wintered off the dairy platform. “I think with dairy farming you have to be open to considering every option to secure the business 49-51 Takapau Road, Waipukurau, Central Hawke’s Bay 06 858 9109 manager@millshonda.co.nz We are proud to support Paul Franklin from volatility of the market we operate in, to the uncertainties the climate presents. Above all, I farm the way I want to farm because you have to enjoy what you’re doing.” At this stage in their farming journey Paul says he’s stepping back into more a governance role. As a result, it’s given others an opportunity to grow their own farming careers and shoulder more responsibilities, which Paul says, is a good thing for the future of the industry. For all your dairy livestock requirements contact Brownie: Phone: 027 271 4722 Email: sandfly1@xtra.co.nz Proud to support Paul & Rosie Franklin 06 374 9999 386 High Street, Dannevirke Dairy Supplies &Servicing, 24 hours - 7 days Milking Machine Sales & Service Water Pumps Water Filtration fromHousehold to Entire Farm StockWater Systems New& Servicing Engineering, Machining - Repairs, Manufacturing & Solutions Electrical - Commercial & Agricultural
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