22 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Jeremy Duckmanton and Blake Gordon Equity partnership arrangement working well Sue Russell It’s been two productive years since NZ Dairy last spoke with South Island dairy farmer Blake Gordon, who is progressing his dairying business toward eventual farm ownership, through staged and measured steps. Back then, Blake was managing the 235ha dairy unit for sharemilker Jeremy Duckmanton, running 930 cows and a team of four staff near Mt Somers. Since then, Blake has entered into an equity partnership arrangement with Jeremy on the same property. The mainly Friesian AI herd had peaked at 1030 and the decision was made to reduce this number by 100, a size Blake says works well for the farm and the farming system adopted. “We found it was just too many and 930 has proven to be our magic number so and grass silage we’re sticking to that.” When we spoke with Blake early July, the herd will still off-farm on winter breaks and the first group of heifers were arriving that day on the farm, signalling the start of a new season not too far away. “Our earliest calving cows will be dropping from 20th July and then it will be full-on from there.” Supplements provided to keep the herd fully fed and happy, including PK, grain barley and grass silage. “It’s common practice to put the high-energy feed into the early lactation, to really give the cow the best possible start,” says Blake. Allflex collars have two years to run under the current lease before any decisions regarding their continued use. The mainly Friesian AI herd had peaked at 1030. Specialising in Irrigation, Solar & Rural Electrical Services Mid Canterbury Phone: 03 489 3105 Email: greg@progressivelivestock.co.nz www.progressivelivestock.co.nz Progressive Livestock Ltd Proudly associated with Jeremy Duckmanton and Blake Gordon Since being introduced they’ve added valuable data and had a ver positive impact, supporting management decisions and enhancing performance. “They give me really hands-on key information in real-time across health indicators, heat detection and rumination data.” Other developments have been construction of new silage pads and when asked about the situation of the milking shed, Blake says if more land were to be purchased, then this may well influence putting in a new shed. “We have a 50 bale Milfox which performs well. We’ve also been focussing on reducing animal size somewhat from when the herd was first formed. There were some really big Friesians then.” Asked how many years he might expect in terms of good milk production from a cow, Blake says he’s still got some solidly performing 8-yearolds, with the odd over 10-year-old producing a good calf and milk each season. The equity arrangement Blake’s entered with Jeremy is a three-year arrangement, tied into the existing sharemilking agreement. Blake says these years working with Jeremy have given his farming business a solid step-up toward the goal of owning a farm one day. He doesn’t, however plan to move away from the district. “Eventually I’ll get to the point where the next step will be achievable, however we’re settled here and really love Methven; it’s a great community.” The herd’s calving window extends over 12 weeks, given that length of AI. Blake says that spread in weeks works well. “We’d be looking for ideally less of them calving later in that time-frame, but those that do calve in October, are generally a very good animal.” 0800 372 003 sales@robsons.nz robsonenvironmental.co.nz YOUR LOCAL EXPERTS IN DAIRY EFFLUENT DAIRY FARM EFFLUENT SPREADING DRY MUCK SPREADING HYDROVAC EXCAVATION LIQUID TRANSPORTATION GREASE TRAP EMPTYING SEPTIC TANK EMPTYING DRAIN JETTING
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