8 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Alastair Neville and Tamzyn Coady The couple are interested in the DairyNZ seven-year Resilient Pastures programme, which is investigating alternative pasture species. Karen Phelps For Reporoa dairy farmers Alastair Neville and his fiancée Tamzyn Coady, finding pasture that can keep performing through increasingly variable weather is vital to their farming operation. The couple became interested in the DairyNZ seven-year Resilient Pastures programme, which is investigating alternative pasture species and management practices that could improve productivity and persistence on farms, after hearing about it as a discussion group and decided to take part. “It appeals to us as cropping and re-grassing is a big part of our dairy farm operation and we are always chasing pasture that not only performs but persists as well,” says Alastair. The Nevilles’ trial site contains three different pasture mixes. One paddock is planted in the traditional ryegrass and white clover combination used on many New Zealand dairy farms. The other two feature alternative species - one containing tall and meadow fescue and the other cocksfoot and white clover. Alastair says the fescue and cocksfoot-based pastures are being tested because the species are bred to be more drought tolerant, an important consideration for the Central Plateau where conditions can become dry. The paddocks were sown in May this year and have already had their first grazing with a light class of autumn-born calves. From here the trial pastures will be managed as normal paddocks within the dairy farm’s grazing rotation. Pasture yield is being monitored using a plate meter before and after grazing with the information sent to DairyNZ for analysis. “The potential for an El Niño weather pattern, which could bring challenging conditions for pasture growth, could be a real test for it,” says Alastair. “What we want to see is a higher performing and higher yielding pasture without having to renew it every year - more like three to five years.” The first field day was held on the Nevilles’ farm in May with a second scheduled for later this year around preparation before pasture renovation and how to help build a resilient pasture. The couple currently milks 315 Friesian cows on the Neville family’s 150 hectare farm which has been in the family since the early 1950s when Alastair’s grandfather received it as a WW2 ballot farm. Alastair took over the farm while he was studying for his Agri-Science degree at Massey University. A recent change is that they are now leasing the farm progressing from 50:50 sharemilking. Pasture that can keep performing is key Kaikohe 401 1536 Kerikeri 407 7354 Waipapa 401 6654 Kawakawa 404 0842 “It’s part of the farm succession plan of moving towards farm ownership. It’s given us more control over what we do on the farm.” A significant change came four years ago with the investment in Halter collar technology, which has revolutionised their farming practices. It’s saved time, reduced the need for another labour unit, reduced animal health issues and the virtual fencing technology has also improved reproductive performance. “Since we’ve had the collars our mating performance has got better and we can manage it more proactively. Using the collar data has also been helping for feeding and nutrition.” They are also a trial farm for the development of the MyCOW app. “It gives us a dashboard indicator as to how well we are meeting the cows’ nutritional needs. It’s done by integrating the collar data and milk production data from Fonterra. Every week we sit down and review and decide what dietary changes we need to make to get everything balanced so the cows are performing at their peak.” Last season they achieved 158,100kgsMS up from 130,000kgsMS the season before. Alastair says the significant jump was caused by paying more attention to nutrition, including bringing a nutritionist on board, Shaun Baleni. The target this season is 165,000kgsMS.
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