60 | nzdairy “We introduced Cow Manager’ ear-tags to move with the technology around cow health and heat detection and two, to improve six week in calf rate to increase productivity of the herd and reduce staff fatigue over calving.” Tawa Ridge moving with the times Sue Russell DAIRY PEOPLE » Tawa Ridge Farms Christine Stevens and Chris Haworth have worked diligently through their farming journey, seizing opportunities as these have presented. Today, the couple own four dairy farms and lease an additional 300 ha dry stock unit. All bar one of the dairy farms are in Kaharoa, near Rotorua, while the other dairy farm is in Okoroire, between Tirau and Matamata. In all, 2000 cows are milked across the four dairy units, with each farm having its own manager responsible for staff and day to day management. The dry stock operation also has a full-time farm manager. Concentrating on improving genetics has been a focus and Chris and Chris have spent considerable time these past few years improving the herds. “Our goals are still to increase the breeding/production worth of the herd and have always targeted being in the upper quartile on a national basis. We’re going to change our breeding programme slightly to include Forward Pack Kiwi-cross to give us a bigger jump in the breeding worth. The cows will get slightly smaller to be a more ef cient animal while still having the capacity to achieve high per cow production,” Chris explains. Last year sexed semen was introduced over the top portion of the herd. “We were probably a little cautious and ended up with more replacements than we needed, so now we are doing slightly less. We have been mating the bottom 10% of the herd to Hereford and we’re aiming to reduce late calvers as well, using short gestation semen.” Last year to con rm the actual weight of cows a selection was weighed. Thinking that they would come in at around 500kg the actual weights were closer to 550kg. Chris points out that when environmental impact is taken into consideration that the balance between live weight and ef ciency needs to be a focus. Normally 500 heifers are retained as replacements across the total herd, however at this time that gure is 650. This will provide the opportunity to leap again in genetic worth by having a larger pool of animals to select the best heifers from to enter the herd and hopefully allowing the freedom to make the best decisions when culling. When calves have been anaesthetised for dehorning, the opportunity is taken to also take an James with Alvin Perez ,the Tawa Ridge Assistant Manager. ear punch sample to send to LIC through their GeneMark programme which assesses calf parentage to provide farmers with valuable insight into herd quality and inform future decisions. ‘Cow Manager’ ear-tags have been introduced across two farms to keep abreast of the information that wearables can give with animal management. “We did this for three key reasons. One, to move with the technology around cow health and heat detection and two, to improve six week in calf rate to increase productivity of the herd and reduce staff fatigue over calving. If we want to see all this genetic gain, then Cow Manager is another tool to assist with on farm performance. It also helps us assess rumination health and the effect of feed input.” Constant reinvestment in the business in upgrading infrastructure is vital with ef uent upgrades occurring of late. Improvements to races, tanker tracks, on farm milk quality and staff housing have also been targeted in the budgets. While a lot of the processes and systems on each of the dairy farms are alike, the breeding programme is tuned to each farm herd’s speci c situation. The couple live at Highview farm, overlooking the three farms in Kaharoa which run together but are well managed by the staff there. Hi View Farm is managed by Praneeth Mallawa Arachchige, from Sri Lanka, Tawa Ridge Farm by Paul Doughty and Te Motu Farm by Denis Anderson. Farm Manager Mark Jeynes on the Okoroire property 35 minutes away runs this farm as if it were his own and they pretty much leave him to get on with the job. The farm is very well presented, and he and the team are doing a great job. Working on the farm these past two years is son James a successful Engineer in his own right. • to page 61 WE AREMORE THAN JUSTMILKING SPECIALISTS with 24/7 Service Feel free to call in, visit our shop and discuss any requirements you have in regards to your dairy shed. DeLaval Service and Support milking solutions Ph 07 348 3628 19 White Street, Rotorua www.abcmilkingsolutions.co.nz Milking Machines Dairy Consumables Machine Tests Davey Supplier Trenching DeLaval InService (Preventative Maintenance) McConnel Backing Gates Water Pumps & Fittings E uent Systems Bore Lifts Irrigation Services Reid & Harrison Rotorua Ph 348 0627 CERTIFYING PLUMBERS, GASFITTERS & DRAINLAYERS Water Tanks & Filtration Repairs & Maintenance Renovations New Homes office@plumbermanrotorua.co.nz No8HR congratulates Chris & the team at Tawa Ridge Farms on their on-going innovations & success 07 870 4901 info@no8hr.co.nz www.no8hr.co.nz • HR - lead your teamwell, and stay compliant • Recruitment - find & get the right people into your business • Leadership development - maximise the performance of your team& business • Payroll - let us take away the headache, and give you the confidence your payroll is right every time. 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