| 3 nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Acer Properties Ltd The large volume of milk that went into the vat last season – 425,000kgMS – was underpinned by the favourable forecast. Russell Fredric Family farm Acer Properties which milks 600 Friesian cows at Putaruru had its best ever milk production last season. The 190 hectare farm is an equity partnership between Angela Rose and her son James and his wife Rosie. Angela’s husband Colin passed away at the age of 60 in 2017 at a time when James and Rosie had been on the farm as lower order sharemilkers and we were going through a succession process when Colin became ill. The large volume of milk that went into the vat last season – 425,000kgMS – was underpinned by the favourable forecast and actual farmgate payout which enabled running a system five operation with plenty of supplementary feed, along with the growing 45 hectares of maize. “That was our best by a long way,” James says. The per cow production of 685 kilograms represented 115% of their body weight. “The cows have probably always been capable of that but the conditions around cost of feed and the payout last year really made it worthwhile to pump the feed into them. The last four or five years we would have been a system four, but last season we were well into the system five range; it was a suitable season for it.” Imported feed comprised palm kernel extract, soybean meal, kibbled maize, and wheat straw. “It [straw] helps with rumination, helps to slow everything down in the gut with digestion. Gone from a system four to five • to page 5 Servicing and maintaining any brand of platforms and installing new Waikato Milking System rotary platforms. Two branches who cover the whole of the North Island. Matamata & Inglewood 0800 662 6455 www.moamilking.co.nz
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