NZ Dairy Winter 2021

Building healthy soils, healthy farms and healthy profits Does producing 25,000 more kilograms of milk solids from the same herd in three years, resulting in considerable increases in pro itability, sound exciting? These are precisely the types of results that Qlabs has helped an organic dairy farmer achieve through signi icant soil, plant, and animal health breakthroughs. "It's about helping farmers to farm proactively rather than reactively. If they know what is going on with their soil and plant health, they are always one step ahead. At Qlabs, we aim to be the ambulance at the top of the cli rather than the bottom," says company owner Ray Burr. Ray, an ex dairy farmer, is a case in point. Using the Qlabs testing and recommendations on his dairy unit and seeing the sizable results he was achieving led him to eventually stop farming and buy the business to help other farmers get the same results. On his farm, in three years, he was able to eliminate inductions, CIDRs and downer cows, reduce his cows’ mating period from 24 weeks to ten weeks, reduce mastitis from 5 15 cows a week to 16 a year, increase peak production per cow by six litres and reduce urea use from 150kg/ha/year in three applications to one application of 50kg/ha/year on one-third of the farm. These achievements equated to an increased cash low of around $250,000 each year. Qlabs achieves astonishing results, such as these, by working directly with primary producers providing personalised and accurate solutions, building healthy soils, healthy farms and healthy pro its. The company’s system is designed to test, through their laboratory, the two primary components of the client's farm system - the soil and the plant. "The test results will provide critical information, allowing adjustments to be made proactively. From these reports fertiliser, feed and nutritional programmes can be individually designed to suit speci ic systems - organic or conventional," explains Ray. He says that Qlabs recognises that organic farmers have speci ic requirements, and just because a farm is organic doesn't mean it is being farmed sustainably. As an independent company that doesn't supply any products, Qlabs can give truly independent advice. "We're not driven by selling product. We're driven by giving accurate advice," says Ray. "As a farmer I was always frustrated by people explaining things to me in a way that made no sense, so all Qlabs advice and reporting is given to farmers in their language. I believe there is a huge untapped potential for New Zealand organic farming. Organic farmers can achieve a triple bottom line: - decreasing environmental impact, meeting consumer expectations, and increasing farm pro its.” Test, don’t guess! Get your soils and feeds tested Proactive farming - makes $$ Reactive farming - costs $$ Call 0800 85 77 33 today