NZ Dairy Winter 2021

| 99 nz dairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Whakatohea: Josh Collier In-shed feed system timely upgrade Richard Loader J osh Collier has farming in his bones, with par- ents, uncles and grandparents all working on the land. His grandparents had a dairy, sheep and beef unit in Opotiki. Time spent overseas provided Josh with new experiences, and on his return he started dairy farming on a farm in his home town for a couple of years before heading to the South Island for 13 years. “I tried different farming while down south, even a stint as a pig farmer,” says Josh. He also used those years to pursue his love of Rugby, playing representative level for North Otago. Josh has been at Whakatohea dairy unit “Te Riu O Kanapanapa”, an Iwi owned dairy farm for eight years now and he’s happy to be back on familiar soil. “When I first moved home I was looking after the shed. The Iwi farm is straight dairy with an effective platform of 196ha.” A support block situated in the Motu district is where all replacement stock is reared from 100kg as well as the 400 beef calves reared on the dairy unit each spring. Josh says the business is probably one of the bigger dairy units for the district, with a 730 pre- dominantly friesian herd. “We’ve been using LIC kiwi-cross bulls across our heifers for the past three years, this has given us more replacement heifer calves and also our genetic gain is slightly quicker,” Josh says. He feels the herd is producing well and one focus for Josh since taking up the managers role has been to improve the empty rate, which is currently tracking at around 9% historically sitting around 18-20% for many years. The cows this season are on target to produce 420kgMS/cow and around 1530KgMs/Ha “Our empty rate has improved since we have adopted a no carry over cow policy and we’re able to more selectively choose our cows to cull in SCC and production.” Working with Josh is a team of three full-time farm workers, Jordan Collier, Fred Collier and Motunui Wharepapa along with Tutiaki Wharepapa who is the head calf rearer and who also steps in to relief milk when needed. Calving is due to get underway on 15 July with a nine-week go to wo span. Josh says one of the key reasons he’s enjoying his managers role is the underpinning support he receives from his board and also farm advisor Mark Johnstone. “It’s also something special to be working for your own Iwi.” Recently the board decided to invest in a new in-shed feeding system, having looked at three or four different options. They went with PPP industries who have been around for many years and it was that history that influenced the decision the most. With the loss of a lease block, the decision to buy the plant became more critical. “When we lost the lease block we were con- cerned about how we were going to feed our cows from summer to the end of the milking season.” Next to the cow-shed are two 25 tonne silos and inside the milking plant are two feed heads. Through Spring a blend of 2kg PKE and 2kg kibbled maize from the start of calving until the end of A.I in mid November. Then its back to straight PKE until December. From January the cows are fed a blend of 70% PKE, 15% Corn DDGS and 15% Corn Gluten. “We’ve just migrated Protrack to the Cloud which makes the system much more user-friendly.” Further changes will be around future-proofing effluent storage and systems. Through calving a 6 on 1 off – 5 on 2 off roster works well, giving everyone enough down-time while prior to mating the team works to a 11 on 3 off allowing for everyone to have a sleep in every three days. From January the team does three milkings over two days, which Josh says is great for staff and cows with more flexible hours of work and less pressure on the cows through the heat of summer. Proudly supporting Whakatohea Trust For all your Grass, Silage, Maize and Hay needs 07 315 4721 | 027 283 2212 | whitescontracting@xtra.co.nz www.rmt.co.nz E. dispatch@ rmt.co.nz P. 07 315 6454 (Opotiki Depot ) Proud to supply logistics and transport solutions to Whakatohea Trust Farms. Farm manager Josh Collier has been at Whakatohea dairy unit, an Iwi-owned dairy farm, for eight years. 0274 749 813 / 07 315 4613 admin@wbeltd.co.nz Opotiki EARTHMOVERS LIMITED BOOM SPRAYING • SPRAY CONTRACTING Proud to be a part of the Whakatohea Venture BLACK ROBIN CONTRACTING LTD OPOTIKI / EASTERN B.O.P PHONE LUKE WHITE: 027 661 1441