20 | nzdairy DAIRY AWARDS » Blake Gordon Change of career a worthwhile decision Sue Russell Keen on a career change Blake Gordon moved from being a butcher to farmer, working initially taking care of 800 cows as a farm assistant at Dunsandel, next to a neighbouring farm his wife Ashleigh co managed 1000cows. Today Blake is in his second year managing sharemilker Jeremy Duckmanton’s 1000 cow dairy herd at a farm owned by Murray Marshall in Lauriston, inland and south of the Rakaia River in Canterbury. The farm has an effective footprint of 235ha and is irrigated through a combination of centre pivot and K-line. The milking power-house is a 80-bail Waikato milking plant. “The herd is predominantly Friesian producing over 500,000 kgMS a season. I am enjoying using the technology we have available and we’re always looking for new ways to ne tune our system to get the most out of our cows,” says Blake. Jeremy has had the herd for 10 years now and each season there’s still the ability to access genetic gain through mating. An 80 bail rotary is 12 years old this season Blake says it’s a great shed to work in and extremely ef cient for the amount of cows put through. “It’s centrally located on the farm which works well for the herd walking and the shed only needs one person milking.” The Waikato plant includes automatic cup removers and drafting and recently All ex collars have been attached to the cows. These collars provide vital additional information on animal health in three key areas: 1) Rumination of the cow, with any changes in the cow coming through into a health report. Any cow exhibiting changes will be automatically drafted for staff to assess. 2) Premating use to target those cows ready for mating and 3) Monitoring cycling before the mating date, again automatically drafting out cows identi ed in this category. “I know they’re worth the expense. We saved easily 200 hours in labour time over mating alone. At crucial times it gives you more work to do through calving but over all it is de nitely a positive technology to have.” Blake describes the cows as very well structured and the stocking rate on the farm is quite high. Signi cant feed is supplied with 1150kgDM per cow, of supplement budgeted for the season Next season Blake and Ash are moving up to sole manage a newly purchased Dairy unit in Valetta owned and sharemilked by the same employers which will enable the couple to buy in and move their own farming business goals forward a signi cant step. “I think that I’ve been really fortunate with the employers I have had so far and having good relationships takes you a long way forward in farming.” This year Blake entered the Dairy Manager category of the Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Industry Awards. He came third and said the experience was great for benchmarking his capabilities. “You receive a judging criteria in the preliminary rounds. Things like Health & Safety, Bio-Security are discussed as well as a 20 minute presentation followed by a farm tour explaining your procedures on farm. I enjoyed that experience.” Blake says the judging process is about discovering your own personal point of view and having the ability to justify why you are managing the farm the way you do. He received two merit awards. Pasture and feed management award and Fontera Dairy Management Award and thoroughly recommends the experience to others wanting to get a sense of how they are progressing. This year, calving gets underway with heifers in July and the main herd by the beginning of August. Early and Lightest condition calvers were dried off 9th May, with the Remainder of the herd dried off based on body condition and calving date. Leading up to 1st of June. Blake’s 2IC is in his 5th season on the farm and a senior dairy assistant started just before he did. “We also have a young lad straight out of school working here and he’s doing well.” With the move to the new farm Blake has his full team ready for the next season and were all looking forward to the challenge “I’ll be looking at their work ethic and attitude and general willingness to pitch in because on a farm, in a team situation that’s really important.” All ex collars saved easily 200 hours in labour time over mating alone, says Blake Gordon (inset), who placed third in the Dairy Manager category of the Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Industry Awards. “You receive a judging criteria in the preliminary rounds. Things like Health & Safety, Bio-Security are discussed as well as a 20 minute presentation followed by a farm tour explaining your procedures on farm. I enjoyed that experience.” SLURRY SPREADING QUICK & COST EFFECTIVE M: 027 281 2089 E: matt@mattlovett.co.nz W: www.mattlovett.co.nz With fast productivity & rsthand knowledge, we can keep all types of slurry systems working e ciently SLURRY MUCK COMPOST Proud to support Jeremy Duckmanton & Blake Gordon The preferred milking systems partner for Dairy Farmers Ph 0800 577 583 | www.morrisonagri.co.nz Proud to support DMT Dairies
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=