| 81 nzdairy Farmers want more weight after grazing Motivated by his personal experience which included grazing sheep and cattle, Warren Davey established Waikatobased Dairy Grazing Ltd in 2007. Warren saw the benefits that could be provided through a professional grazing management service that would take the role away from dairy farmers and allow them to concentrate more on other aspects of their business. Central to the management that Dairy Grazing Ltd provides is measuring and managing weight gain, Warren says. “How that works is that farmers pay so much per month per kilo of weight gain. We also take full charge of the transport, drenching, animal health, we weigh them every four to six weeks so they know where they are at, at the time. “If there’s a drought, we organise other feed such as silage or palm kernel so they can go home at the correct weight.” The company’s largest client grazes 1200 heifers and weaners, but most graze around 500 to 900. A consistent trend Warren has noticed is farmers are wanting higher weights when the grazing period is completed, based on the thinking “the bigger the animal that comes home the better it’s going to milk” which Warren agrees with. “We used to have a client that had really high weights they wanted, and they reckoned they milked like a second calver instead of a first calver if they came home with a certain weight; they find they are easier to get back in calf.” Good target weights are typically around 500 plus kilograms for a Friesian or about 380kg to 410kg for a Jersey with crossbreed weights in the region of 430kg to 450kg and a body condition score of 5.5. New winter grazing regulations means more monitoring is required, but there is less traditional winter grazing on crop than there previously was. “There’s a lot more split herd calving now so a lot of farming systems have changed.” There has also been an increase of in-shed feed systems and covered barns. For anyone considering managed grazing, Dairy Grazing Ltd assesses the property, how many heifers can be grazed and creates a detailed management plan. If needed, staff will do more frequent checks in the first few weeks to make sure everything is on track, including weighing the stock every two weeks. “After that we put them back on to a month to six weeks weighing.” There is good demand for grazing because it provides steady monthly cash flow throughout the season which, not surprisingly, is favoured by banks. Russell Fredric Central to the management that Dairy Grazing Ltd provides is measuring and managing weight gain. DAIRY SERVICES » Dairy Grazing Ltd TE AKAU TRANSPORT LTD 07 825 4805 / 07 826 3666 office@teakautransport.nz LIVESTOCK - FERTILISER AGLIME - METAL - ANIMAL FEED SUPPLIED & DELIVERED Proud to partner with farmers like Warren Davey to achieve great results. i li i l . Whatawhata & Gordonton 07 210 4562 Dairy Grazing Ltd also has bulls available for leasing which are a combination of stock owned by the company and ones owned by clients. These comprise Jersey, Friesian, Hereford, and Angus bulls, either yearling or two-year-olds. All Bulls are TB, BVD virus antigen, and Leptospirosis tested within 30 days of mating. Because a limited supply of bulls is available so booking early is recommended. The past season has been a good one for the company’s graziers who are mainly in southern Waikato or King Country and, with an abundance of feed grown from consistent rainfall, supplementary feed has not been required. “Dairy Grazing Limited takes great pride in returning profitable heifers to the milking platform.”
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