94 | nzdairy Bespoke solutions for each farm When people ask Bryan McKay, the Managing Director of Dairy Production Systems (DPS), what his business does, he says it is simply about helping his clients achieve their farm goals by offering bespoke solutions tailored to each farm, each location and each farmer. Established in 2000 by Bryan and his partner Elizabeth Dillon, both veterinarians, DPS is a dairy farm consultancy that puts the spotlight on efficiency, and places the cow at the very heart of the dairy operation. “Thinking about dairy farming as a productive processing industry, you take the resources and you turn them into food to sell. Within that complex system, the central processing unit (CPU) is the cow, and we try to get that CPU as efficient and ‘cow fit’ as we possibly can. When we work with our farmers it’s about resource efficiency and ensuring the cow is performing to her optimum efficiency.” Bryan acknowledges that to optimise efficiency, the cow does not exist in isolation, and is impacted by everything around her including land, people, infrastructure, and the availability and presentation of high-quality forage/feed. “We talk about ‘milking cow fitness’, which revolves around certain aspects of the cow. From a metabolic point of view, she’s an amazing beast. Her liver makes 1.8 to 2.7 kilos of glucose a day, she has to produce 500 litres off milk to flow through her udder for every one litre of milk she makes, so her heart is massive. She walks 3 – 6 kilometres each day, and she can process up to 140 kilograms of food a day - and that’s wet weight. Richard Loader Established in 2000 by Bryan and his partner Elizabeth Dillon, both veterinarians, DPS is a dairy farm consultancy. DAIRY SERVICES » Dairy Production Systems Ltd So, we focus on getting that cow Olympic fit, with all the support structures that our top athletes have, and we end up having a very efficient system. Our farmers understand that if they treat their cows well, if they keep them happy and healthy, if they keep them comfortable and well fed, then those cows last a long time. They are more likely to get in calf and less likely to get sick. We train farmers how to interpret cow signals. She will tell you how she’s feeling if you know how to observe her. These farms are running 30% to 40% more efficiently than the average New Zealand dairy farm.” While the core of DPS’s customers are dairy farmers, there are also a few deer and goat farmers on the client list, with consulting work provided to the broader dairy industry sector including feed providers, service providers and dairy processing companies. Providing consultancy services from Northland to Southland, the DPS team is based in Tamahere, on the outskirts of Cambridge, conveniently located close to the airport for when Bryan visits South Island farmers. “We normally do a half day visit to a farm, and each visit would be two – four hours long and we might do anything from two – four visits to a farm a year. There’s also remote back up, but there’s nothing like being on-farm and looking at the cows. One of the first things that I do when I visit a farm is identify what the farmer’s goals are. That ranges from lifestyle and more time with family, to production goals, assisting with kent@thefeedstore.co.nz @thefeedstorenz www.thefeedstore.co.nz Sick of the same old bull ? call The Feed Fella today for your supplement requirements 027 440 9300 The Feed Store is in the business of making the search and supply of supplementary feed easy for farmers, scouring the country, sourcing hay and straw feed products for farmers in need, complemented with a door-to-door logistics service. At the heart of the New Plymouth based business is Kent Hancock, who has an extensive background in sales and logistics. As a business name, The Feed Store Limited is freshly minted this year, but as a business operation it has been progressively built up by Kent and his partner Kestelle over several years. “We owned an independent grocery business in New Plymouth called The Store Westown and as a hobby I bought and sold straw and hay to farmers, then organised the logistics. More and more people heard that I was selling straw and hay, and I got busier and busier, until it became much more than just a hobby.” With the grocery store sold, it was time to step things up and The Feed Store was born. From the rolling hills of Waikato to the lush fields of Canterbury, Kent has valued contacts with agricultural contractors, along with numerous logistics companies throughout New Zealand, enabling him to look after the needs of farmers and growers from the top to the bottom of the country. “Our core customer base is anyone requiring hay, straw, baleage or logistics, including dairy; sheep and beef farmers; strawberry farmers; garden centres; zoo’s; feed store outlets and even home gardeners. Our range of feed products include meadow hay, ryegrass straw, barley straw, wheat straw, lucerne hay, red clover hay, grass baleage and pea straw for the gardeners. We scour New Zealand to find the absolute cream of the crop.” For The Feed Store, word of mouth is proving to be a valuable source of growth for the new business. “While it has all been about word of mouth, we are now developing a website along with other social media that will enhance the profile of The Feed Store. We will have a website available for farmers to order feed, but if their preference is to pick up the phone and have a chat that is fine to. We pride ourselves on providing top quality products and are committed to exceeding customer expectations to become their trusted feed provider. Where you need it, when you need it
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