100 | nzdairy ON FARM » Astra Farms Move into sheep milking was a good call Ewes still milking strongly in April this year. Inset: Chicory, plantain and clover is the mainstay of the feed. Russell Fredric Converting part of their bovine dairy farm to a sheep milking operation has been a good move for Allan and Toni Browne, despite a significant hiccup this season. Late February Maui Milk sent a stop milking notice its suppliers due to the after effects of the covid pandemic, plus the current global economy which affected supply and demand, creating a liquidity pinch. Farmers had no choice to dry off their sheep two months early. Fortunately, by May the situation was largely resolved and Allan and Toni are now looking forward to a normal season for 2024/25, but the loss of income still hurts. “They are completely current with us now. They have fully sold their inventory and they’re ready to start processing again next season,” Allan says. The couple have a 570 hectare property near Cambridge that supports bovine and ovine milking and dry stock operations. The farm’s 450 cows are milked on 160ha and its 1600 ewes on 60ha. Of the balance of the farm, 20ha grows maize for silage, while the hill country fattens the lambs for the dairy sheep. Despite the shock of having to dry off the sheep early, this side of the business is proving successful when measured in terms of milk in the vat and profit per hectare, Allan says. “The performance of the sheep dairy is way higher than we ever expected. We had to replace our vat in the first year. It wasn’t big enough and the sheep we’ve got have been cranking out an extraordinary amount.” The flock varies from 50% to 75% Lacaune with the balance being Coopworth. “We lamb in August and go through to [mid] April milking.” In addition to their regular pasture-based feed, the sheep get 400 grams of whole maize twice-aday in the milking shed, with milking taking twoand-a-half hours for two people. Allan describes the first season milking the sheep as energy sapping, but the management of the stock and the overall system has improved year-on-year, with the results showing in equally improved production which has been 20% higher each season. A particularly disappointing part of having to dry the sheep off early was that production at that point had surpassed that of the previous season which meant the balance of the milking would have truly been the cream of the production. “That gives you an idea of how much milk’s coming out of them.” Because most of the sheep genetically are predisposed to an indoor system, there is a focus on making them more resilient to living outdoors. The farm’s gross income per hectare is about 50% higher than off the cow platform and Allan believes this equates to about 25% more nett, but this is variable each season while there is a lot more work involved in artificially rearing thousands of lambs. “Even now this hiccup has been, I’m still pleased to be involved with it, I’m really positive about the future. There’s a lot more work going into the marketing side now apart from just making milk powder for infant formula; both sheep milk companies are exploring a lot more avenues.” Your Farm Animal Health Professionals Proud to provide a full range of veterinary services for Astra Farms Mon-Wed 8am - 7pm | Thurs-Fri 8am - 5pm | Sat 9am - 12.30pm | Sun 9am - 12pm Empire Street 24 Hour Service 827 7099 or 0800 226 838 www.cambridgevets.co.nz
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