36 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Bruce Eade Bumper growing season for southern farms Russell Fredric A combination of sunshine and warmth interspersed with periodic rain has created a ripper of a season for many southern farms. This scenario is at odds with many of other provinces, some of which are in drought, with northern visitors commenting in February about the lush pastures they drove past on their way to the Southern Field Days near Gore. West Otago dairy farmer Bruce Eade is one who has relished in the conditions, while also being graced with a great maize crop, which has been music to his ears. “We’ve made three cuts of silage this year before we’d even made our second cut the same time the previous year. It’s been great for growing the wheat crop for whole crop silage so that was a bumper crop again this year, and we’ve actually got maize in this year as well for the first time. “We’re really excited about how that’s looking.” The farm has 17 hectares in maize. It has historically been regarded that maize cannot be successfully grown in Southland, however breakthroughs in seed technology have now made it possible. “It’s been the third year people have been growing it down here. It’s high energy feed for the cows, it’s looking pretty awesome. At the moment it’s over nine foot tall; we are very, very pleased with it. “We will give it three or four years and we will get an average to see what it’s like, but if it carries on like it has this year it will certainly be a staple of their diet going forward.” The Eade farm is a family business incorporating Fairleigh Ayrshire Stud. It covers 370 hectares of which the home farm is 250ha and a dry stock block across the road 120ha. Bruce is married to Tanya; his parents Ken and Nancy are still actively involved in the farm which split-calves and peak milks 550 cows comprising Holstein Friesian, Ayrshire and Jersey through a 40 a-side herringbone shed. The 5100sqm barn is large enough to house the entire herd of 550 cows when needed. For the past 13 years it has benefited from a 5100 square metre barn which is large enough to house the entire herd of 550 cows when needed. The farm has been running the split calving system for about 12 years and it is the barn that enables this, Bruce says. “We usually calve about 100 to 120 in the autumn from March to May and the balanced are calved in the spring.” A robotic feed pusher has been used since 2019, plus the cows have sported collars for three seasons. After starting with Ayrshires as the foundation herd, Ken and Nancy added Friesians in 1995 when the family moved to Kelso, while the Jerseys numbering only about 20, are regarded as a side project. “It’s actually a good proving ground for any breeds under the one umbrella in the same system and conditions,” Bruce says. The herd today has about 200 Ayrshires which continue to be a special breed to the family. 0800 SGTDAN (748326) Gorton Street, GORE Ph: 208 3965 E: admin@sgtdan.co.nz Proud to support Bruce Eade • Grassland Aerator • Soil Aerator/Cultivator • Auto Reset Aerator • Turf Aerator • Mole Plough • Dual Mole Plough • Pre-ripper • Super Ripper • Subsoilers • Super Subsoilers Tipper • Dual • Pipe Laying • Baleage Tow Hitch We Specialise in Phone: 03 207 1837 www.jamesengineering.co.nz 021 468 954 MurrayEarthworks | Proudly supporting BRUCE EADE for all your farm/fencing needs Phone Jason - 0274 392 838 | A/H 03 207 2611 › Ploughing › Discing › Power Harrows › Roller Drill › Aerating › Baling › Direct Drilling › Individual Wrapping › Tube Wrapping › Mowing CLELAND CONTRACTING 2005 Ltd Because the genetic pool of the Ayrshires is relatively small, it is harder to find sires, plus there has been a history in their herd of a lower percentage of heifers in the progeny than they would like in recent years, Bruce says. However, they are hardy animals, great foragers, are not prone to lameness and have good longevity in the herd. “They are still eating at lunchtime while the others might be sitting down. They’re a good medium size animal and they’d be the toughest of the breeds we have here, easy care; there are very few lame Ayrshire cows.” DOMESTIC INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURAL For pumps that offer excellence in both performance and construction … the spring of life EUROPEAN ENGINEERED EXCELLENCE
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