A big aim at Driffield Farming Ltd is to run at peak performance and at a sustainable cost level. A critical part of that productivity and sustainability equation is the people factor – and looking after people has been the major driver in the decision to install Tru-Test Active Collars across both its Mossburn farms.
Chris Brander, GM for Driffield Farming, oversees two adjoining 400Ha high performing and low input farms in Northern Southland. On a day-to-day basis, the farms employ ten staff in total on the dairy side: a manager, a 2IC and three dairy assistants on each farm. They run 1050 Kiwi Cross cows through 54 bail Rotary sheds and additional staff help with maintenance, young stock, and the nearby runoff.
Chris says the two farms are quite heavy and not typical of the district. They generally don’t lack for water and can have tough conditions coming into the Winter and the Spring into mating. Each shed does 500kgs per cow of milk solids per season with very little input. They run a predominantly grass based operation, with about 600kg in-shed feeding. Cows winter in two herd homes or cycle through the runoff. When the team at Driffield Farms were scouting out a heat detection solution, they weren’t looking to enhance their reproductive performance. “We weren’t looking at increasing anything,” says Chris. “We were just looking to see if we could take the human factor out – and replace it. We were really trying to replicate what we were already doing.” A solid loyal crew of long-term skilled staff had become an envious challenge for Driffield. Post Covid, Chris expected some level of staff attrition and knew they needed to manage workflow when domestic travel was reinstated while the international borders remained closed for dairy workers.
After one season with the Tru-Test Active Collars, reproductive performance was to the exact percentage on both farms to what they had done the previous year. Submission rates were 88-89% in the first 3 weeks the mid-70s for six-week calf rate, and a decent empty rate around 9-11 percent. “For us it was bang on with what we wanted. We were pretty confident we were doing the right job. We wanted to replicate what we were currently doing. It was more about taking pressure off the team, especially management team – to have those guys working on the business but not stuck inside of it.” “It’s been pleasing to know we were on the mark for really good mating practice – and it’s great to see how we are doing through mating and know our empty rate before we do a pregnancy test and having to wait another week.” Looking ahead, Chris thinks they might cut out a mid-pregnancy test altogether and just run off the Active Collars, then check up at the end.
VIABLE ENJOYABLE WORK
An over-engineered collar that would reduce staff levels wasn’t part of the Driffield agenda. Rather than reducing work and struggling to find multiple part timers, Chris says it makes good business and community sense to provide full time jobs. Tru-Test Active Collars were the cost-effective solution that could deliver reliable accurate heat detection to lessen stress while helping to keep dairy farming interesting, enjoyable, and attractive. “The collars have delivered exactly what we were looking for,” says Chris.
FRONT FOOTING FATIGUE
Before the Tru-Test Active Collars, heat detection at Driffield Farms was manual. Tail paint and keen expert eyes in the shed. But managing two large herds, long hours, and days on end without a break doesn’t make for a pleasant or sustainable operation. In any case, Chris says that times are changing. “When you have someone on the stand, whether it is the manager or the 2IC for long periods, especially with staffing issues, there’s a concern of ‘what could have occurred’. You don’t want to have your guys on the stand for six weeks. With the Tru-Test Active Collars we were trying to front foot all those concerns.”
WORKING ON THE BUSINESS NOT IN THE BUSINESS
Confidence in the Tru-Test Active Collars has allowed the farm managers to step out of the shed. “Four or five hours a day keeping an eye on heats on each farm, it just draws your decision makers into a spot where they can’t run a high-level farm to where it should be.” “Now, we’ve been able to run a lot more efficiently. The collars have freed up time for those guys who are making decisions on farm – and I’m sure the four hours they’ve been out of the shed has been put to a better cause.” Good decisions are already reaping benefits in mating decisions, tighter calving, and safer operations. Last year the teams did five to six weeks of AI followed by bulls for each herd. This year, with the Tru-Test Active Collars taken the stress out of heat detection, they went straight through with AI for 11 and a half weeks. Instead of bulls, they did two weeks of Charolais as a marker in weeks 7-8 and finished up with short gestation for the last three and a half weeks they brought our calving dates forward with short gestation semen rather than the standard bulls which Chris says have a longer calving period and the tail wags to late October. There’s full control and certainty of the sire whether its beef or short gestation – and a big plus for Chris has been cutting out the worry of injury. “Guys getting knocked over in the yard by a bull is probably the biggest fear when it’s dark,” he says. “Bulls, from a health and safety point of view, are just a nightmare. Completely unpredictable. We put some bulls in with the penicillin cows to make sure. But next year we will have zero bulls on farm. We won’t have any.” Overall, Chris says the cost-benefit of the Tru-Test collars is “spot on” and is another step forward. “The guys, the newer generation, love the technology – they are all over it!