ON FARM » Daniel & Christine Bishop
Business Rural
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Re-grassing, irrigation yield big gains Karen Phelps Now into their third season with a new irrigation system, Daniel and Christine Bishop are growing more grass, have improved labour efficiency and are producing more milk. Production on their 385-hectare effective (464ha total) unit on the Oamaru side of Kurow has leapt from 520,000 kilograms of milksolids in their first season on the property, which they farmed for a year before installing the new irrigation, to 674,000 kg last season. Gains have come from the ability to milk more cows by growing more feed (herd numbers rose from 1100 to 1430 last season), and better feed quality through an intensive re-grassing programme which has seen 60 per cent of the farm sown in new grass. They have been using grass species Trojan, Bealey and Prospect, which they say seem to last well on the farm. Last season was their first with a new effluent system, which has allowed them to spread across 100ha through a large centre pivot. A two-pond effluent system gives them four weeks of storage. This season they want to grow more grass. They could increase stock numbers but prefer to use the grass to feed stock and make silage (200 tonnes last year) to reduce reliance on bought-in feed. They will continue their re-grassing programme as well as developing 30ha of land that could be added into the milking platform and allow them to carry more stock units. They grew 20ha of fodder beet for the first time last season, harvesting 26 tonnes per hectare. This success has encouraged them to do the same this season. They winter around a third of the herd on farm. Their 60-bail rotary shed has automatic cup removers, teat sprayers, heat detection, milk meters and Protrack. The Bishops farm in an equity partnership with Daniel’s parents, Wayne and Vivienne. They live in Oxford, where they have a 280ha, 1000-cow dairy farm run by Daniel’s brother, Darcy. The Kurow farm was run as a dairy unit when the Bishops bought it, but they have basically had to re-convert. Around 6000 trees have been cut down and new fences, water troughs and lanes put in. Daniel says they will just do AI as they did last year and not use any bulls, taking advantage of the automatic heat detection technology in their shed. This should also be easier for staff. They employ an assistant manager and Christine assists during calving and helps in the shed. Daniel, who is full-time on the farm, grew up
Gains have come from the ability to milk more cows by growing more feed as well as increasing feed quality with an intensive re-grassing programme
• Irrigation Installation • Dairy Shed Installation • Dairy Shed Maintenance • Dairy Shed Power Efficiency • Master Electrician • Eco Smart Company Calum Reid- Registered Electrical Inspector 40 Bledisloe St, Kurow PO Box 75 Kurow 9446 4 Regina Lane, Oamaru Ph: 0800 360 063 Mob: 0274 368 700 Fax: (03) 436 0053 E-mail: calum@calect.co.nz
www.calect.co.nz Daniel and Christine Bishop are milking 1430 cows on a 385ha platform between Oamaru and Kurow. The Bishops have three boys, Fynlay 11, Lawsyn 7, and Archer 3. on a dairy farm in the North Island, and started his farming career when he was 21 working on the Hauraki Plains. He returned to manage his family’s 400-cow farm a few years later before the family – Daniel, his parents and Christine – decided to buy a farm at Ngatea in an equity partnership together. The 127ha unit milked 380 cows and the family owned it for six years before selling up and heading south. The Bishops aim to peak milk 1450 cows this season and are targeting production of 670,000 kilograms of milksolids. They want to maximise their system, perhaps adding a second cowshed when the payout picks up.
MASTER electricians
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Nithdale a multiple winner • From page 50 New Zealand sheep industry awards over four years. Last year Nithdale won the Dual Purpose and Resistance to Internal Parasites Award for the fourth year in a row, and the Dual Purpose and Reproduction Award, for the third successive year. Along with seeking to maximise output of quality meat and wool from sheep that can handle
a tough environment, Nithdale has made significant progress in reducing faecal egg counts – adult faecal-egg count breeding values have nearly halved since 1992. “We don’t drench ewes,” says Andrew. “We have reduced the number of drenches our lambs are receiving, and the age at which the lambs are showing an immunity to internal parasites is getting younger.”
• Stock Cartage • General Freight • Fertiliser Spreading • Bulk Cartage • Hiab Hire
Phone Scott: 021 607 957 or 03 432 4207
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