NZ Dairy
FARM PEOPLE » Craig Clausen
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New feed system helps in tough year Russell Fredric An in-shed feed system has mitigated some of the ups and downs of a tough year faced by Craig Clausen. Weather and facial eczema have played a big part in testing the mettle of the Waikato dairy farmer, who runs a herd of 350 on 118 hectares effective in Gordonton, north east of Hamilton. Early last year, warm, wet weather in parts of the North Island resulted in high facial eczema spore counts; Craig Clausen’s herd was hit “big time”. He admits taking a bit of a gamble in increasing his herd to 350 from 340 last year, but is banking on an in-shed feeding system, installed the previous season, contributing to production of 154,000kgMS or better this season. The advantages of the in-shed system include convenience, time savings, less mess and less wastage of feed. Feeding meal to the herd also means less molasses is consumed, Craig Clausen says. “I was sick of feeding palm kernel in troughs around the farm. I already had a molasses feeding system which has been in for about five or six years.” The system is helping compensate for a large deficit of grass silage cut last spring, which resulted in 90 bales being produced instead of the usual 600. The farm’s milking shed was built in 1952, but has been expanded and upgraded. Cows are also fed maize silage, grown over 10.2ha, of which 100 tonne is stored in a Buster Cover wrap system; this eliminates deterioration and wastage, particularly from Pukeko’s which last season “annihilated” silage conventionally stored. Plantain is included in the annual feed regime and will be planted in October this year, direct drilled by Otorohanga contractor Greg Muller with a Cross Slot drill. “Plantain is my choice of preference as opposed to chicory. Plantain is a deep root and its like chicory [in terms of] minerals.” The impact of facial eczema last year reduced milk production to 143,700kgMS. “We dried off about 30 cows. We lost something like $200,000. Since then we’ve refinanced at a loss back into a mortgage and we’ve since paid that back, so even though it was bad we’ve come right again.” All but one of the affected cows recovered after being put into a “hospital” paddock. The herd sheltered under a stand of oak trees and was treated with Manderson’s Mix, a drench containing a combination of oils. Following last year’s difficult spring, pasture conditions this summer have been lush because of cooler temperatures and high rainfall. Consequently, facial eczema spore
ABOVE: A 100 tonne silage bag made on site (Buster Cover meal system) at Craig Clausen’s Gordonton, north east of Hamilton, farm.
counts have been low. Although the amount of grass silage cut was drastically reduced, the season’s ups and downs have been highlighted by the fact that unseasonal summer growth is also helping compensate for the deficit. Craig’s parents Bryan and Jenny own a 500ha run-off block in Te Kuiti where Craig’s heifer replacements are reared each season. Bryan and Jenny also own two farms next to Craig run by his brothers Karl and Marc. “It’s been a tough season, but due to the in-shed meal feeding, I’ll come through.”
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