DAIRY PEOPLE: Steve & Cherry Blyde
NZ Dairy / Summer 2014
Farmers look long-term on feed system Sue Russell A new feeding system in their 40-bail dairy shed, is engaging the attention of the Blydes on their Taranaki farm. The system – where the cows eat anywhere between 300 grams and 3 kilograms of supplementary feed as they cruise around the rotary cycle – came into operation fully on November 10. “Right now, each cow is fed an additional half a kilo each day during milking,” says Steve Blyde. “We dabbled with feeding palm kernel using trailers and the like, but it was a messy process and the bossy cows got the big share. This way we can deliver to each cow exactly what she needs in the form of additional nutrients. “We’re not expecting great things in the first year. It’s more about learning to observe and calculate feeding regimes that is most important at this time.” Nevertheless, he can see the goal of a 20% increase in milk production as very much within reach He says they have had invaluable feeding advice from Inghams’ Rodney Hosking, in the content of taking one day at a time and learning from experiences. The Blydes can recall the last big change to their milking – the installation of a new Octolok rotary shed eight years ago. “It felt like going from “a Morris Minor to a Rolls Royce”, says Steve..“With automatic cup-removers and teat-sprayer, we can have the whole herd milked in an hour and a quarter.” The Blydes were affected by last season’s drought, with the 84,500 kilograms of milksolids produced 10,000kg down the farm’s best.
We’re not expecting great things in the first year. It’s more about learning to observe and calculate feeding regimes that is most important at this time. “The drought cost us six weeks’ production, but with a mild winter, we’ve come through it as well as we could have hoped,” says Steve Succession planning is also exercising the Blydes’ minds. In 1990 Steve Blyde and brother Greg each bought half the original family farm at Lepperton, near Waitara. The 82-hectare (effective) block owned by Steve and his wife, Cherry, straddles a mix of flat, rolling and steep terrain, and is carrying 240 friesian/ friesian-cross cows at a stocking rate of 2.9 to the hectare. Their eldest son, 20-year-old Christopher, has inherited their passion for farming and is helping run the farm. “We’re really conscious of the next few years ahead being a time to look at options for Christopher,” says Steve. “Around this district there isn’t a lot of land up for sale, so another thought is to set him up 50:50 sharemilking. But if something local comes up,
from on-farm discussions Scott is hoping for a good in-calf rate this year. “We get quite good rates for our younger stock, but we have got a few older girls in the herd as well which drops down our rates. We’ve got a few 12, 13, and 14-year-olds, but the majority are eight years old or younger. Most of the older girls do get in calf each year, but takes them a few more matings than just one or two.” The cows are getting their minerals every day with the mixer wagon. They are fed a transition mix before calving with the aim of keeping metabolic issues to a minimum. The Scotts are getting back into discussion groups this year. A discussion day planned for their farm will be Adam’s first experience and Bob’s first for about 10 years.
Adam Scott says he is looking forward to gaining some valuable insights into their operation. “We need to hear what other guys are doing, rather than us doing the same old thing,” he says. He says he is particularly interested in other local farmers’ opinions on whether they should be spending more time on getting more out of their pasture. “All our soil tests are fine, but maybe we should spend a bit more time direct drilling, and get the plant population back up.” The winter farm has feed barns with compost floors and roofs overhead, where the milking cows spend an hour a day. Wintering and dry cows are fed on sawdust pads where they spend 12 hours a day.
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Steve and Cherry Blyde’s 40-bail Octolok rotary dairy shed (left) with automatic cup removers and teat sprayer (below) allows the 240-cow herd to be milked in an hour and a quarter. Chris has a good reputation in the area to build from.” The Blydes recognise that the time is approaching for the two of them to make some longer-term decisions about their own farming situation. Steve believes that having a full-on family life means any transition away from being hands-on and tied to the farm will be a somewhat easier process than it might otherwise have been. “I think the hardest thing is for the farmer to let go. Not for the one coming up next to take over. It would be nice to have the time to follow other interests and those of the children more.” Steve and Cherry are, however, already very much involved in their children’s sporting and educational achievements. As well as grappling with the demands of NCEA level 3 at New Plymouth Girls’ High School, their 17-year-old daughter, Michaela, has been selected for the national women’s sevens squad after playing for Taranaki in the women’s provincial championship. The Blydes’ twin boys, Liam and Cole, are just beginning year 12 at New Plymouth Boys’ High School.
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