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DAIRY PEOPLE: Craig & Dee Hockly
NZ Dairy / Summer 2014
South Taranaki farmers Craig and Dee Hockly inside their new Waikato 60-bail rotary dairy shed, complete with the Afifarm herd management system.
Hi-tech shed result of long search Sue Russell After 12 months of travelling the country looking at dairy sheds, Craig and Dee Hockly settled for a Waikato 60-bail rotary, complete with the modern technology of a Afifarm herd management system. The new system includes Afimilk, measures milk production twice a day as an aid to management of the milking process. Replacing his old 40-bail shed gave Craig – who farms in South Taranaki – the chance to look seriously at available milking systems. The Afiact monitoring system he chose gives him animalhealth and breeding data from pedometers on the cows’ legs, which makes it possible to have detailed knowledge of each cow. Also included is the Afiweigh – walk-over weigh scales that record individual cow weights each time they leave the milking shed. Building the new $1.65 million rotary shed and feed platform went well, although some delays
couldn’t be avoided, he says. The new shed is also on a different site, positioned in the middle of the farm and giving both herds the same distance to travel to milking. “I wanted to be in and using the shed by April 2013,” he says, “but we were delayed by changes in foundation compliances from the Christchurch earthquake resulting in a lot more reinforcing work.” While the heifers and young cows took to the new shed ‘like a duck to water’, it took some patience and time for the older cows, more used to the old ways, to cope with the new environment. “We’re saving a good hour and a quarter off milking time from the old shed. That builds up to be a huge saving over time.” The farm carries a herd of 600 crossbred cows on its 168 effective hectares; to assist with supplementing feed, a further 26 hectares are used to grow maize. Craig is the third-generation Hockly on the farm. He returned there 19 years ago. Since taking over, Craig and Dee have bought a neighbour’s block and
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extended the herd to 300. They have since bought two other neighbouring blocks, which gives them the capacity to carry their present herd size. “I like having 600 cows, but I would never say that’s the size it will always be,” says Craig. “Opportunities always come along.” Deanne looks after the farm accounts and shares responsibility for rearing the calves with Craig’s father, John. Mainstay employee Brendon Fleming has been on the farm for 10 years. The other farm worker, Brian Flynn, is in his third season and will be moving on at the end of this season, something Craig says is important for him in advancing his career in farming. “I will advertise for a new worker to replace Brian. From experience I’ve learnt to rely on a gut feeling you get from talking to potential staff. If you find it hard to maintain a conversation, then it isn’t going to work.” The farm is eight kilometres from Hawera, and Craig says the year in-year out weather conditions
mean it dries out regularly. Given this, the drought conditions of the 2012-13 season had a comparatively small impact on productivity. The goal for this season is to 290,000 kilograms of milksolids. He bel;ieves the ultimate goal of 300,000kg is achievable and all to do with the tweaking of feed in the dairy shed to promote optimum cow condition. When Craig, Deanne and their children, 10-yearold Lara and six-year-old Ryan, returned from their annual holiday at Urenui b each over New Year, Craig began putting time into setting up “on-farm” health and safety systems. These apply to anyone working on the farm, and include visiting contractors. “Farming has always been mostly about applying common sense, but that doesn’t work any more in these days of liability with health and safety,” says Hockly. “So these systems I’m working on are really important and worth putting good energy into creating.”
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