Better Herd Events - Farm Details

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North Island Events

Martinborough

Wednesday, 5^th March, 10.30am-12.30pm

Jade and Richard Osborne

Georges Rd, Martinborough

Supply number: 46200

Join us at Jade and Richard Osborne’s dairy farm in Martinborough.  The farm, 80/20 split calving operation milking 900 cows. Discover how they tailor their milking style to suit the farm's unique landscape, rear or sell 95% of their beef and bull calves, and focus on increasing replacements to drive genetic gains on the farm.

Lepperton

Thursday, 6th March, 10.30am-12.30pm

ERW Farms

36 Elsham Rd, Lepperton

Supply number: 43330

Join us at ERW Farms, a partnership between Stephen and Cherry Blyde and son Chris and Anne-Marie Blyde. This is the second year operating as a company together where they milk a predominantly Cross-bred herd. In addition to the family farm at Lepperton they hold a 50/50 contract on a farm at Mangorei Road that Chris and Anne-Marie used to run prior to moving back to the family farm. This is operated with the help of managers on the farm.

The farm decisions are very much driven by data with herd testing data being valued as one of the methods the Blyde’s use in improving their herd’s genetic potential. Allflex collars are also being utilised on the Mangorei Road farm to help make better breeding decisions.

Tokoroa

Monday, 10 March, 10.30am-12.30pm

Mary-Ann Mathis

122 Paraonui Road, Tokoroa

Supply number: 78074

Te Aroha

Wednesday, 12 March, 10.30am-12.30pm

Carl and Margret Thomas

234 Manawaru Rd (dairy shed), Te Aroha

Supply number: 76160

Carl and Margret were sharemilking on the property before purchasing it. Margret is a vet at Te Aroha Vet Clinic and Carl, alongside another full-time employee looks after the day-to-day running of the farm.

They milk around 360 Jerseys and are focussed on bigger Jerseys to produce animals with above breed average milk production with an aim to milk less cows on farm by producing more milk per animal. High capacity, above average fat & protein and reliable udders would be his primary drivers in bull selection.

South Island Events

Oxford

Monday, 17 March, 10.30am-12.30pm

Glen Eyre Farm      

1020 Carleton Road

Oxford

Rangiora

Supply number: 37755

Glen Eyre Farm in Oxford is part of the Craigmore Group. The 400ha dairy farm in North Canterbury milks 1100 Friesian-cross cows. The operators of the farm are interested in running a simple low-cost operation and this year have had good results from their breeding programme.  

Waimate

Tuesday, 18 March, 10.30am-12.30pm

Arjan and Kelsi Van’t Kloosters

869 Waimate Hunter Road, Waimate

Supply number: 36488

Arjan and Kelsi Van’t Klooster farm 3,500 cows across three dairy farms near Glenavy in Canterbury. They share milk 1450 cows on one 360ha farm, own a herd of 950 cows milking on a 270ha platform and have sharemilkers milking the third herd of 1350 cows on another 360ha property.

For the first three weeks of mating, they artificially inseminate about 60 percent of the total herd with sexed semen, choosing their best-produced cows and heifers that meet their type requirements for breeding replacements. They then use dairy beef semen, transitioning to Wagyu, and finally a short gestation beef on the balance of the herd.

Find out how they’ve gone this season and how they have used data from cow collars and Estrotect breeding indicators to clearly identify cows and heifers in heat.