From worst to the award-winning best
The remainder are grazed off. ‘‘The one thing about this farm is it grows really good crops,’’ he says.
‘‘We average 25 tonnes a hectare for the maize and 16t tonnes for the turnips. We do a lot of spraying on crops. Whenever we think there are bugs in the crops we spray, which helps, and the fertility is also high.’’
All crop paddocks are soiltested before sowing for the following season to highlight fertiliser requirements.
From the day cows calve they go on a grass-only diet supplemented with 2kg of PKE a cow.
Calving begins on August 1 but the odd early calf had already arrived by mid-july. Springer cows are carefully monitored and fed a dcad diet to prevent milk fever.
On a busy day they can have 40 cows calve and within the first 10 days of calving about 300 cows are in. Calves are gathered twice a day and offered the feeder immediately to ensure they get their colostrum.
Weitenberg helps feed newborn calves on their first day after which a calf rearer takes over.
‘‘They are the future of the herd,’’ he says.
‘‘I am really strict on getting colostrum into a calf first thing so I know they have had their first feed and best possible start.’’
About 200 calves are reared as replacements and Weitenberg uses Queen of Calves - a nutrient-rich powder system to enhance growth and performance.
‘‘Our first heifers that were raised on Queen of Calves are about to come into the herd,’’ Weitenberg says.
‘‘They are looking good – fat and healthy - so it will be interesting to see how they go in terms of production.’’
Last season, 50 bull calves were reared for extra income, but Weitenberg says it wasn’t worth it.
‘‘By the time you take into account the labour cost and feed etc, the margin was small so probably won’t do that again.’’
He is also strict about maintaining good hygiene in the calf shed with regular spraying and cleaning.
‘‘If you focus on the little things and get the basics right, everything works,’’ he says.
‘‘I tell the guys four or five little things can add up to something big, so if you get on top of it early you can avoid any problems. We are lucky and never seem to have any issues with calves and illness.’’
Calves are weaned at 90kg and in early December are sent to graze at another Landcorp-owned farm at Tangimoana on a weightgain basis, returning as in-calf heifers.
Mating begins on October 23 using the Why Wait programme where cows are injected with prostaglandin to make them cycle a week early. Instead of every 21 days, cows cycle at around 14 days.
Some CDIRS are used on noncycling cows.
‘‘Our six-week in-calf rate has traditionally been poor,’’ he says.
‘‘It was 57 per cent and is now 67 per cent so there is still room for improvement.’’
Landcorp Ruapehu now uses A2 bull semen for five weeks and bulls are bought in to put over the herd and then sold.
The empty rate is about 11 per cent but Weitenberg says this is likely to get better.
‘‘Through better management and Why Wait we have squeezed things up and managed to take two weeks off mating and calving at the other end.’’
He and Tammi are slowly building equity in the hope of stepping up to an equity partnership or similar. They own two rental properties.
‘‘At this stage, I don’t want to leave and go and manage somewhere else,’’ he says.
‘‘Tammi and I want to do something for ourselves so we can progress. Whether that is an equity partnership or sharemilking, we will wait and see.’’
He says he has always wanted to buy land but is not sure what.
‘‘I don’t want to buy a small dairy farm and then be tied to the milking shed,’’ he says.
‘‘A bigger farm with a good staff structure appeals so we can enjoy that good life-work balance that we have now.’’
The couple also like to travel and plan more trips in the future. They recently spent five weeks in Holland visiting family and took in Italy and Dubai at the same time.
‘‘It helps that Tammi works and we are a double-income family,’’ he says.
‘‘We want to enjoy the rewards of our work while we are young. We would probably have more equity if we didn’t travel but it is important for us to have that balance.’’
Before calving starts fully, he is squeezing in a trip to America for a friend’s wedding but knows that when he returns it will be full-on.
‘‘My goal is just to continue fine-tuning the system,’’ he says.
‘‘We are looking good for the season ahead. The cows and cover are good, the heifers fat and staff keen. Everything is falling into place. If we get the first six months right it will be a sweet season. Hopefully we don’t get any flooding.’’