Only the best will do for Mary’s Top 5 herd
A Northland farmer talks to Sonita Chandar about how she and her late husband bred a top herd.
This season has been particularly challenging at times on Mary Williams’ farm but one thing remains unchanged – she owns one of the top herds in the country.
The farm at Puhipuhi, about 25 kilometres north of Whangarei, is home to a 220-cow purebred jersey herd which is in the top five herds across all breeds.
The breeding worth (BW) of the herd is 137 with a production worth (PW) of 155. Breeding a top herd takes time and careful management which begins well before mating starts on October 1.
‘‘I nominate bulls for every cow which can be a lengthy process – especially for the [artificial insemination (AI)] technician who has different straws for different cows.’’
With the assistance of a representative from genetics company LIC, the highest BW bulls are selected for the top BW cows. AI is carried out for six weeks and DNA profiled jersey bulls run with the cows for a further five weeks.
Some of the cows in the herd are chosen by LIC to be contract mated. ‘‘Those contract cows are the high achievers in the herd, often in the first row at milking and just like to go about their business so efficiently.’’
Several years ago, they experimented and used a high BW crossbred bull over a few cows. ‘‘We used a real high-flyer – Checkpoint, so we have a few crossbred cows running around which are producing well.’’
Accurate and detailed calving and mating records are kept. The herd is herd tested four times a year.
The empty rate sits at about 7 per cent. Most of the empty cows are usually sold as in-milk cows when the herd is dried off.
‘‘My surplus or lower BW cows are still higher than the national average so there is a reasonable demand for them which means that stock sales generate a significant amount of income to the business.
‘‘I really enjoy synchronising the herd records when the heifers are tagged and once the lowest BW cows have been sold and taken off the records. It is exciting to see how much the herd BW increases when the high genetic heifers are brought into the herd.’’
Calving begins on July 10. This season, she reared 92 heifer calves and the surplus will be sold next year as in-calf heifers.
This is where she can be selective and only bring in the top heifers into the herd. About 26 per cent replacements are brought into the herd each year. The calves are all DNA profiled which ensures accurate calving details.
‘‘The calves are high BW so are valuable little animals so I am pedantic about making sure they get the best start to life and ensure good colostrum management.’’
She tries to get her calves outside as quickly as possible as she believes they do better in the fresh air as the calf shed can get quite crowded. Calves are weaned at 70 kilograms and then taken to the run-off block, returning as incalf heifers.
She also keeps 60 of the highest BW bulls. About 30 of these are kept for her father-in-law, Brian Williams, and 30 of her own. They are sold as yearlings, fetching $1200-$1500.
‘‘Most years they have been selling for good prices but last season they slipped back a bit. Farmers are tending to go for beef breeds but I hope that will change.’’
Her goal is to have the top herd in New Zealand – that honour belongs to her neighbours Luke and Lyna Beehre – with whom she has a close relationship and friendly rivalry. She says she will continue doing what she has in the past but intends to be a bit more ‘‘selective’’ about animals brought into the herd.
Breeding and genetics was always her late husband Rhys Williams’ passion – something he inherited from his father Brian who has dedicated his life to breeding top jersey cows.
‘‘I shared Rhys’ love of breeding. It was always a particular part of farming that I was interested in so carried on after Rhys’ death.’’
It isn’t the position she expected to find herself in at the age of 37. Rhys and Mary had aspirations for their farm, herd and family. But their lives were turned upside down when in 2015, Rhys was diagnosed with cancer and died just seven months later in January last year, leaving her to raise their four children and run the farm.
‘‘It came as a huge shock to us all. It all happened so quickly. It’s been an incredibly challenging time but luckily, I have had a lot of family help, love and support.’’
The daughter of dairy farmers from North Canterbury, she dreamed of being a teacher. Leaving school in 1997, she took a gap year in England then returned to enrol at the University of Canterbury where she completed a Bachelor of Science followed by a post-graduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning.
During this time, she met Rhys who was studying at Lincoln University. After graduating, she went to work as a teacher at a small rural school in Geraldine where she taught years 2-4 while Rhys took a lower ordersharemilking job nearby.
When the opportunity in Northland arose to buy the farm next door to the farm that Rhys grew up on, they jumped at it.
In 2006 they married and bought the farm at Puhipuhi. ‘‘Moving to the other end of the country was a huge change. It was a quite a shock to the system.’’
She taught at a rural school nearby up until they started their family. They have four children, Jack, 9, George, 8, Charlie, 6, and Ruby, 5.
She says the farm was already well established and needed little work. They also bought the existing ‘‘particularly good’’ purebred jersey herd. When Brian retired from milking in 2015, they were keen to buy the Williams Jerseys herd. ‘‘We bought about 70 elite cows which make up about a third of the herd today. ‘‘
In 2008, they formed an equity partnership and bought a 400-cow farm 30km west of Whangarei at Purua. This farm is now being run by his brother Glen, one of the equity partners.
After juggling both farms and a growing family they made the decision to go full season once a day (OAD) in 2011/2012 and have never looked back.
Williams says some of the benefits of OAD milking are better reproductive results, less stress and health problems in the herd and the cows maintain very good condition.
‘‘Generally, they are much happier and healthier. It is really nice not to have to run them through the milking shed on a hot humid afternoon. Instead they move to a new paddock and chill out.’’
Last season, the herd produced 74,000kg of milk solids but drought this season has seen their target drop from 70,000kg MS to about 66,000kg MS.
‘‘January and through to the middle of February was extremely tough. Once the turnips and silage were finished we had to rely solely on palm kernel to get through. Experiencing drought has just made us more resilient and we learn to have systems in place to farm through it.’’
In March, they were hit by a weather bomb and the region experienced flooding.
Puhipuhi is renowned for its high rainfall but the topography of the land means it is not prone to flooding. ‘‘We went from one extreme to another.’’
They use a system 2-3 focusing on pasture management.
About 3.5ha of turnips are grown on-farm and play an important role in maintaining milk production through the summer dry period.
Growing turnips is also part of their pasture renewal process. This season they have fed about 180 tonne of palm kernel extract and about 50 tonnes of silage.
Williams leaves the day-to-day running of the farm to manager Bruce Brown but still manages the herd records, financials and budgets.
‘‘When Rhys died, I did go through a period of uncertainty of what to do.
‘‘But I now know that I want to continue farming and retain the herd for our children.
‘‘George is our budding farmer and has a strong interest in the cows but all the children take an interest to some degree.’’
She misses Rhys every day but takes comfort in her family and knowing his legacy will live on through them and the farm.