A second look at the farm system — and revising the herd’s replacement rate — is expected to help put the demonstration farm into the top 10% for profitability, top 10% for greenhouse gas emissions and top 5% for low nitrate leaching.
Dairy NZ was brought in to analyse the farm’s current state and identify gaps.
The results were revealed to dairy farmers and professionals at a focus day at the farm on October 8.
LUDF has moved from growing pure pastures of plantain to mixed plantain pastures, without jettisoning it completely as it reduces nitrate leaching.
Pure plantain took about 12 weeks to establish, resulting in five weeks of lost grazing, yielded less dry matter and had other challenges, including more weeds.
For now, plantain will be introduced in the farm’s new pastures regrassed each year. The goal was to have 10%-20% plantain in the overall pasture mix.
Associate Prof Racheal Bryant said that over the past four seasons the farm had worked to improve its impact on the environment, based on scientific evidence for using plantain.
"We had been using plantain in a mixed sward and found it quite hard to manage weeds so we thought if we aim for 30% and grow it in a pure sward we will be able to manage and control weeds more easily ... the reality of it was that we weren’t as successful as we wanted to be or expected to be in implementing plantain."
However, science showed even small amounts of plantain could provide significant benefits to reduce nitrate leaching, she said.
So, while keeping plantain in the system, they were moving away from the pure sward.
Plantain is being included in new pastures and the team is working on a demonstration of how it might be put in existing pastures.
Also being revised is the strategy to improve the herd’s reproductive performance, the goal being to lower the replacement rate from 25% to 15%. That was expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5% and reduce grazing and rearing costs.
However, it had compromised other farm goals by adding more losses from cow deaths, animal health issues and cows failing to get in calf. That had restricted LUDF in maintaining its 560-cow herd size and limited the culling of bottom cows.
Assoc Prof Bryant said the reproductive programme had led the way for a successful fertility project but the 15% goal was being reviewed to follow industry recommendations of an 18% to 22% replacement rate.
"We have learned there are some real benefits and wins for staff and some positive feedback, but in terms of profitability we haven’t been able to dilute our farm working expenses with the reduction in milk yield."
The 10-in-seven system had led to an 8% reduction in milk production — above the modelled 6% drop — from twice-a-day milking.
Instead, the farm would take a more flexible approach so it could reach the top 10% of Canterbury farms in profitability. It would include cows transitioning from once-a-day milking for the first 10 days to twice-a-day during the peak pasture growing part of the season.
Cows would be split into two herds and shift to three milkings every two days or 10-in-seven.
Analysis had found the university farm was in the top 20% of farms in Canterbury, despite the plantain changes and the 10-in-seven milking regime.
Splitting the herd is expected to help the team look after lower-performing cows.
