Workshops help dairy farmers drive better production

18 December 2013

Workshops help dairy farmers drive better production and profit

Farm nutrient company SealesWinslow is running a series of seminars and workshops to help dairy farmers achieve higher production, margins and profits.

SealesWinslow’s “Routes to Profitable Milk Production” roadshow, which kicked off in the Waikato in late October, has been rated highly for content and relevance by farmers attending.

Animal nutrition expert for SealesWinslow, James Hague, has been demonstrating how farmers can master the art of balancing the diet to fully feed the herd and benefit from better production from grass, higher production per cow and per hectare, higher margins and more profit.

In recognition of the value an integrated approach to farm nutrients can deliver for farming businesses, SealesWinslow has partnered with parent company Ballance Agri-Nutrients to bring the roadshow to farmers around the country.

Ballance General Manager of Animal Nutrition, Graeme Smith, says the series is part of the co-operative’s commitment to ensure farmers have access to the latest nutritional and technical information to drive farm profitability.

“We’ve had tremendous feedback to date with farmers commenting on how useful the information is, how they can apply it on-farm and the value they place on seeing first-hand the technology tools available to them like our milk production “Tracker” software,” says Mr Smith.

Mr Hague explains that the programme, developed in New Zealand, generates lactation curves for each animal in a herd and combined them to produce a production curve. The model behind Tracker has been tested over the last three seasons, using a large dataset across a range of herds, breeds and regions.

“Milk production data tells us a huge amount about the nutrition of the herd and by understanding what changes in milk composition tell us, we can help farmers make better informed decisions about how to balance the herd’s diet to improve feed conversion efficiency, extending lactation while maintaining good cow condition,” says Mr Hague.

“With the high forecast payout this season and bank account still suffering from the impact of last season’s drought, farmers have been keen to learn more about the impact of good diet and its contribution to higher production, margins and profit.”

The series consists of two events - a free seminar to provide an overview of issues impacting on profitable milk production, and a one day workshop designed to upskill and empower farmers to take the next step, at a cost of $499 per individual or couple. Participants can choose to attend one or both of the events.

Further sessions will be held in more than 30 locations in 2014, and expressions of interest are welcome now. Farmers interested in participating in an upcoming event should register with their local Ballance or SealesWinslow consultant, or by email to sales@sealeswinslow.co.nz.

ENDS

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