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FIELD NOTE:
Seven years of trusted research
As seen in the Rural Guardian. By Claire Inkson.
The Southern Dairy Hub (SDH), near Wallacetown, is entering its seventh year of operation. At 349 hectares and running nearly 800 cows, the hub is the largest in New Zealand and one of the biggest operating globally.
SDH general manager Andrea Dixon, who was appointed to the role last year, says running a commercial-scale research farm has its unique challenges.
“Being a research farm does create complexities and add cost, which is why we hugely appreciate our sponsors and supporters helping us achieve what we need to.”
The SDH was established in response to Southland dairy farmers’ need for research into the region’s unique challenges. “The opportunity here is to ensure we, the dairy sector, continue delivering the highest quality milk both environmentally and sustainably to the international market with 95 per cent of what we produce being exported,” Dixon said.
“Back in 2017, we did a workshop with southern farmers to understand what the biggest challenges were, and one of those challenges was the soil aspect of Southland because the ground conditions are very different to any other region.”
Dixon said one of the key initiatives SDH took from the workshop was to further understand what best practice looks like for wintering in Southland.
“We started with a fodderbeet and kale trial because back in 2017, a lot of farmers were using fodderbeet. The research found that fodderbeet may still have a place in wintering systems due to a lower methane footprint".
This winter, Dixon said SDH would look to improve the profitability of fodderbeet winter grazing while maintaining the environmental footprint achieved by the farm in the earlier kale and fodderbeet system comparison.
“We have paired the fodderbeet trial this season with grass and baleage because that’s what a lot of farmers are using at the moment.”
“It’s important we understand the sweet spot between cow comfort and minimising the area used for wintering and not needing to re-grass every paddock.
"At the start of calving, cows are fed Vitalise CalMag supplement to prevent milk fever and grass staggers. It’s easy to deal with because it gets mixed into our feed, and that feed gets delivered on-farm and goes into the silo.We feed it to cows through calving, right through until November or December.”
“The benefit of feeding it the way we do it is that we know the cows are getting that supplement because it comes right through the feed. It’s an important supplement because milk fever and staggers can result in death but also reduced production, and it takes them a wee bit to get back on to a rising plane to get in calf.
“So we need to manage those things with minerals.”
Dixon said that the scale of the research farm means more accurate data can be collected. “The SDH is on a commercial scale, whereas many research farms are low scale, with only 15-20 cows. Having a larger scale farm helps with the reliability of the information coming out.”
“It’s quite a complex operation because of the research requirements. It requires a lot more attention to detail regarding recording information because our vision is to be the most trusted research. “And that comes from the accuracy of data.”
Cows are divided into four farm-let systems of around 200 cows, which are mainly crossbred. The idea is that we have a cow that is most reflective of the southern cow. Cows are milked off 300 hectares, with a 49-hectare support block. It’s about understanding that balance around care and comfort, environment, sustainability and profitability.
Learn more from the Southern Research hub, they have information coming out regularly through Facebook, their website and newsletters.
