My name is Patrick Cassidy and I am originally from Ardlongfield near Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal. I grew up on a family farm which my father Patrick Cassidy Sr. still runs. I came over to New Zealand to work on a dairy farm at the start of July 2012, just a few weeks before their calving season starts. I would strongly advise that anyone thinking of coming over here, do so before calving season, so as to get time to settle in. Also it will give a chance for them to get to know the farm and the people they are going to be working for, as calving season is pretty hectic.
The farm I was working on was about half an hour south of Christchurch in the Canterbury plains. There is absolutely no comparison to home. It is completely flat and dry and nearly every dairy farm in this region is irrigated. Farm sizes are also a lot bigger, with most farms averaging herds of well over 500 cows. The farm I was on had a herd of 720 cows. Most farms in the area were low cost production and had a strong focus on grassland management.
The key point I learned about low cost production was keeping your calving period short. The farm I worked on had their 720 cows calving in around 10 weeks and had 80% of them calved within 8 weeks. All cows are calved outdoors on grass with very few problems (assisted only 5/6 cows). Cows were checked 4 times per day and a neck band with a number put on calves, which was recorded along with the cows number. Calves were collected once a day usually after breakfast. All calves were stomach tubed “Colostrum” as they came into calf shed and had their navels sprayed. Calved cows were usually taken in at the same time as calves and left in a small paddock near to the milking parlour ready for evening milking. “Colostrum” from freshly calved cows was stored until next morning for new calves coming in. There was a separate tank for collecting “Colostrum” milk from cows until they were clear to be returned into the bulk tank. This milk was kept stirred and chilled and fed to calves as no milk replacer was used. From day one calves were fed only once a day and scour was not a problem. Only 1 calf had to be treated for pneumonia. Calves were let out to grass at about 2 weeks and continued to be fed milk until they weighed around 90 kilos.
After calving, the work load reduced quite a bit until mating began. All cows were metro checked three weeks before mating began and any dirty cows treated. All cows were tail painted red as they were metro checked except any late calving cows or dirty cows which were painted yellow. As cows cycled for the first time they were painted green (cows were checked once a week). Whenever a cow was inseminated they were painted blue. As I recall 54% of the cows were served in the first 3 weeks. I wasn’t on the farm for all of mating so not sure of holding rates to first service.
The cows were mostly Friesian, with some Holstein and the remainder Jersey. Cows were on grass only with no concentrates only baled silage if grass got tight. A farm walk was done every week and a budget produced. Getting this right was very important as the farm was stocked at 4 cows per ha. Cows grazed paddocks down to an average of 1500 (NZ figures – 0 in Teagasc figures). The aim was to have cows going into paddocks with a cover of no more than 3000. This didn’t always work out however as it was quite a wet spring (still drier than an Irish summer though).
The average working day was cups on for 5 in the morning – finished by 8 or shortly after. An hour for breakfast then setting up break wires in paddocks for cows that night and doing all the day to day jobs. Lunch was usually at noon for an hour then back out and finish whatever jobs needed doing. Cows were back in for milking at two finished at half four then set up the next paddock for the cows in the morning. Finally, check the cows on the way home and finished normally by half five.
Most travelling on the farm was done on a motorbike as they were much easier to run and with the centre pivot all fences were spring loaded which meant you could drive over them and not have to open any gaps. Usually I worked 11 days and got 3 off, but during calving it was 8 on and 1 off, so it was tough going. Most tractors are fitted with dual wheels for stability and traction on the hilly ground, some of which is extremely steep (see the photographs below). Most trucks have A frames so they can be towed by tractors together with machinery. Tractors are often away on jobs for several weeks so it is necessary to bring a pick up as well for transport. Many of the trucks have an added built in diesel tank. Whenever possible a single 10 foot mower on a 6430 John Deere is used to open up fields for the triple mowers. Lorries are generally used to transport the cut grass. The dry weather compared to home means that grass only three hours cut is already nearly hay. The size of fields and machinery is striking compared to Ireland, especially Donegal.
I did a fair bit of travelling and sight seeing on my days off. New Zealand is a beautiful country and has excellent roads so it is an enjoyable experience just going for a drive. There are mountains everywhere (Southern Alps) so skiing is a popular pastime. I was obliged to give it a go as it was only half an hour’s drive from me – good fun.
The accompanying photographs will hopefully give some indication of the South Island terrain.
most tractors have dual wheels for stability and traction on steep ground
Baling on a steep slope
The reason duals are used – It can get pretty steep
Tractor towing Machinery and Pickup truck
7930 John Deere with tarrup triple mower
A single 10 foot class mower on a 6430 John Deere is used for opening up fields for the triple mowers whenever possible
Class 860 harvester working on the hills. All grass is carted by lorry
Struggling Hard – Pictures do not do the gradients of these hills justice at all – It was a struggle to walk on this hill
Grass which was less than three hours mowed and was already hay