When first-time sharemilkers Glenn and Georgie van Heuven moved onto a split-calving farm, they did not realise some of the challenges they would have to face calving and mating twice a year.
While it was a shock to the system, they have settled into split-calving well and enjoy the perks, and after four seasons they feel they have a better handle on what is going on and they appreciate the challenges that come from having two calving periods.
“We definitely underestimated how hard it was going to be when we first started,” Glenn says.
“We were sharemilking for the first time on a new farm and went straight into a mating period, we didn’t have time to get our bearings.
“But it’s been getting easier every season and we have had great support from the farm owners Sid and Dellas Anderton and we talked to the previous sharemilker a lot in the early days.”
The Van Heuvens had been contract milking on Glenn’s family farm near Matamata. The System 3 farm was spring calving, but the new farm was a complete change being split-calving, operating as a System 5 with a feedpad.
“As much as we like to keep it simple, there’s no hiding from the intensity of System 5 farming, the cows are on the feedpad every day of the year,” he says.
The farm is flat with good soil and highly stocked at 4.2 cows a hectare. They feed maize, palm kernel and silage throughout the season and if the payout drops they will not consider dropping feed out.
“We know we can’t stop feeding the cows; we see it pretty quick if we make the wrong decision,” Georgie says.
“But we have focused on paying off debt and we know what our big costs are so we know we’ve got room if we need help.”
They are starting to see a trend with more grass growth in winter than summer, so split calving is helping match feed demand with supply and using winter feed for production additional to dry cow maintenance.
And of course, there are profit benefits, having a winter milk premium and strong cash flow throughout the season as their production curve is flatter.
The basis of the 420-cow herd came from the previous sharemilkers autumn and early calving cows who already knew the system. They also had 130 cows they had collected while they were contract milking and they topped up numbers from a few clearing sales.
Lifting the performance and value of the herd has been a big focus.
“As sharemilkers we are trying to improve our herd rapidly and by having the second herd we are able to retain good empty cows that would’ve otherwise dropped out of the system,” Glenn says.
“Split-calving has been allowing us to fast-track our genetic gain.
“In spring we run two herds; one is made up of the bottom 20% of the spring cows as well as the autumn cows and we just run beef bulls with them, and the other herd is our best cows that we mate to AI.”
They are using Friesian and crossbreed semen and Hereford and Angus for the natural mating bulls.
They are taking advantage of the beef market, trying to reduce bobby calves and using Angus over heifers which typically have higher prices in autumn.
They also AI their heifers to help increase their rate of genetic gain.
They get about 30 replacements from the autumn herd each season and carry over the best of the empty spring cows to get a bit more production from them.
“The meat schedule in the winter months is usually really good and the winter milk premium is a bonus, so we can take full advantage because the autumn herd is still going,” he says.
They have worked with their vets around feeding and have been fortunate to have good people in their team. And this year they are investing in a farm consultant to help fine-tune the system. But they cannot emphasise enough the importance of good communication with split-calving.
Switching from a spring calving farm to one that has a split-calving system, was not a walk in the park for Glen and Georgie van Heuven, but over time they have to appreciate what it has to offer.
“We need to be clear on the priorities and make sure everyone understands the values and what we’re trying to achieve,” Georgie says.
“We are fortunate to have a good combination of experience and young and fresh interest within our team.”
They meet regularly and keep the discussion open around what is working well, seeking if there are any niggles and making sure everyone feels involved in the business.
“We admit we haven’t nailed the rosters yet, but we do keep across what the team wants and needs, but it does have to be a balance to make it work for everyone,” she says.
“We want to make sure we keep our business attractive for future staff.”
They recognise the advice and support they leaned on when they first started out, connecting with other split-calving farmers and they find value in the DairyNZ autumn calving discussion group.
“The first year was an eye-opener on how to feed cows, but we look back each season, re-evaluate and do it better the next time,” Glenn says.
“We enjoy connecting with the other farmers in the discussion group too; all the farms are different and everyone does things differently, but that gives you good opportunities to learn and get ideas.”
They find real value in connecting with experienced people and know they need to keep on their toes with all the challenges split-calving brings.
“Time is short, you just finish mating then you’re putting things in place for the next calving, but we enjoy it and can’t wait to own our own farm one day,” he says.
