How Good’s Less Urea | Dr Allan Piercy, Agraforum

Calving’s nearly done, mating’s a week away and the grass is going gangbusters. George and Conan catch up on what mid-October really looks like on George’s Canterbury dairy farm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mastitis microbiologist Natasha Maguire on subclinical cases, cell count, antibiotics and bought-in heifers, and why the answer starts with testing before you treat.

Ash des Landes and his wife are 50/50 sharemilkers on the Canterbury Plains, milking 650 cows at Dunsandel and, from this season, another 585 near Leeston. That's 1,200 cows producing around 600,000 kg of milk solids. In this episode George and Conan dig into the technology behind that operation and what it has actually changed on farm: Culturing mastitis samples in the farm office before treating. Antibiotic use is substantially down, the bulk cell count is holding around 110,000, and Staph cows at dry-off went from as many as 20 to zero. Virtual fencing collars. The fuel bill has halved, lameness is down, the team spends less time on motorbikes, and kale and pasture breaks are shifted several times a day. How Ash weighs up what a piece of tech is worth, and how he gets a young team using it properly. Why the tech is what let the family take on a second farm without giving up time together. Ash's take: we all do effectively the same thing; what separates the good from the best is the timing of the decisions we make. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canaan Ahu of Agrownomics on soil biology, nitrogen, compaction and carbon, and why the best soil test starts with a spade. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beef over dairy is the fastest-growing decision on a New Zealand dairy farm — and most of it gets made in about three seconds, standing behind a cow at mating.