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Autumn Newsletter

Welcome to our latest newsletter from the Southern Dairy Hub. As we transition from autumn into winter preparations, we've been facing a season of extremes – higher temperatures paired with unusually heavy rainfall that's created significant challenges across our operations.Despite waterlogged grounds and periods of drought-like conditions affecting grass growth (we've grown approximately 3 tonnes less grass compared to last season), our team continues to adapt and innovate. We've recently shi...

GM Andrea Dixon chats to Rowena Duncum about the upcoming 'Farming for the Future' field day.

Click here to listen...

GM moves onto new pastures

Read release here...

New Southern Dairy Hub General Manager Appointed

Read release here...

Nitrate leaching from kale or FB

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Behaviour of cows in outdoor conditions

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Effect of FB or kale on behaviour of R1s

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Kale & FB effect on BCS gain and early lactation performance

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HubWatch – 17 April 2025

Continue to use the ground hog for surface aeration as conditions allow Moved to 3n2 milking on 16 April. Milking times of 5 am, 3 pm and 10 am to give a 10:19:19 milking interval Final N applications scheduled for the 17 AprilContracted silage still to be harvested, will use an innoculant to help with preservation Chosen cows will leave after Easter Will start the planning for setting up the calf sheds next week to ensure we are set up early for spring Have identified the next group of approxim...

HubWatch – 11 April 2025

Still working to reduce rotation length but strong growth is making this challenging Cows to be dried off this week have been separated from their herds and their daily feed allocation reduced; three low producing cows (less than 6 litres/day) have been added to the dry off listPaddocks for deep aeration will be staggered as they come through the grazing rotation Two paddocks aerated with the ground hog this weekPaddock plans for all swede paddocks have been drafted and bales will start going ou...

Tune in to the Muster to hear all about the upcoming Field Day on 15 April.

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HubWatch – 4 April 2025

Aiming to reduce rotation length to 32-35 days after it pushed out to 37-42 days this week when grazing new grass paddocksFirst cows to be dried off next week – cows that have to gain more than 0.5 BCS before 1 June to achieve their calving BCS targetFinalised paddocks for aeration – 14% of the farm area identified: aiming to do as much as possible when weather conditions and grazing rotations alignWill continue to use the ground hog for paddocks with surface compaction onlyHave identified p...

HubWatch – 27 March 2025

Hold rotation length of 32-35 daysMaintain a minimum of 18 day return time for new grass paddocksHave narrowed the list of paddocks for aeration - criteria include season to date pasture growth, soil structure, year of establishment and notes from farmwalks in springWill close the silage stack and use PKE to top up any shortfall in the Standard herdsMove copper sulphate mat to the exit race and assess if it stays cleaner than in the entrance to the platform Purchased baleage to be distributed ev...

HubWatch – 21 March 2025

Requested quality analysis on potential silage to purchaseHold rotation length aroung 32-35 daysMaintain a minimum of 18 day return time for new grass paddocksPasture DM% ranging between 15.8 and 20.7%Pasture quality range 11.1-12.5 MJ ME/kg DM: 18-25% crude protein; 38-45% NDF; 18.3-25.7% Non structural carbohydratesPrioritising paddocks for deep aeration as wont be able to do all potential paddocks this autumn; will use the ground hog on lower priority paddocks...

HubWatch – 14 March 2025

The team will be doing a count of all baleage bales on farm to ensure we have sufficient to meet winter and spring feed budget requirements Plan to stop feeding DDG in the grain blend in the next load - with pasture crude protein in the mid to high 20's and nitrogen requirements there is no shortage of protein in the diet; DDG is also more expensive than barley Looking to extend the rotation out to 35 days for both farm systems Started aerating paddocks damaged during spring utilising a borrow...

HubWatch – 7 March 2025

C-dax vs plate and visual comparison still to be completed Identifying paddocks requiring N fertliser based on applications season to date and current growth conditions Completed second scan - waiting on results to be uploaded into MINDA but comments from the scanner suggest the results are disappointing Visited calves at grazier; all going well and grazier commented on how even the line is Empty R2 culls have gone Silage for spring feeding harvested and in the stack Identifying springer paddock...

GM Andrea Dixon gives Andy an update on the Hub's work and talks about the upcoming field day on 12 March.

Listen here...

HubWatch – 28 February 2025

Farmwalk data suggests an increase in average pasture cover but cows are suggesting there is not as much available as we are estimating from the plate meter. Quite a lot of dead in the base of many paddocks and pugging makes plating challenging.Looking to heavy roll badly pugged paddocks to smooth them out.Proposing to compare c-dax estimates of pasture mass with plate meter and visuals this week to try and identify opportunities to improve our estimations of available pasture.Identifying paddoc...

HubWatch – 21 February 2025

GeneralLatest pasture DM results: New grass 15.2%; Italians 13.6% and normal pastures 20%Final new grass paddock to be grazed this week when soil conditions allowHerd test completed, including screening of all cows >250000 SCC for staph aureus N applied and maintenance fertiliser applications have started 2% empties in the heifers and 1 freemartin identifiedHeifer liveweight gain has slowed in the last month so reassessing feeding levels with the grazier; average weight 390 kg (323-...

HubWatch – 14 February 2025

IntroductionLatest pasture quality results: Crude protein ranged from 17.1 to 25.4% helping explain the swings in milk urea nitrogen we are seeing the vats; NDF from 44.1 to 51.8%, metabolisable energy from 10.8 to 12 MJME/kg DM and soluble sugars from 1.9 to 9.4.We are continuing to graze new grass paddocks, which will offer as a full feed between am and pm milkings rather than 1-2 hours immediately before the pm milking to get them grazed off faster. We're putting them onto paddocks full ...

HubWatch – 7 February 2025

We increased supplementary feeding to Standard herds as pre-graze covers have dropped again and cow behaviour and residuals have indicated they have been tight for feed this week - target 3 kg DM/cow inshed, 2.6 kg DM/cow/day PKE in trailers and 1.8 kg DM/cow/day baleage. Our Future herd is being offered 2.3 kg DM/cow/day inshed feed.First new grass paddocks will be nipped off this week, and to reduce risk of nitrate issues cows we will graze half a paddock for 1-2 hours each day on the way to t...

HubWatch – 31 January 2025

Started feeding baleage (2 kg DM/cow/day) and PKE (1.5 kg DM/cow/day) in trailers to standard herds to meet daily intake targets with reduced pasture growth rates and lower pre-graze covers; also receiving 3 kg DM inshed.Increased inshed feeding by 0.3 kg DM/cow/day to Future herd, average intake of 2.4 kg DM/cow/day and will top up with baleage as required. Started planting new grass paddocks ahead of first nip off grazing.Potential early culls have been identified and will be checked for ...

HubWatch – 24 January 2025

Dropping in shed feed for mixed age cows 5.0 or greater and R2/R3's 5.5 or greater to 0.5 kg/day; feeding rates to stay the same for the remainder of the cows.No paddocks out for conservation this week as growth was below demand.Reduced target allocation to 19 kg DM/day based on milk production and ongoing challenges hitting residual.Started identifying low producing cows for potential culling as soon as first pregnancy scan is completed early Feb, including one cow to be culled immediately base...

HubWatch – 17 January 2025

The normal HubWatch Weekly farm update will resume next week when the team is all back on board. In the meantime here are some insights from the farm during the hot weather. I hope everyone had a great break and took some time to recharge the batteries. The farm team (including myself) have enjoyed time out with the family through the holiday break. There was even some sun where the family and I camped!...

HubWatch – 9 January 2025

Happy New Year. We hope the start to 2025 has been a good one for you all. Some more settled weather has allowed us to get baleage made on the milking platform and a stack of silage earmarked for summer feeding down. Thanks to the team at D Thompson Contracting Ltd. All our regrassing has been completed and now we are concentrating on oversowing paddocks damaged during spring. We are keeping a close eye out for pests in our swede crops and weeds in the new grass paddocks. Milk production is hold...