Are the views of a retired Dairy Professor reflect the times he studied dairy systems, or is there a clear message that the NZ dairy industry needs to relook at its systems and return to a mainly grazing operation?
With a big swing to the use of Friesian genes and grain supplementation in NZ, Colin Holmes questions whether the net cost of grain fed systems are any better than grazing only.
With the heavy use of grain and PKE, are dairy farmers losing the skills of pasture management, balancing and planning the feed supply and demand equation?
The Lincoln University Dairy Farm uses a system without these supplements.
Are they missing out on potential profits or are the skills they have developed managing the pasture and harvesting the surpluses bringing them better net profits?
NZ dairy expert says the industry must refocus on grazing cows rather than having increased reliance on supplement feeds. Retired Professor, turned consultant, Colin Holmes says supplementary feed helps milk production, but does little to lift on-farm profitability. He was speaking at the 19th World Jersey Conference in Hamilton last week. Confessing to having “a soft spot” for Jerseys, Holmes did not hide his preference for grazing-based dairy reports Rural News.
“Grazing systems have the lowest cost in the world,” he told 180 delegates from around the globe. “Being a low-cost producer is necessary for NZ, which exports 95% of its dairy products.” According to Holmes, NZ was “excellent” in grazing systems 20 years ago, but then farmers started using more feed to lift milk production. He says this also led to farmers opting for Friesian cows which are better suited for eating more supplementary feed and producing more milk.
In 1980, Jerseys made up 86% of the NZ herd but now the breed makes up only 14% of the national herd. Friesians have jumped from being 12% of the national herd 60 years ago to 46% last year. Holmes acknowledges that milk production has jumped over the years as feed supplement intake has increased. But he points out the cost of producing a kilo of milksolids has also gone up. “Farmers focus too much on costs and profitability, what we should look at is profitability and cost of production. “There is too much focus on milksolids production. Everyone knows how much a kilo of milksolids costs, but what is the cost of producing that?”
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