Co-op's On-farm Efficiency Service visit a powerful experience

Larmona Farm’s Jared Crawford and Chris Fisher share the benefits of the On-Farm Efficiency Service with their Sustainable Dairying Advisor.

South Canterbury is home to some of the country’s largest dairy farms spanning thousands of hectares. Simply maintaining business-as-usual on these operations is no small feat, particularly with large herd numbers, complex irrigation, and sizable staff numbers.

Yet, Co-op farmer Jared Crawford has shown that regardless of the size of a farm, changes can be made to improve on-farm efficiency and reduce emissions. Jared and his wife Sarah are sharemilkers and manage FarmRight’s 522ha Lamorna Farm near Geraldine (a New Zealand Superannuation Fund investment). Lamorna is one of 11 farms in the FarmRight collective.

The farm has one of the largest rotary sheds in the country (100-bale), milking around 2,000 cows. Jared recently hosted Farm Source Sustainable Dairy Advisor Hannah Rooney for an On-Farm Efficiency Service visit. Together with Chris Fisher from New Zealand Super Fund and FarmRight, Jared and Hannah did a deep dive into the business to see where efficiencies could be made.

“When we booked the farm efficiency visit, we sort of knew that we were heading in the right place, but it was just good to have a bit of backup and some outside eyes from Farm Source to make sure that we are hitting those goals and we were heading in the right direction,” says Jared.

Over the past year, the farm has implemented some key changes on-farm. The first, putting collars on all cows, which Jared says “has helped immensely with mating.”

The farm has also optimised the stocking rate (dropping from 2,200 cows to 2,000) to assist in achieving feed efficiencies and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The farm is targeting a 10% reduction in emissions intensity by 2028. The farm converted 4.5ha from pasture to fodder beet to help with transition feed. Planting is also underway to increase shade and shelter. Chris says FarmRight’s objective is to always be in the top tier of farming. “When you come to Lamorna, you see a high-value asset. We have a real focus on health and safety, and driving efficiencies. We’re trying to get to the details to make it better every day,” he says.

The Co-op’s tools have been invaluable in helping achieve the farm’s goals. Jared says he found the Co-op’s Emissions Calculator “great” for business.

“The emissions calculator is really important to the business as a whole, as far as the Super Fund goes. It’s given us confidence here at Lamorna that the changes we’re making to our farming system are actually meeting the targets that are set by our owner and by the industry,” Jared says.

“What I liked about the benchmarking insights was again, reinforcing the things that we are doing well and to be able to see where we are against the industry. I definitely recommend booking a visit. You’d be surprised how much you’re actually doing already, and it’s great to have someone else there to highlight the little things that you may have missed.”

From an owner's perspective, Chris says the whole experience has been powerful for the farm’s operations.

“The process has been really beneficial to find the small gaps that can often lead to big gaps. These can make a huge difference. It’s been quite powerful for us,” he says.