Having weight data allows informed decision making. Regular weighing of our young stock (every six weeks) and acting on this data means hitting growth targets.
New Zealand liveweight targets are achievable with a portion of heifers exceeding weight for age targets. Improved weighing uptake is still an opportunity though, to improve reproductive and lactation performance. On average New Zealand heifers are 5% below weight for age targets at 22 months with a production loss of 2kg MS per lactation for every 1% heifers are below this target1.
Weighing systems need to be easy to use and seamlessly allow integration and transparency of data to give the best value.
Central Taranaki contract milker Buddy Sharpe is transforming his herd management and young stock grazing by regularly weighing his animals and leveraging data to make informed decisions.
Buddy, his wife Claudia and their two children, Hudson and Miles, started contract milking on a 170-hectare farm milking 480 cows, in June 2024. They also manage a nearby 70-hectare lease block where they graze heifers for clients.
When they arrived at the new dairy farm, record-keeping hadn’t been a strong focus. Buddy was keen to bring everything up to best practice standards, so he turned to technology to simplify his job.
He chose a Gallagher Animal Management’s HR4 Handheld EID tag reader, TW-3 Weigh Scale and Data Collector, and 1,500kg load bars.
“When growing a new heifer for your herd can cost up to $2000, you want to get your animal management right from the start. Regular weighing is helping us manage our young stock more efficiently and demonstrate value we’re delivering to our grazing clients,” says Buddy.
They use the weighing system to monitor and manage grazing heifers, which Buddy says is critical to growing productive and efficient future milkers.
They weigh all heifers at the owner’s farm before they arrive for grazing, then weigh them every six weeks and provide the data to their clients through MINDA.
“For our grazing heifers, I ask the owners to add me to MINDA and I can do their weighing for them. It only takes me a few minutes to jump on my computer, and it’s all there for them,” says Buddy.
He says good management of replacement heifers is critical to driving efficiency on farms and ensuring every heifer entering the herd is set up to succeed.
“It’s so important to get them growing well early. Regular weighing means we can pull out of the mob any heifers that aren’t performing as expected and give them special treatment,” says Buddy.
The Gallagher system is easy to transport between the two properties and across all classes of animals, from their milking herd to young stock and calves. Buddy believes it will come into its own this calving season.
“We can take it from property to property. It’s mainly been at the lease block, but soon it'll be weighing all the calves that are on the dairy farm to make sure we're weaning them at target weights," he says.
Buddy says regular weighing of their calves means they don’t risk weaning them too early or too late, which can be costly in the long term. It also helps identify any calves that might be falling behind target weight ranges.
Buddy says the Gallagher system not only tracks his stock’s performance but also facilitates seamless communication with his customers.
“If I scan a heifer or a calf, all the information is sitting there in my animal performance app. I can find it in a few minutes and share it with our clients,” he says.
“Managing our young stock and our grazing business well using hard data is helping us work towards that goal to ensure we have the most efficient system possible.”
For more information on weighing and Gallagher scales, pop in for a chat at your local Farm Source store.
1 McNaughton, L., Lopdell, T. Effect of heifer live weight on calving pattern and milk production. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production: 2013, Vol 73: 103-107.