Miriam and Friedmann Deuschle have lived in Mount Pirongia for the last 6 years and have been sharemilking – calving 440 cows on an exposed 165-hectare (ha) farm.
Prior to the Deuschle family arriving, the farm was used for sheep and beef, and with that, a lot of the old pasture was still in place. The family had issues with open paddocks, a lot of native grass species and Nui.
With Jarno’s help, they put together a solid long-term plan to renew pasture with some annuals and Italian ryegrasses to boost short term and perennial grasses for long term growth, the results of which they are now seeing. Friedmann says a major contributor has been a good fertiliser programme and doing a minimum of 10 percent pasture renewal every year. Throughout the journey, Friedmann has been working closely with Jarno and taking his recommendations on summer cropping, grasses and the different species that will work for the farm’s soil type and climate conditions.
Feed has been a big consideration of the Deuschle’s since they arrived on the farm. Starting with 500 cows, they decided to go down the feed less cows but feed them better path, firmly believing if you look after your animals, you will reap the rewards.
They have already seen an improvement in condition, and when combined with all the work done to improve the quality of pasture, the Deuschles have seen a big jump in milk solids.
“ When we started the first season, we got 320 kgMS/cow. Next season was 330 kgMS/cow, which is average for up here. In the 18/19 season we did 380kgMS/ cow, and this year we’ve done 480kgMS/cow, “
- Friedmann Deuschle, Fonterra Farmer, Waikato
Friedmann and Miriam are advocates of dairy farmers working closely with their local TSRs.
“I put a lot of value into Jarno’s opinion because the regional knowledge is a big factor in making decisions.”