More than 200 farmers have now booked the Co-op’s On-Farm Efficiency Service.
Included among these is Walton farmer Rex Butterworth, who found the visit immensely valuable.
Rex and his wife, Sharon, milk 485 cows on a 106ha farm in the Waikato. The couple have been proactive in their approach to efficiency – refining their farming system and equipment over the years, including investing heavily in herd shelters to cut nitrogen leaching into soil and improve animal wellbeing.
While Rex had further plans in mind for increasing efficiency on his farm, he was eager to check that his plans wouldn’t have any negative impact on emissions.
He booked an On-Farm Efficiency Service for some support and reassurance and hosted Sustainable Dairying Specialist Andy Mourits on-farm.
“To be honest, I thought the visit would be a scoring exercise and I was a bit hesitant, but what I found was that the Sustainability team was actually taking a supporting role not a dictating role. That was really good,” says Rex.
“The initial meeting that I had with Andy was really relaxed, very informal and non-confronting. I wanted to learn first what our emissions figure was, what the target was industry-wide, what the target should be for our farm, and whether the vision that I had for our farm was going to improve that position or not. Andy had done some work ahead of the visit, and came prepared with a dashboard of all my numbers.
“He and I looked at what effects different things were going to have on emissions – the likes of PK, grass silage, maize silage, pasture, cow numbers, mating, six-week in-calf rate. All of that went into the mix. Some of those things would have a big impact. Others had a minor impact, but the outcome of the whole recipe was what I was really interested in and what we could do to be more efficient without compromising our profitability.”
Following the visit, Andy provided Rex with a summary highlighting what they had discussed and some mutually agreed to action. Part of the On-Farm Efficiency Service, the summaries help farmers identify potential next steps and tangible actions they can take to improve efficiency.
“The visit and summary has given me the confidence to go ahead with some of the changes that I was already thinking of implementing because they are going to be beneficial both on an emissions front, and practically on-farm,” Rex says.
“I strongly recommend that people climb on board. There’s nothing to lose from doing so, and a lot to gain. It’s farmer-led.
There was no pressure to implement anything that Fonterra was suggesting. They just looked at what we were already doing and gave us some guidance. No pressure, no judgement, and really informative.”
Since launching the service late last year the Co-op has seen a steady number of farmers book in visits. Programme Manager Laura Cookson says it’s clear that farmers are eager to get some help with efficiency gains, while considering the impact on the environment.
“The Co-op and our farmers are putting efficiency front and centre – it’s good for the farm business and also for the Co-op’s emissions goals, which in turn makes us more competitive in selling milk globally. It’s a collective goal that can be achieved by farmers continuing to do what they’ve always done – use resources as wisely as they can and learn from latest advice and technology,” Laura says.
“The On-Farm Efficiency Service provides a way for farmers to assess and identify opportunities for efficiencies to be made and how to action these on-farm – all in a relaxed, collaborative way.”