Looks to be about 3 and half days with less rain this week. I ordered the calf bedding at the start of the year, the suppliers would often be booked up by the winter. Some farms have put rubber matting on the cowyard as a cow comfort feature. Construction costs in NZ have skyrocketed in the past 2 years. NZ cow compost barn in a recent publication nz$270K excluding concrete and earthworks for a 52 metres (170feet) x 22metres( 72 feet). I see a dairy farm down by the Waipa River I used to visit a long time ago, now has barns and an effluent 'storage lake'.
You're doing your best Andrew. Wet time's are the most challenging dairying I think. I'm dairying in SW England UK, looks like a typical winter for us. Hold on in there 👍
Mate you Gotta love those kiddies swing sets like you got on your lawn. Hours of entertainment for the kids and they double as an A frame if you ever Wana chain block lift a motor out of a car 😂😂
Good stuff Andrew its definitely tough going at the moment and many cows in the Waikato are doing there fair share of nights on the yard. I think we forget pretty quickly but I'm sure iv seen winter's just as wet, just not so early.
You need a big barn or two I think Andrew just to put the ladies in at night your herd is just so beautiful, glad you had a good weekend obviously didn’t pack a razor 😂🤣😂🤣hope the ladies manage to stay warm will they lie down on concrete? Looking forward to your next video take care x
I did a tour of NZ from Tasmania 36 years ago and it was wet, a lot of muddy paddocks. I think last year you suggested you might review some cow shelter barns. If you have time it would be interesting to do the basic economics and logisitics of that. For me one option would be to have half the herd in a shed , the early calvers, that would be enough to protect those animals and to save on building costs.
Hey Yeah up in northland i would say we are waterlogged too. I winter cows and R2 on the platform. R1s go away. So im under 2 cows/ha and yet the farms never big enough at this time of year. Been short of grass since early june which was bizzare
We’re in the same boat just can’t win, doesn’t help our year out heard homes blow down last winter in a storm and aren’t getting rebuilt anytime soon. Would of been great to have them the last couple of months
Great video as always Andrew yes the north island is not have a good year regarding rain . Got nw here in canterbury today hopefully you guys get some to help drying things out . But the funny thing that will be after all this rain 6 months from now will be screaming out for rain as normally what happens. Might be a good reason to clean all the drains this summer. And congrats on the first replacement 🎉. And was nice that you did another talk with your dad 😊
Here in Ireland we are lucky we have sheds to house cows when we have bad weather because if we poach the land it will take grass a lot longer to recover I hope it dry up Andrew for ye
Would be good to get them off grass in wet conditions but would really need a dedicated shed, whether it be a composting barn or slatted floor but there so expensive to build 🤯
@@TheOnceADayFarmer but if they need to be off the grass because it’s too wet at least you have the water for a yard wash down. Roof or no roof out on grass they would be getting wet.
Would be good to sacrifice that maize paddock and 1 other that u will crop , put them on the grass for 4 -5 hours the onto sacrifice with bit of supplement for the night
We are in desperate need of more rain here in nw Ontario, got a couple inches last week which was enough to keep the corn alive and start the alfalfa for 2nd cut
Look into outdoor cubicles where u took out the old dairy and they can walk down to the feed area to eat. You won’t know yourself. Mind the land and it will mind you
Do you have water on the feed pad 1 trough at each end on opposite sides would be ideal during bad weather one mob one side and other mob on other side just a a thought cheers mate
To me it feels like this year is like a badly mixed sauce, some are so dry that bones looks moist, and you guys a having so much rain, But I think it's just a sign of things to come in years to come. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
I know the cost is huge but can you see yourselves having to put up a shed for cows both for environmentall reasons and to save your land from all that pugging...we had that in march this year when cow just called and calving and thank god we had sheds to leave them in
Tough going in the wet on tough the ground the animals and the farmer. Getting closer to spring day by day though. Reckon a sleep only cubicle or timber cow kennel shed close to your feed pad would really future proof your farm for extreme weather and even winter milk option just don't chase the litres and the higher costs that follow
There are people who measure rainfall in Ireland and say that we get the same amount of rain every year just depends at what time it falls so ye could be heading towards another big drought!!
Was just saying to dozer how everybody was thinking we might have a drier winter with all the rain we had last season but not the case the rain is the gift thats keeps on giving, surely it's gotta stop at some stage 🤦
