Ferdie Vries is exactly where he wants to be – dairying on some of the best country New Zealand has to offer.
This second-generation New Zealand Dutchman milks 400 spring-calving cows with his wife, Stacey Young, on 162 hectares of easy rolling country at Wreys Bush in Southland. The couple have one staff member, which means the small team running Burgundy Farms doesn’t have much spare time.
It takes eight hours a day to milk through the 28-a-side herringbone dairy, and their conscious decision not to tube-feed colostrum to newborn calves means the three of them can be bottle feeding up to 25 calves a day during the peak of calving.
It shows what really sets this young couple apart – underscoring that they are in the industry for all the right reasons – their cows.
Ferdie and his parents, Jan and Birgit, arrived in New Zealand in 2001. They ran the property in partnership until 2011, when Ferdie and Stacey bought them out. The young couple has continued to push hard since. In 2012 they installed an in-shed grain feeder, in 2013 they built a 100 x 50-metre new Redpath deep litter barn to cope with Southland’s bitter and wet winters (right before a milk price crash), and in 2022 they added cow collars.
Milk prices have surged and fallen during those big investments – often pushing them further financially than they would like. But Ferdie’s drive to look after the cows means he’s never wavered from his end-game, and today they have never been more on top of cow health.
Ferdie Vries loves his cows and puts in a lot of effort to make, their life as good as it can be.
Production goals
His production goal is to average 700kg Milk Solids (MS) a cow. Their peak so far is a 525kg MS per cow average with a total annual production of 210,000kg MS. They do have 10% of the herd producing 700kg MS, and they achieved an early herd (per day) average this season of 2.4kg MS per cow (with tops of 3.3kg MS).
Focussing on fully feeding and supporting his herd’s mineral status means Ferdie is on track to clock his best season this year with 20 less cows. He has achieved it after addressing the pre-calving energy status of his cows in 2020. Their dry cows were historically well-conditioned, and downer cows with milk fever used to be a challenge.
Milk fever usually impacts the older, high-yielding cows because of the increased draw down of calcium as they join the dairy herd and start milking towards peak production. While milk fever is one of the most treatable post-calving conditions, 60-70% of affected cows will die without intervention.
The year before they built the barn, roughly 10% of the herd had gone down post-calving. With a lean team to deal with the extra workload Ferdie said, “something had to change”. He wasn’t losing cows, but the extra workload and the cost of supportive therapies was wearing.
He knew it was costing peak production and potentially conception. The barn had allowed them to calve earlier without “destroying” their paddocks. But Ferdie was ready to take the next step.
He already had a rapport with Dairy Business Centre’s (DBC) Neville (Magic) Hamilton, and he was aware that DBC offered a pre-calving lead feed, Get-Set-Cow. He decided to give it a run. Today, he wouldn’t calve without it.
“Magic is very good at his job, and I’ve got a bit of faith in him, so we gave it a crack,” Ferdie said.
Ferdie Vries’ goal is to average 700kg of MS per cow, and he has 10% of the herd now achieving that.
Lead feed fixes “almost all your issues”
Get-Set-Cow is a specifically formulated supplement fed at 3kg/cow/day in the 10-14 days pre-calving. It includes a blend of pelletised, anionic salts, calcium, magnesium, grain, and protein. Designed for maximum palatability, it includes a full daily requirement of trace minerals, along with Rumensin. The feed is designed to give cows the best chance to calve uneventfully and to achieve peak production.
“The Get-Set-Cow goes through the mixer wagon, and I would almost say that it fixes almost all your issues – as simple as that.”
“We tried a lot of other things and nothing else has stood out as much as the results we got from that lead feed. We have faster calvings, virtually no downer cows, and the cows get to peak production without faltering or getting acidosis.”
This is a young herd on the way up with 10% producing 700kg MS.
Rumination sustained
Since adding the cow collars, Ferdie has been interested to note the impact of Get-Set-Cow on his herd’s rumination post-calving, in addition to the strength of their post-calving heats.
“We’ve found that the cows don’t really drop off in rumination markedly during calving, which has been interesting, and the next day when the fresh cows join the herd, you can’t really find them. That tells me they are getting everything they need,” Ferdie said.
“This season we have one more day of AB [artificial breeding], and I don’t think I’ve ever had such a high submission rate. We’d be over 90% already in three weeks. I’ve got a really good feeling about it. The cows have had really strong heats and they are a little off their milk the next day, which really shows that change of hormones.”
He said he has always enjoyed calving, and now – more than ever. Last season they didn’t lose a cow. It makes his 3am alarm and the late-night checks worth it.
“There is no feeling like it. When I get that calf out and the cow walks away safely, it’s 100% satisfaction for me.
“I’ve learned to really trust my gut. When I’m tired and hungry and I want to go home, but my gut tells me to check a cow, I just go and check her. I never regret it.”
Ferdie Vries says he wouldn’t calve without DBC’s pre-calving lead feed, Get-Set-Cow.
DBC across the board
The success with Get-Set-Cow prompted Ferdie to consider DBC’s other products, including its Milk-Maker dairy pellet, its Maximise calf pellets (a concentrated supplement using by-pass proteins that are customised to stimulate skeletal growth, provide lean muscle mass, supply energy, strengthen immunity and stimulate the calf’s rumen), and DBC’s premium, water-resistant Loose-Lick (ideal for young stock, dry cows, and lactating cows). The Loose-Lick includes the macro-minerals Calcium, Phosphorous, Magnesium, micro-minerals Zinc, Copper, Cobalt, Selenium, Manganese, and Iodine, along with Vitamins A, D and E.
Ferdie also introduced the DBC’s water-soluble Hard-Hoof Max-T-Mins (dispensed in the water trough and formulated to promote herd health and performance during lactation). Hard-Hoof Max-T-Mins includes higher levels of Iodine to most competing products, in addition to Biotin to improve hoof health.
Ferdie said the Milk-Maker dairy pellet (fed in-shed) did take the cows some time to adjust to. He got through the transition by blending some Palm Kernel with it. Ferdie has two silos, and he now makes use of the versatility they offer by balancing his herd’s diet as the grass quality changes through the season.
“The cows look fantastic, and the combination of products has definitely taken my herd health to the next level. The sheep farmer next door – who is rated as one of the best farmers in the district – now gets excited about how well my cows look.
He smiles, “Sheep farmers don’t usually get excited about how cows look, do they?”
They started herd testing last season and culled four high Somatic Cell Count (SCC) which took their SCC average down to a low of 80,000. Ferdie says the barn does challenge those numbers through calving, and they will look to teat-seal at drying off moving forward.
Ferdie says they source their Palm Kernel and crushed barley through DBC, because its commodity prices are competitive, and he trusts the source and the quality.
This season Ferdie Vries and his wife, Stacy Young, achieved an early herd (per day) average of 2.4kg MS per cow (with tops of 3.3kg MS).
Heifer growth exciting
With 25% replacement heifers joining their herd, Ferdie is pleased with the impact the Maximise calf pellets and the Loose-Lick are having on their heifers’ development.
“Our yearlings are definitely taller and bigger-framed animals,” Ferdie said. “This season I also put the loose lick out for the heifers at our grazing block, and the grazier reckons they are all over it like a bunch of prostitutes on cocaine. They all look really good.”
Every year Ferdie moves closer towards having everything in place for his dream herd on his picturesque property.
As Confusious said: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
