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Peter and Claire Hansen are turning a profit milking less than 30 cows on five (effective) hectares near Rangiora.

Darrell and Julie Wendelgelst had already been paying close attention to their soils when Darrell travelled to Tasmania with the Dairy Business Centre on a biological farming tour in 2023. With some cows in Darrell and Julie’s 400-cow herd producing up to 1000kg MS, they could have been forgiven for approaching any kind of change cautiously.

More milk and lower empty rates (without intervention) has been the result of checking and addressing the mineral status in Brian and Simone Shaw’s Invercargill herd. The couple say the Dairy Business Centre’s team have helped them lift production 35,000kg MS last season, and given them peace of mind that they are doing everything they can to facilitate per cow performance.

Irishman Bill O’Sullivan has reluctantly agreed to go on the record…twice. His reason is simple. He is deeply concerned that too many New Zealand dairy farmers appear to have little idea about what “lead feed” is, what it does, how it helps minimise milk fever, and how that impacts across their whole business. Bill keeps meticulous records of cow health and events on their property.

Is a silage preservative an additional cost in the conserved feed debate or a must-have decision to preserve feed and limit waste? Mid Canterbury dairyman Mark Stewart says it’s been a no-brainer for their operation, which is projected to average 600kg MS a cow. They have been able to save feed wastage at four pivotal points. Find out how it’s working for them…

A stubbornly high Somatic Cell Count, 17% empty rates, saving money on conventional fertiliser, and a rising awareness of the global “nitrogen addiction” were the original triggers which made Tasmanian dairy producer Mark Wadley consider biological farming.