With 500ha more pastoral land due to come into Landcorp’s Orakonui dairy support block by 2021 it will mean big changes for the unit, says Orakonui farm business manager Joan Barendsen.
It will see the supplementary feed Orakonui produces for 19 Landcorp dairy farms increase from 3.7 million kilograms of dry matter to 11.5 million kilograms. As from 1 July 2017 Landcorp went palm kernel free so this additional feed will provide an internal source of feed to the dairy farms, says Joan.
It’s also another precept of Pamu, the brand Landcorp has developed to reflect its focus on producing a high value, grass fed product.
Orakonui dairy support block is a complex business accommodating moving boundaries and land areas in accordance with land coming in from development and going out to dairy. It comprises 2770ha over seven different land blocks.
The land is leased from Wairakei Estate, which is 25,704ha of land owned by three families with the vision of creating one of the largest and most environmentally sustainable pastoral farms in the Southern Hemisphere.
Joan says that early in the project, the estate owners identified Landcorp Farming Ltd as an ideal partner to run the farming operation. Landcorp’s corporate structure and values were a ‘good fit’ with the vision for Wairakei Estate.
The additional 500ha coming into pastoral use at Orakonui is due to forestry blocks being harvested. Land not suitable for pastoral use on steeper country will be re-planted in trees to protect the land from erosion.
Joan says the focus has been moving towards growing lucerne due to the fact it needs no nitrogen to thrive and yields almost double the crop when compared to grass yields across the complex.
It fits in well with Landcorp’s focus on being stewards of the land and farming sustainable for the future.
It’s also another precept of Pamu – a genuine desire to protect and enhance the land. “Our focus at Orakonui dairy support block is on delivering high quality feed to the farms for the lowest possible cost.
It takes a bit of planning – when do we cut the crop? Where do we cut and to which farms do we deliver it to give the most value for money? The logistics of how this will work is always the challenge,” says Joan.
This season Orakonui has 1100 carry over cows, rears 1800 replacement dairy heifers and winters 5300 mixed age cows.
Orakonui also runs a successful beef and lamb finishing operation and supports Spring Sheep Dairy in a joint venture.
This season Orakonui will finish 1000 bulls and 1600 beef steers. Joan says the aim is to grow heifers out to between 420 and 440 kilograms before May 1 each season and wintering cows should be putting on at least one half of a condition score.
Joan says good communication between Orakonui and dairy farmers is important to especially before the winter, to make sure cows are dried off at the right time and arrive at Orakonui with no less than a body condition score of 4. Then its up to allocation and quality of feed to help them put on condition.
At Orakonui the team use temporary fences to accurately break feed pasture taking into account pre-grazing residuals and breaks the herd into manageable groups of 200-400.
Heading into winter pasture covers of 2600 per ha is the aim to ensure adequate feed over the slow winter grass growth period. Silage is feed out in the paddocks over winter.
Joan says the heifer finishing operation has been steadily improving due to training of staff, better understanding of targets and good leadership to get the right results.
It’s a multifaceted business so it’s a real achievement that for the past two years Orakonui dairy support block has taken out the title of number one livestock property in Landcorp due to its impressive profit per hectare delivering an EBIT of $706/ha in 2016.
“We’ve achieved this through Farmax modelling to make sure we balance our winter grazing with our heifer grazing and our beef programme.
It’s about making sure each part of the business is maximised throughout the year. The team is a really important part of achieving that.
Without them we wouldn’t have this success,” says Joan who oversees the farming business. She says a key is being able to be adaptable and responsive to take advantage of opportunities presented by weather or the meat schedule.
For example this season Orakonui dairy support block finished 2200 lambs, taking a punt that the rain was coming when others were too dry to take advantage of the opportunity.
This article was brought to you in association with the following businesses…
- Progressive Livestock Ltd
- Ken Riddle Livestock (2010) Ltd
- Blue Grass Contracting
- Plateau Sprayers Ltd
