FARM VISIT ▶▶▶
Nel family invests despite challenges
BY CHRIS MCCULLOUGH, INDEPENDENT FREELANCE JOURNALIST H
owever, for one farm milking 700 cows near Jo- hannesburg its business as usual with a moderni- sation programme well under way. Corne Nel and his family run Doornfontein Melkery at Randfon-
tein, just 40 km west of Johannesburg, where the summer temperatures can reach 40°
C.
New DeLaval 64 point rotary milking parlour As well as the milking section of the herd the farm is home to another 1,280 followers and a commercial beef herd of 400 Bonsmara cows that produce meat for the local markets. To set the scene, the home dairy farm extends to 300 hectares but there are an additional six farms in the business adding another 2,100 hectares to cater for growing crops and man- aging the other livestock. Lactating cows on the home dairy unit are kept in open air corals and split into groups to make it easier to manage them at feeding and milking times. This farm has already modernised by installing a DeLaval 64 point rotary milking parlour just two years ago which speeded milking times up considerably, but there are also plans to build new housing.
€ 0.30 per litre of milk Dairy unit manager Pieter Barnard explained how the herd per- formance has increased steadily thanks to new equipment and software. “We have 700 cows milking which are mainly Hol- stein with some Ayrshires in the mix,” says Pieter. “Our average yield is 31.5 litres per cow per day at 3.6% butterfat and 3.1% protein. “Cows are split into different performance groups and fed accordingly with a mix containing lucerne, various grasses, maize silage, brewers grain, sorghum, molasses and a concen- trate. Everything is grown by us except the lucerne. “We feed around 56kg per day to each cow with a dry matter intake of 25 to 28kg,” says Pieter. “Our milk goes to Bosparadys farm, which bottles their own milk plus that from a number of different sup- pliers like us. Farmers in this area receive an average of R4.86 (€ 0.30, US$ 0.34, £0.26) per litre but the shops charge R11 (€ 0.68, US$ 0.77, £0.59) per litre.” The farm employs 60 staff to cover the dairy and beef herds as well as to feed and work the crops in the fields. Eight staff are on duty, each milking three times per day at 4am, 12 noon and 7pm.
Modernising any dairy farm comes with an expected element of risk but when that farm is in South Africa with its current political uncertainties, then the risk is much higher.
Good calf heifer programme A good calf management programme is also a vital tool on this farm to ensure healthy, well developed heifers enter the main herd at two years of age. “Once born the calves receive up to 4 litres of colostrum with- in the first two hours,” adds Pieter. “They are moved to the first stage calf housing into individual pens where staff close- ly monitor them. After two weeks they are moved into calf hutches for another two weeks and are weaned at 64 days
Profile
Name: Corne Nel Town: Randfontein Farm: The farm milks 700 cows, which are mainly Holstein with some Ayrshires in the mix. The average milk yield is 31.5 litres per cow per day at 3.6% butterfat and 3.1% protein. The farm has been modernised two years ago by installing a DeLaval 64 point rotary milking parlour, which speeded milking times up consider- ably, but there are also plans to build new housing. The farm employs 60 staff to cover the dairy and beef herds as well as to feed and work the crops in the fields.
▶DAIRY GLOBAL | Volume 6, No. 2, 2019
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PHOTO: CHRIS MCCULLOUGH
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