Welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter. With spring underway, the Southern Dairy Hub team is focused on pasture management, ongoing research, and our spring rotation planner. In this edition, you’ll find practical insights to take back to your farm, along with updates on key projects.
Once again, we’re excited to share progress from the Future Farm Systems Demonstration Trial, comparing our Future Herd (focused on individual cow performance at lower stocking rates) with our Standard Herd (reflecting typical southern South Island farming practices). You’ll also find details about our upcoming farm tour — a chance to see the latest work and chat with the team.
If you’ve been following us on Facebook, you may have caught our short videos with Farm Manager Michael Berkers. We’ve been sharing what’s happening on-farm at SDH, from managing high covers and BCS assessments through to seasonal priorities. We hope these updates have been a useful window into day-to-day decision-making at the Hub.
You can also keep up with the latest from SDH through our website at southerndairyhub.co.nz/hubwatch. Thank you to everyone who completed our recent survey — your feedback will help us make HubWatch more relevant, practical, and valuable as a weekly tool to support decisions on your farm. Happy reading!
Andrea Dixon, SDH General Manager
Pasture Management in Focus at Upcoming SDH Farm Walk
Southern Dairy Hub is hosting its next Farm Walk Through on Wednesday 8 October, from 11am to 1pm. The session, titled ‘Managing second-round grass and milk urea’, will give farmers a chance to walk the farm with the SDH team, hear from guest speakers, and take part in practical discussions on pasture management, followed by free lunch.
Guest speaker Dr Charlotte Westwood (PGG Wrightson Seeds) will share insights on managing pasture quality during the second round, testing methods to assess feed quality, and what milk urea results are showing at this stage of the season.
She’ll be joined by Leo Pekar (FarmWise), who will cover how to balance pasture quality intakes before mating, the key trigger points to watch, and how the feed wedge supports decision-making.
The farm walk offers a great opportunity to connect with others, pick up new tips, and see first-hand what’s happening at the Hub this spring.
All farmers are welcome. For more information, visit southerndairyhub.co.nz/events.
Did you know the Southern Dairy Development Trust (SDDT), made up of local farmers, is the third partner in SDH? The SDDT plays an important role, working with DairyNZ, AgResearch and the SDH Board to ensure the Hub remains relevant to southern farmers.
A recent SDH governance operations reorganisation has set the SDDT up to become more integrated in the Hub, acting as a feeder for farmer members on the Research and Advisory Committee or as SDDT elected members on the SDH board. SDDT has an important role to set expectations for the SDH board, and be a link to the farming community, both for the Board and for the farm management team. We hold about seven meetings a year, often attend SDH field days and assist with other events hosted at the farm.
We are currently recruiting new SDDT members and need farmers who want to be part of influencing the southern research scene and the farm goals for southern farming’s future. Is that you?
Please reach out to learn more. You can contact Clare Officer on officernz@gmail.com or Luke Templeton at templeton.luke@gmail.com
Does baleage wintering provide better conditions for cows than wintering on fodder beet?
Winter 2024 provided an opportunity to investigate whether wintering on baleage improves ground conditions and therefore cow lying times compared with wintering on fodder beet. With several mobs being wintered on baleage on the farm, the study also looked at how area allocation/bale density (m2/cow/day or bales/ha) and frequency of baleage allocation (daily or every 4 days) impacted soil conditions and cow behaviour. Here we are reporting preliminary data that still requires statistical analysis.
Regular monitoring of baleage quality highlighted significant variation within and between paddocks. While an average DM% of 38% is realistic, the range from 16-56% is of more concern. Similarly, an average crude protein of 13.9% and ME of 9.6 MJ/kg DM would meet cow demand; however, this would not be the case for the bales with the lowest crude protein (8.5%) and ME (7.0 MJ/kg DM). These results highlight the risk of using average data when assessing wintering diets and the importance of working with contractors to make good quality baleage for use in baleage wintering systems. In contrast, the pasture and fodder beet had much higher and more consistent quality across the trial period.
As a result of the quality differences between the diets, cows wintered on fodder beet consumed similar protein but more energy than those wintered on baleage, resulting in a 0.2 BCS unit higher gain over winter.
When it came to lying behaviour, cows wintered on fodder beet spent less time lying during the day and more time lying in the early evening. Increasing area allocation in the baleage system increased daytime lying, while offering baleage less frequently resulted in cows lying for less time during the night. All treatments had similar average lying times (9.1 to 9.9 hr/day) across the study.
There was considerable day to day variation in average daily lying time across the trial period. While there were many days where average lying time was above 10 hours per day, there were also days where the average was below 8 hours (Figure 1). The surprising result was the similar trends in average lying time between the baleage and fodder beet treatments. It was expected that the baleage wintered cows would maintain lying times during periods of wet weather and sodden soil conditions, but this data did not support that. Similar to previous research, rainfall and subsequent soil wetness had the biggest impact on lying time.
Analysis of the data is ongoing and will be reported in full once all the statistical analysis has been completed.
Figure 1: Average daily lying time for cows wintered fodder beet compared with those wintered on baleage at two frequencies of allocation
Spotlight on Wintering: Research You Can Use
Over the past two months, we’ve been running a Facebook awareness campaign sharing practical tips and insights from our wintering research. From gumboot scoring in pugged paddocks, to the role of crop choice in cow health and performance, through to options like hay bale grazing and the benefits of plantain in winter pastures, the focus has been on giving farmers tools that can make a real difference.
The campaign posts linked back to the SDH Wintering Research Guide, which brings together findings from across our trials and farm systems work. Whether you’re interested in reducing nitrogen leaching, improving soil function, or understanding how winter management choices affect profitability and the environment, the guide is designed to support on-farm decisions. If you missed the posts, you can download the full guide anytime at southerndairyhub.co.nz/wintering.
Dr Robyn Dynes: Championing Science with Southern Farmers
Southland-born Dr Robyn Dynes, Principal Scientist and Farmer Engagement Specialist at the Bioeconomy Science Institute (AgResearch Group), brings decades of experience and a strong passion for linking science with farming practice. As a member of the Southern Dairy Hub Research Advisory Committee, she plays a pivotal role in ensuring research is both scientifically robust and practically relevant for southern dairy farmers.
Her involvement at the Hub centres on ensuring that research and demonstration projects reflect real-world farming challenges and opportunities. “I sit at the table with farmers,” she says, “and that drives the relevance and passion for what I do.”
Robyn’s work helps bridge the gap between researchers and stakeholders, ensuring that scientific insights are translated into meaningful, on-farm improvements.
What Robyn loves most about her role is the partnership with DairyNZ, Fonterra and Southland farmers. “Understanding what motivates farmers has helped me translate research into farming practices,” she explains. Her approach is grounded in empathy and practicality, making science accessible and impactful for those working the land.
One of the most exciting outcomes of her research has been the development of tools that support land use decisions beyond just profitability. Through the Whitiwhiti Ora programme, she helped create a freely available tool for rural professionals to assess land use suitability, factoring in environmental and social dimensions.
“I’m really proud of this work,” she says, “because it allowed me to work with amazing people across universities, Crown Research Institutes, and the private sector.”
SDH provides a space where science meets practice. It’s a place for testing and demonstrating innovations in real farm conditions, offering insights that are immediately applicable. Robyn believes the Hub plays a critical role in helping farmers adapt to climate change, reduce emissions, and maintain New Zealand’s reputation for safe, high-quality food. “Science and innovation are critical,” she says. “We need to understand our footprint and what we can do about it while keeping our eyes on the horizon.”
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for updates or visit www.southerndairyhub.co.nz to find out more.
Warm regards,
Andrea Dixon, SDH General Manager
