At the heart of every dairy farm is a focus on caring for hundreds of animals and acres of land, no matter the weather.

Southern Dairy Hub is no different. This Invercargill farm undertakes research and demonstration at a commercial scale to provide future-focused information to southern farmers, and the wider farming community across the country.

DairyNZ senior science manager Dawn Dalley says the Hub provides incredibly helpful information to farmers.

“The Southern Dairy Hub is unique because they operate within the same conditions as local farmers,” says Dalley. “An exciting thing is how the science we do changes how they operate the Hub in following seasons, to ensure the best outcomes for animals, people and the environment, just like other farmers across the country.

DairyNZ senior science manager Dawn Dalley says the Hub provides incredibly helpful information to farmers.
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“An interesting project in 2020 at the Southern Dairy Hub, carried out alongside DairyNZ and AgResearch, explored what conditions most affected the lying behaviour of cows during wet weather. We expected pugging depth would be the key driver of how long cows lay down but found that surface pooling of water had the biggest impact on our cows.”

DairyNZ research found that surface pooling of water had the biggest impact on cows during winter and Southern Dairy Hub have now changed their farm’s winter management plan.

Following this, the Southern Dairy Hub changed their farm’s winter management plan and focused on making decisions based on surface water pooling during wet weather.

“We now have a clear plan for when we move cows to always provide them with a comfortable lying surface. We start with additional feed when wet weather first sets in, and then look to move our back fences and use pasture breakout zones if the weather continues, so the animals have access to fresh ground,” says Dalley.

“In other research, we have compared kale and fodder beet as winter crops, resulting in changes to our autumn management with some kale cows dried off earlier so they calve in the right condition”.

Andrea Dixon, Southern Dairy Hub general manager, says that the Southern Dairy Hub is set up to think about what the future could look like, and identify different research projects and demonstrations to help with potential challenges, including managing wintering.

Andrea Dixon, Southern Dairy Hub general manager.
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“Farmers, including our farm, are operating in an environment where we need to balance financial and environmental sustainability, while meeting consumer expectations,” says Dixon.

“We open our gates so farmers can come and see the research for themselves, discuss challenges, and seek solutions to help operate in this complex environment.

“As active members of our community, we also support local businesses who are working towards similar goals. This includes our neighbours Recycle South, who are using our farm to refine their systems and processes as they help recycle agricultural waste, including bale wrap, from local farms.”

The Southern Dairy Hub actively shares their research, demonstrations, insights, and regular farm data updates through a range of events, resources and online information.

Read about the Southern Dairy Hub and their research at southerndairyhub.co.nz, and more about farmers wintering well at dairynz.co.nz/wintering