Data-driven weighing systems transform young stock management for Taranaki farmer

Central Taranaki contract milker Buddy Sharpe is transforming his herd management and young stock grazing by regularly weighing his animals and leveraging data to make informed decisions. 

Buddy, his wife Claudia and their two children Hudson (3) and Miles (1.5) started contract milking on a 170-hectare farm milking 480 cows, in June. They also manage a nearby 70-hectare lease block where they graze heifers for clients. 

When they arrived at the new dairy farm in June 2024, record-keeping hadn’t been a strong focus. Buddy was keen to bring everything up to best practice standards, so he turned to technology to simplify his job. 

He uses Gallagher Animal Management’s HR4 Handheld EID tag reader, TW-3 Weigh Scale and Data Collector, and 1,500kg load bars.

This technology has been crucial in managing the new herd and demonstrating the value they provide to their grazing clients. 

“When growing a new heifer for your herd can cost up to $2,000, you want to get your animal management right from the start. Regular weighing is helping us manage our young stock more efficiently and demonstrate value we’re delivering to our grazing clients,” says Buddy. 

“When we arrived on the new farm, we ran every cow in the herd through the yards and used the handheld reader to get an accurate record of every cow that was on the farm so we could start building our data for the herd.” 

The couple keeps their grazing business separate from their dairy operation. They use the weighing system to monitor and manage grazing heifers, which Buddy says is critical to growing productive and efficient future milkers. 

They weigh all heifers at the owner's farm before they arrive for grazing, then weigh them every six weeks and provide the data to their clients through MINDA. 

“For our grazing heifers, I ask the owners to add me to MINDA and I can do their weighing for them. It only takes me a few minutes to jump on my computer, and it’s all there for them,” says Buddy. 

“It’s great because they have a clear record of exactly what’s happening with their young stock and know they’re getting good value from working with us.” 

He says good management of replacement heifers is critical to driving efficiency on farms and ensuring every heifer entering the herd is set up to succeed. 

“It’s so important to get them growing well early. Regular weighing means we can pull out of the mob any heifers that aren’t performing as expected and give them special treatment,” says Buddy. 

The Gallagher system is easy to transport between the two properties and across all classes of animals, from their milking herd to young stock and calves. Buddy believes it will come into its own this calving season. 

“We can take it from property to property. It's mainly been at the lease block, but soon it'll be weighing all the calves that are on the dairy farm to make sure we're weaning them at target weights," he says. 

Buddy says regular weighing of their calves means they don’t risk weaning them too early or too late which can be costly in the long term. It also helps identify any calves that might be falling behind target weight ranges.  

Buddy says the Gallagher system not only tracks his stock’s performance but also facilitates seamless communication with his customers. 

"If I scan a heifer or a calf, all the information is sitting there in my animal performance app. I can find it in a few minutes and share it with our clients,” he says. 

Keeping on top of his herd and graziers’ data is also helping the couple move towards their goal of 50/50 share milking. 

"We’d like to get this herd to 500 kgMS per cow, so we are fully feeding the herd to help us get to that level. Our short-term goal is to be 50/50 sharemilking next season or the season after," says Buddy. 

“Managing our young stock and our grazing business well using hard data is helping us work towards that goal to ensure we have the most efficient system possible.”