By Nikita B. Damsgaard
Aquila Sustainable Farming (ASF) is a subsidiary of the German based Aquila Capital, who invested in six New Zealand dairy farms in 2011 and then converted them to EU-certified organic in 2016. ASF oversees the whole operation, and they are in charge of all the organic compliance and the profitability of the dairy farms. ASF is located in Southland and is managed by; Jessica Craig the General Manager, Jason Craig the Compliance Leader and Strahan McCallum the Operations Manager.
Their portfolio is made up of six dairy farms, compromising nine milking sheds and four support blocks which are used to support winter grazing, harvesting supplements and young stock grazing. The infrastructure across the farms include eight rotary sheds, one herringbone shed, and one herd home located on one of the farms.
The teams on the farm are made up of 4-5 staff on each platform. Their herds range from 400-850 cows, bringing their whole herd across farms to around 5200 cows. ASF is the largest single supplier of A2 organic milk in New Zealand, and likely one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
The ASF difference
ASF builds upon three primary values; the people, the animals, and the land. “We need all three to be able to run a successful business” says Jessica Craig. The management team strives to make it possible for their teams to develop and learn new skills while they work with ASF. Creating a good work environment means that they have high staff succession and retention, which puts down a great foundation for their business.
Upon that foundation, they have built a business where they farm sustainably.“Sustainable farming to me means being able to do what you are doing long term without it being to the detriment of anything else,” says Jessica. But being sustainable does come with some challenges.
When they decided to shift to organic farming, they needed to improve the general health of their herd. They needed to be proactive in terms of preventing the cows from getting sick and minimising their antibiotic usage. They therefore need to prevent diseases as it would be more effective than treating the cows after they get sick.
Feeding
For ASF, feed input is key as it ensures good production from the herd. “Fully fed cows in our system is very important, if a cow is fully fed on a daily basis, it will then produce milk to its highest capacity, animal health issues will drop, wastage in the cows will reduce and it will be a good environment for the staff and the cows to be operating in.” says Strahan.
In being organic they need to make sure that all their cow feed is also certified organic. ASF lease four support blocks where they now grow all the extra supplement feed on. “In growing the feed ourselves, we can control the feed being produced and ensure it is all organic certified and high quality. It also allowed us to support local organic producers by providing them a new market for their business.” says Jessica.
Their lease blocks support a quality supply of baleage and silage, winter and young stock grazing. Their herd's nutrition underpins the fertility, production and health of the cows which all contribute to the overall profitability and sustainability of their operation.
“We are trying to make things better for the future, so the future of farming in our eyes has that sustainability aspect, putting what we need into the soil to take out the right things interms of milk.” Says Jason Craig.
Organic breeding strategy
ASF were introduced to the Scandinavian red breeds when one of their directors shared his experience working with them. ASF got in contact with the local breeding consultant, Glenn Taylor, from Samen NZ. They started working with Samen NZ four years ago, and have since moved away from KiwiCross cows and moved onto using Samen NZ’ Three Way Cross solution with the Scandinavian red breeds from Samen NZ.
When they looked into the Scandinavian genetics, they found that these cows would more than likely fit the demands of an organic farm. Breeding cows with good structure, good udder conformation and the ability to consistently produce upwards of 400 milk solids will provide a strong foundation in their herd. On top of that the Scandinavian breeds come with a lot of health benefits, and ASF wanted to minimise lameness in their herd, improve somatic cell counts, optimise teat placement, improve mastitis resistance, focus on udder conformation, and increase fertility.
For ASF’s operations manager, Strahan McCallum, it is important that a cow has very good feet, high capacity, can take daily intakes post calving of 20-22 kg of dry matter throughout the milking season and they need a cow that's got excellent udder conformation and the last, but not least a cow with good longevity.
Having improved these health traits has helped them to be very proactive and find that now the majority of the time, mastitis cases, often heal themselves. If the cows show signs of sickness, they have they own Mastatest machine which can detect what bug the animals have, and then they can treat the cows immediately.
The Scandinavian genetics are good to use to improve animal health as VikingGenetics has spent decades breeding for better health in their genetics. Sweden, Finland, and Denmark have the lowest use of antibiotics in the world, as there are strict rules on the use of antibiotics.Veterinarians have strict regulations of when they are allowed to treat cows and what diseases they are allowed to treat. The Scandinavian countries also have a tradition of avoiding antibiotics, they care about natural, healthy cows and they want to lead the way for sustainability in the dairy industry. At VikingGenetics they prioritise healthy cows with good production as this will ensure a longer lifespan and more profitability for the farmers.
In the future lies the fact that conventional farmers and organic farmers will have one thing in common; being sustainable. Breeding for a better future means breeding sustainably. Using Scandinavian genetics will help farmers to get lower somatic cell counts, minimising lameness and in general getting healthier cows who require fewer treatments with antibiotics and having cows that live longer.
The Future of ASF
ASF have managed to improve their herd by keeping their feeding levels constant, having consistent cullings of unsuitable cows and consistent growing of quality livestock. “The biggest change that I have noticed since the introduction of Scandinavian genetics over the last four years is mainly the robustness in the feet and the ability to walk. Lameness has dropped away, mastitis has reduced and the consistency and the structural continuity in the cows would be the biggest things I have noticed.” says Strahan.
ASF has reduced their antibiotic usage by 15% since they shifted to organics by putting in an effective management team, new and improved processes and introducing VikingReds into their herd. Their average treatment rates are close to 2% whereas the local regions average is at9%. In 7 years of organic farming, they have only lost 2 cows to antibiotic treatment reasons.
“The Aquila herds would be more sustainable than other herds on the market because of the investment into the Scandinavian and VikingReds. This is mainly around producing a healthier animal with consistency, robustness, and longevity.” says Strahan.
The herd ASF has bred for their organic farming system would also be a high performer outside of organics as conventional farmers will face many of the same challenges in the near future as organic farmers face today.
With the Three Way Cross, the animals come through consistently uniform, they are getting stronger calves with better weights, right through to the milking cows.Overall, they have been experiencing lower empty rates, better production and better health traits.
The performance of ASF over the last five years has been a real success story. When you convert to organic it is a real learning curve and now that they have overcome that in the last four to five years, they are at a point where they understand what their farms can produce.
They understand what their cows can do, and they understand some of the limitations of organics which they have been able to mitigate really well. “Over the past 5 years we have definitely reached a point where in the next five years I think we will see that growth continue, and that is quite exciting for us” says Jessica.
