Kingsbury Farm
Rhys Darby and his brother have a big family dairy farm, grow maize and in 2020 diversified, dedicating a portion to setup sheep dairying. In June 2021 Rhys took delivery of another purchase of Zealandia® dairy sheep, taking their flock to 1400 milking ewes.
- Huntly, Waikato
- Location
- 3 FTE + casual staff
- Team
- 65 hectares
- Platform Size
- 1,400 ewes
- Animals
- 42-a-side herringbone
- Infrastructure
- 2020/2021 season
- First Year of Supply
Background
When Rhys and Phil first considered sheep dairying, both knew that the industry would have a natural fit in their existing family dairy business. There were three reasons why the Darbys dove into sheep dairying: • Business diversification, adding another string to their bow • Environmental benefits – they found that sheep milking is a better enterprise • They wanted a challenge and to try something different Rhys visited the Spring Sheep Pilot Farms and worked with the team to spend a few days milking and learning the ropes. After a few months of detailed due diligence leveraging the work and outputs of the Pilot Farms, the Darbys signed up a multi-year milk supply contract with Spring Sheep. Conversion of their existing surplus cow dairy infrastructure started in January 2020, and was modelled on the work of the Outdoor Pilot Farm. Rhys made several enhancements to the farm infrastructure using his experience in bovine dairy farming combined with time spent milking sheep. A flock of 600 Zealandia® ewes arrived on the 1st of June 2020 with milking of the new flock commencing on the 1st of August. In June 2021 Rhys took delivery of another purchase of Zealandia® sheep, taking their flock to 1400 milking ewes. "Sheep definitely have a lower environmental footprint than cows. There’s less ammonia, less urea, and less nitrogen leaching. Milking is cleaner, with very little effluent produced in the yards and shed, and animal health is noticeably better, with much less mastitis. It has been a learning curve, but the impeccable support and knowledge base of Spring Sheep has helped us in navigating the first season."
Overview
The Darby's operate an integrated system, incorporating heifers and dairy cows into a grazing plan to control pasture quality. "Managing sheep is similar to cows in principle, but there are nuances. Managing surplus is a challenge, as the ewes eat less than dairy cows. We control grass quality by making silage or bringing in dairy heifers from the dairy farm to reach the residuals we want. The systems work well together and similar grazing principles apply on the sheep dairy farm, as they do on the cow dairy farm. We operate a pasture-based system with 25 hectares of chicory. Surplus grass in spring is harvested and made into silage, to supplement the ewes in times of lower growth, like summer. We are aiming to extend the round length from about 12-14 days at the end of November, to 25 days around Christmas time. Chicory and grass silage are brought into the diet to extend the round. The ewe demand stays flat all year at about 3kgs DM/ewe/day. This consists of 600-800 grams of whole maize and a mineral mix fed in the shed, and the rest is made up of grass, chicory, and grass or maize silage. The mating period is late February/March, and lambing generally starts in July. Just like dairy cows, milking ewe condition is very important for a successful mating and lambing period. The ewes get maize silage fed out in March, to put conditions on for lambing. Lambs are reared in-shed and ram lambs are given away. In 2022 we are mating some animals to black-face terminal sires, and selling them to a rearer to finish them for the prime lamb market. We are able to milk 600 ewes per hour through our 42 aside herringbone. The team have a great system worked out.