Barns in New Zealand Dairying

Geoff Taylor

Project manager: People & Business

Farmer’s Forum

April 2015

Why farmers tell us they are building barns!

• Greater level of control over system• Manage issues, for example:

– wet soils– winter pasture damage

• Achieve genetic potential of cows• Address performance issues, e.g. in-calf rates• Manage environmental regulation• To grow their business without purchasing land

What’s DairyNZ doing?

Our aim is to help the farmer:• Make an informed decision• Build it right • Manage it well

What’s DairyNZ doing?1. Pastoral 21Investigating use of barns to help achieve productivity growth without increasing footprint.

2. System ChoiceHelping farmers to determine if building a barn is right for them.

3. Animal Health & WelfareGenerating a set of guidelines and resources to help ensure facilities are built and managed with an animal and human focus

4. Feed Right & System OptimisationLooking at how feeding strategies can be developed and implemented leading to continued profitability and sustainability.

System ChoiceTake homes:

System ChoiceTake homes

– Be sure a barn is the best way to achieve your goals

Reducing Footprint?

Pre-barn N Loss (kgN/ha)

Post-barn N Loss (kgN/ha)

Diff

Case Study 1 14 23 -64%

Case Study 2 10 11 -10%

Case Study 3 43 56 -30%

Case Study 4 28 27 4%

Case Study 5 8 7 13%

Case Study 6 40 31 23%

Reproductive performance

System ChoiceTake homes– Be sure a barn is the best way to achieve your goals

– Total investment = cost of barn + 30-50%

Costs can be hidden

Cost of Barn Total Capital Cost

Diff

Case Study 1 $2,102 $3,160 50%

Case Study 2 $2,573 $4,181 62%

Case Study 3 $2,994 $3,733 25%

Case Study 4 $3,302 $4,731 43%

Case Study 5 $4,000 $6,744 69%

Case Study 6 $1,440 $2,161 50%

System ChoiceTake homes– Be sure it’s the best way to achieve your goals– Total investment = cost of barn + 30-50%

– Operating profit is not sufficient measure

Use the right tools

Option 1 Option 2

Change in Operating Profit / Ha $225 $498

Change in Operating Return on Assets 0.20% 0.20%

Net Present Value / Ha $828 -$891

System ChoiceTake homes– Be sure it’s the best way to achieve your goals– Total investment = cost of barn + 30-50% – Operating profit not sufficient measure

– Skill requirements are different!

How does variability arise?

In practice:

Making 2 decisions:

0.95 x 0.95 = 0.90

But making 4 decisions:

0.95 x 0.95 x 0.95 x 0.95 = 0.81

Looking at a barn?

• Make sure you get what you think you are paying for• Do your figures carefully

– Analysis is very farm specific

• Building & system design must be animal focussed

• Make sure your team has the required skill

• Not all about the money

• EYES WIDE OPEN