DairyBase Benchmarking: Manawatū Farm Switches to Fodder Beet

DairyNZ’s DairyBase tool provided insights that allowed Kevin to make measurable changes on farm.

Argyle owns Abba Farm, a 180ha dairy farm 10 kilometres southwest of Palmerston North. The farm has three full-time employees and several relief staff milking 600 cows.

Comparing performance data through DairyBase, Argyle and his team switched from turnips to fodder beet as a summer crop.

“The cost per kilogram of dry matter is much better and yields are significantly higher. This helped reduce supplementary feed costs. We are also trying to increase homegrown feed production,” Argyle says.

With a background in governance and corporate roles, Argyle saw immediate value in signing up to DairyBase – a free benchmarking tool that helps dairy farmers compare farm performance with similar operations.

“I’m an accountant, so for me, DairyBase provides some really useful metrics and key performance indicators – both physical data and financial data,” he says.

“It lets me identify where we’re performing strongly compared with other farms, such as per-cow production and kilograms of dry matter grown per hectare, and where we need to improve.”

Argyle says another advantage of having this level of data available is that it helps engage staff and involve them in improvements.

“For instance, you can explain why and how you want to reduce electricity costs. You can also expect staff to carry out preventative maintenance of machinery like greasing and checking oil when they can look at data and see how it reduces breakdowns and repair costs.”

Argyle says he would like to see more farmers in Manawatū and the lower North Island explore DairyBase.

“It’s important to have enough comparable farms otherwise benchmarking isn’t meaningful,” he says.