Computer savvy leader

IN A word the answer lies in technology. Hoggard is an equity partner with his parents and brother and sister on a 220ha property north of Feilding. The farm runs 560 cows in two herds, milking in a modern rotary shed which oozes technology. The office in the dairy shed has two computers: one to run the shed and another for Hoggard to run his business and do much of his voluntary work for the federation.

“If it wasn’t for the technology in the cow shed enabling me to zip into the office and do emails and run the farm with just two people I would be very limited in my off-farm stuff. I would be limited to a provincial rather than a national role,” he says. “As it is I struggle, but without the technology it would be impossible.” 

He has played a major role in writing and  presenting submissions on the Horizons Regional Council One Plan. He estimates he’s devoted two-three months worth of hours on that alone.

Hoggard is a fourth generation dairy farmer. His great grandfather, a Wellington lawyer, owned a block near Upper Hutt and until 1998 the family farmed there. In 1998, the present block was bought and a second one acquired in 2003 leading to the formation of the equity partnership in 2006. Hoggard has a degree in agricultural economics from Massey University. His brother and sister also have ag degrees and work in farming.

The driver for investing in technology came when the partnership acquired the extra farm across the road from the original property. They had to choose between employing more staff and investing in technology. 

“We knew we would have two herds, which meant we would have to employ an extra labour unit or put technology into the cow shed. We chose technology simply because we knew it would not only reduce the need for an extra labour unit, it would also reduce the labour inputs elsewhere and would free us up to do other things.”

From the minute the cows walk onto the rotary platform, the computer takes over. “She goes underneath the scanner which reads her EID tag. That communicates to the computer who she is and you can then tell whether she’s got ‘alerts’ on her and you can order any treatments or draft her if you want. It tells the feed system there’s a cow there to be fed and how much. As she completes the end of cycle on the rotary it’ll record the amount of milk she’s produced.”

The technology in the shed includes automatic cup removers and the DAL system which does milk metering. This shows the volume, protein and fat percentages which means Hoggard can then work out the kilos of protein and fat and the semitic cell count.

“So basically all the information you get from a herd test we’re getting on a daily basis. We also have auto drafting and auto teat spray. There’s bit more technology I could chuck in for weighing and there is, of course, full automation where minimal human inputs are required.” 

But for Hoggard this is not technology for technology’s sake. It’s to save time and have data for quick decisions at critical times of any season. With the data he collects he is able to place ‘alerts’ on cows which may have high somatic cell counts and need further checking. It helps him decide which cows to dry off first and to draft mobs of cows quickly and accurately. Time saved by the use of technology enables him to use his time more efficiently. 

And the technology is not confined to the dairy shed. He has a pasture meter and closely monitors his pasture to maximise utilisation and production.