SMASH has been set up to help dairy farmers, particularly those with smaller operations, to run successful businesses. We mainly achieve this by running events throughout New Zealand. These give farmers the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills which will stand them in good stead back on their own farms.
We also want to foster a supportive farming community – we are all in it together! SMASH is run by a group of New Zealand dairy farmers with a passion for the industry and for helping to build a strong and sustainable future for dairy farming. Read more
Noldy has been quiet for a while, but now he has written a bumper Christmas blog talking about his spring pasture management, getting on top of yellow bristle grass, his mating strategies and buying in supplements for later in the summer. There is plenty to read about when you get a second. And let us know what you think, did he do the right thing using Flashmates? Have you used them, did they fall off?
www.smallerherds.co.nz/christmas-catch-up-noldy-rust/
Would you get one?
"The e-bike revolution has reached the farm with an electric-powered farm bike that can last for 120km and makes no noise compared to a petrol bike."
Tim Allan: Powering ahead with farm e-bikes
radionz.co.nz
We have our winners! Congratulations to Debbie Earnshaw and Jenny Morrison. We hope you enjoy your Christmas cakes!
Thanks to Amber's Cakes By Design for the fine baking efforts!Guess what?! We're doing it again this year! We would like to make your Christmas that much nicer by giving you and a dairy farming friend the chance to win a delicious Christmas cake. Entering is easy:
* Like our page.
* Tag the friend you would like to get a cake too.
**Multiple entries accepted. Competition closes Friday 7th December. Prize is for two Christmas cakes, one for you and one for your friend (we will need both of the winners' dairy supply numbers). The winner will be picked by a random draw.***
Is yours looking as good as this?Iran Brown put up the Christmas tree today, nothing flash just a standard tree, and yes it's for reel 😂
The weather was stunning at Kokatahi on the West Coast for the last SMASH field day of the year. Hosted by Hannah and Thomas Oats, a young, industrious and progressive couple in their first season 50:50 and interesting topics and speakers around getting the best from your pasture and soil.
With the busyness and frenetic activity of the Christmas season upon us, it’s nice to take a bit of time out and tap a few thoughts on the keyboard. My last blog seems like just the other day, but I’ve just checked, and it was way back in September. So Christmas music on in background, […]
Mating this year has been a little better than in the past due to the great weather. Submission would be classed on the low side, at 85% after three weeks. I put nine cows on once a day and that certainly got them cycling. I have one cow not cycling now, so in all I […]
It’s high time I sat down and wrote a blog. Since the weather is not so good I thought it may be a good time to write and put off going outside. It feels like nothing much has happened since the last blog. It seems like I’m on the go all day and barely get […]
The sun is shining as I write this, and that certainly has made life easier. In spite of the mud calving has gone really well with one cow to go, and one milk fever. The girls are currently producing 2.27 kg per day, with grass a little short they are also getting 3 kg silage […]
With the mid-winter (or should I say mid-summer in European terms) holiday now a distant memory and the spring rush on farm now winding down, it’s time to reflect on the calving period and look forward in anticipation to the huge spring flush that is about to happen…. well the signs are certainly there, that’s […]
In my last blog I was busy writing about the winter dry period that was ahead of us. Time has rolled on now and Sam has been stuck in getting things sorted. Covers are ok, cow condition is good, it’s been a bit wet, some heifers have calved early and everything is set for calving […]
Last season was a good one to get behind us. Things were tough for a lot of the season, with too many floods and water sitting on the farm for too long leading to regrassing some areas six times. This meant we have taken a big production and financial hit. Also, council have come back […]
Being July, I am in the last throes of getting organised before the new season. The rubber ware has been replaced, but I still must repair cracks in the yard to keep the inspector happy. That is the problem with a 60 year old shed – the maintenance required to create the right environment to […]
I’ve now started my final season of milking cows. I thought that maybe I would be struggling with motivation saying, “I don’t need to worry because this is the last time.” But it doesn’t seem to be the case at the moment. Things are still full on at the moment – getting ready for a […]
Thank you and your committee for your great work re SMASH events. We have gained several life changing ideas from these events.
At SMASH events we met like-minded people doing similar things.
It gave us confidence to know that there are people out there doing the same thing we are doing.
The positive vibe and the feeling of community amongst the farmers here was a highlight.
Can't sleep as am too excited after events!
“We have kind of gone off discussion groups because they tend to just look after our little district. Discussion groups are mainly people checking up on what the neighbours are doing whereas SMASH events are different, we get a lot more from them. I wholeheartedly loved it. It is good getting out of the area too.”
The strong working partnership of smaller herd farmers Matt and Sarah-Jane Yates has been a cornerstone to the success of their farming business. Matt started his career drystock farming on the family block, but its sale enabled him to buy his own property.
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