Mistro Farm
“A year ago I had never used a computer and regarded them as headache material.
We are just finishing our first season of using Mistro Farm records and it is a huge step forward in time and money saved. I needed a fair bit of help to start with but the girls at the end of the phone guided me through a huge learning curve.
I like the fact that they are in phone and email contact if required to answer queries when data is transferred. The programme is user friendly enough to make you want to do the recording at the end of the day, so much quicker than writing it all out.
There is far more scope in the programme than what we use yet, we are still exploring its capabilities as we learn more computer skills. Designing your own reports is great, and having two seasons of data printed out on, e.g. cell count report, is far more meaningful when looking at cell count trends.
We have used the Herd Testing service for two seasons and will never change back. We actually look forward to herd tests now, much less stress and clutter.
By using Merit Index instead of BW we can see why she is ranked as she is, within the herd, if she is high, she will have production and a good standard of conformation.
Any index that takes no account of how she looks, (how many times are you happy to put cups on each cow?) has no place on a steep farm like ours, neither has a cow that milks well ‘til Christmas then chooses to go dry soon afterwards.
We are happy with our cows, and the recording system and the yearly production increases on a difficult farm, and we don’t miss the monthly bill we used to get before changing to Mistro Farm.”
Sincerely, Fiona and John Henchman
Swedish Red Semen
Ewen & Eileeen Thompson in Te Puke chose Swedish Red to cross over their Ayrshire, Jersey and Holstein-Friesian.
Having been farming for over 40 years, the last 25 on their Te Puke their breeding requirements demanded strong in the body, easy calving. They believed Swedish Red offered these characteristics.
The Thompsons enjoy the benefits of Cross Breeding, however are reluctant to use Cross Breed Bulls. They prefer to use pure breeds over different pure breeds. Breeding criteria are critical for their 680 cow herd. Having 190 hectares using a 36 Herringbone milking shed twice a day, one vital criteria is udders.
Focusing hard on removing the bad uddered animals from their herd, the decisions are made significantly easier looking to NZMI to help with their bull selection.
The Thompsons comment that they like NZMI because it takes into consideration traits other than production.
B & C Riddington, Tauranga
