October 6, 2025 • 8 mins
Nigel Johnston says why he thinks once a day milking suits best on his farm.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
This interview brought to you by Agriss into South Branches
in Launville, Gore, Cromwell, Milton and ranfully dropped by your
local Agress into South Branch today.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Nigel Johnston joins US farming at Mabel Bush. Nigel, good, afternoon.
We spoke to you six weeks ago we'd had a
kind winter, but we fast forward to the present and
it's been a challenging season.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
It's correct, goo to Andy, it's very wet underfore of
our place.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Okay, So put it into context as to what we
had twelve months ago, which I've been doing with a
few people this week. From your position, how would you
rate it?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
It was as there as last year, but you only
have to check photos and videos that she had last
year to see that it's nothing like it in physical
conditions for us, we just are very we're struggling with
past the utilization that we haven't had the same rainfalls left.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
You say you were to take in the check obviously.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Yeah, So to put some numbers around it where we're
eighteen fifty cover, I thought with our low stocking rate
we'd get by without without having to put supplement into
milking cares. But that all changed last week, so there's
cover dropping. We're now of six kilos a daily to
day into milk and cares and just and decided to
(01:28):
push the round link back out against it. We've gone
it back to a forty day round and try and
get some grass in trim.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Last time we spoke to you, I think your covers
are around twenty four hundred. Everything was looking not too bad.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, so I'd actually never found with that much grass
and now we've got it all well to be bare.
We've got it all down care strokes and tended them
to milk, which really pleased in this ka.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Well, that's a pleasing factor.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
I suppose having the winter playball the way, especially through
July where it can be your weirdest or your dryest month,
certainly the driest and a lot of air, but even
into August when you're starting to get into carving, Nigel.
As such, it gives you a bit of a starting base,
I suppose, because like anything, the challenges get provided.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Yeah, ba suit we do. But it's I suppose it's
uh we were talking off a year. It's about how
you look after yourself and the people around you. I've
got a good being out. We've talked more about the
group the play squash with on them to it's nice
to get out, compare some war stories and actually just
(02:30):
pin each other on the deck completely out doing some
really good things.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Now it does mental health Awareness Week, so it's a
great way to talk about the subject, Nigel. And yes,
I've met the other people involved one John I Pemble
and amongst others as well.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
The Gorge Road Squash Club.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
But you guys meet up every Monday evening around five
point thirty, don't you just for a couple of hours
just to chew the fat.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah, yeah, and it's yeah, it's quite good. I don't
feel bad about my low level of squash ability. It's
just a chance to get out, have some fitness and
the conversation.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
So you do actually play squash, is that right?
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, that's correct. I think last time we were talking,
I have been nursing a bit of an injury this year.
But yes, squash has played conversations ahead well.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Formist temporary class is permanent on the squash court.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Sorry I miss.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Now.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
One thing about squash.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Is that formist temporary, but class is always permanent, is
it not.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Oh yeah, yeah, exactly say I go for the conversation.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah, fair enough too, because when every season is just
challenging you with different things and everybody's got different scenarios
and situations and if you're having to deal with so
just showing the fat through is a great hour. Is
that what you find about your your conversations on the Monday, Nigel,
is that just because everybody had chance just to vent
and get it out of their system, do you go
(03:53):
home with a bit more of a cleary headset?
Speaker 4 (03:56):
Would you say?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah? And that's I mean, that's just a good friend.
We'll spend the Monday night with. I'm actually heading away
very shortly to a during New Zealand discussion group with
head Running and South and sort of ten years now,
which is the group of farmers that look their hows
once today. So we're heading up to White Caller today
and I find that really good too because it's again
(04:19):
a group of people that aren't afraid to share the
numbers around the business send and also the drivers of
what makes the whole thing kicked for them.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
So take a guess you're away to alistair mans.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
No Alistair Alistairs to Attractor.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
We'll spend time with that, ah, right, good on your heart,
So how have you found the one today's system at
the moment? Arguably it probably works in your favor or
even of feeds tighter on imagine.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Uh and theory, but in practice we're we're still doing
over one point eight of cow, which is all we
used to speak out in the olden days on ty
to day anyway, So it's yeah, there's there's still four
hundred dollars the care. They're milking cares. They need to
be dead and they need to be looked after, very
(05:09):
similar things what we used to do.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
So when you went deary in just to go over
old ground again, Nigel, but you started going once a
day from where we.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Go when we bought our farm. So we did seven
years here milking on a property next door to where
we are now milking twice a day, and then when
we bought the farm. So this care, she's never milk
cares in the afternoon since we've been here. It's twos
and thirty.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
How do you find the dynamics?
Speaker 1 (05:37):
I know we've talked about this before, but I still
find it pretty intriguing as well because a lot of
people that do the ones today say that it evens
itself out in the long run.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Perhaps.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Yeah, my deliver at the moment is that we're missing
out on a margin on board and feed that I
don't think we'd fully utilized in the Onnesterday system. So
this was high milk price we missing out on a beat,
and those low milk prices like like the three dollars
ninety payout time we actually we played the dairy base
(06:09):
would tell us we were better off than many of
our Tistaate canidate. Yeah. I just like the low cost
blow Streets system, and it's enabled us to have some
pretty good people around us that have been here a
long tip.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yes, certainly, and I remember talking to you last time
as well, like no caps are on before eight am.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Yes, and no one on family before eight am. Unfortunately,
this spring, the Bobby trip was here just for eight o'clock,
so I had to break my own rule just just
to meet my commitments.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Heaven forbid a dairy farmer had to be in the
shed at seven thirty.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yeah, but it's a great way to look at the
philosophy too, No do. Everybody's got different ideas and the
way they want to run their operations. So hey, if
it where it's in your favor, all power to you, right.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Yeah, and it's I've done a bit of thinking. We've
got a or sort of mentor a few people that
were looking at sheer mocking at the moment, and that's
really cool to the ever closer look at some of
these systems, the numbers they're running, the performance they've had
in the last couple of years. There there are some
great people out there on wages and contract milking and
(07:17):
looking to get through the system.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Absolutely, just before we wrap up, we talk about carving.
You've only got a few lates to go.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Yeah, we chose, and I'm quite pleased about that. We
chose to leave the balls and longer last year and
get a few more cows around us so we could
do some colling. So we've still got kios to the
carve over the next three weeks, but we're only waiting
for the thirty of them really into the manis well.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
The good news as a forecast, I'm looking at a
good lens here, But nonetheless, over what are we seeing
for the next far four or five days. We are
getting temperatures into the middle teens, even going into the
twenties on Thursday, for goodness sake, so these hotter temperatures,
if we can call them hotter, while anything's hotter than
having five degrees long way to continue.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
We see the grass grow.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Right, it's more clean, and that's why we decided to
put the feed and now pushing around there to keep
the ax and grass in front of us and just reset.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Hey good, only Nigel will leave it there. Always appreciate
your time and like you say, the sun will come
out tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Is any once sung?
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Awesome?
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Thanks Andy, Nigel Johnston of Mabel Bush. You're listening to
the muster. Next we're speaking to Tory Tremaine out of
Benaman Crookshend Pride, talking about incorporated societies and something you
need to know
Good.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
This interview brought to you by Agriss into South Branches
in Launville, Gore, Cromwell, Milton and ranfully dropped by your
local Agress into South Branch today.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Nigel Johnston joins US farming at Mabel Bush. Nigel, good, afternoon.
We spoke to you six weeks ago we'd had a
kind winter, but we fast forward to the present and
it's been a challenging season.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
It's correct, goo to Andy, it's very wet underfore of
our place.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Okay, So put it into context as to what we
had twelve months ago, which I've been doing with a
few people this week. From your position, how would you
rate it?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
It was as there as last year, but you only
have to check photos and videos that she had last
year to see that it's nothing like it in physical
conditions for us, we just are very we're struggling with
past the utilization that we haven't had the same rainfalls left.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
You say you were to take in the check obviously.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Yeah, So to put some numbers around it where we're
eighteen fifty cover, I thought with our low stocking rate
we'd get by without without having to put supplement into
milking cares. But that all changed last week, so there's
cover dropping. We're now of six kilos a daily to
day into milk and cares and just and decided to
(01:28):
push the round link back out against it. We've gone
it back to a forty day round and try and
get some grass in trim.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Last time we spoke to you, I think your covers
are around twenty four hundred. Everything was looking not too bad.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, so I'd actually never found with that much grass
and now we've got it all well to be bare.
We've got it all down care strokes and tended them
to milk, which really pleased in this ka.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Well, that's a pleasing factor.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
I suppose having the winter playball the way, especially through
July where it can be your weirdest or your dryest month,
certainly the driest and a lot of air, but even
into August when you're starting to get into carving, Nigel.
As such, it gives you a bit of a starting base,
I suppose, because like anything, the challenges get provided.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Yeah, ba suit we do. But it's I suppose it's
uh we were talking off a year. It's about how
you look after yourself and the people around you. I've
got a good being out. We've talked more about the
group the play squash with on them to it's nice
to get out, compare some war stories and actually just
(02:30):
pin each other on the deck completely out doing some
really good things.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Now it does mental health Awareness Week, so it's a
great way to talk about the subject, Nigel. And yes,
I've met the other people involved one John I Pemble
and amongst others as well.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
The Gorge Road Squash Club.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
But you guys meet up every Monday evening around five
point thirty, don't you just for a couple of hours
just to chew the fat.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah, yeah, and it's yeah, it's quite good. I don't
feel bad about my low level of squash ability. It's
just a chance to get out, have some fitness and
the conversation.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
So you do actually play squash, is that right?
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, that's correct. I think last time we were talking,
I have been nursing a bit of an injury this year.
But yes, squash has played conversations ahead well.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Formist temporary class is permanent on the squash court.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Sorry I miss.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Now.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
One thing about squash.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Is that formist temporary, but class is always permanent, is
it not.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Oh yeah, yeah, exactly say I go for the conversation.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah, fair enough too, because when every season is just
challenging you with different things and everybody's got different scenarios
and situations and if you're having to deal with so
just showing the fat through is a great hour. Is
that what you find about your your conversations on the Monday, Nigel,
is that just because everybody had chance just to vent
and get it out of their system, do you go
(03:53):
home with a bit more of a cleary headset?
Speaker 4 (03:56):
Would you say?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Yeah? And that's I mean, that's just a good friend.
We'll spend the Monday night with. I'm actually heading away
very shortly to a during New Zealand discussion group with
head Running and South and sort of ten years now,
which is the group of farmers that look their hows
once today. So we're heading up to White Caller today
and I find that really good too because it's again
(04:19):
a group of people that aren't afraid to share the
numbers around the business send and also the drivers of
what makes the whole thing kicked for them.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
So take a guess you're away to alistair mans.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
No Alistair Alistairs to Attractor.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
We'll spend time with that, ah, right, good on your heart,
So how have you found the one today's system at
the moment? Arguably it probably works in your favor or
even of feeds tighter on imagine.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Uh and theory, but in practice we're we're still doing
over one point eight of cow, which is all we
used to speak out in the olden days on ty
to day anyway, So it's yeah, there's there's still four
hundred dollars the care. They're milking cares. They need to
be dead and they need to be looked after, very
(05:09):
similar things what we used to do.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
So when you went deary in just to go over
old ground again, Nigel, but you started going once a
day from where we.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Go when we bought our farm. So we did seven
years here milking on a property next door to where
we are now milking twice a day, and then when
we bought the farm. So this care, she's never milk
cares in the afternoon since we've been here. It's twos
and thirty.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
How do you find the dynamics?
Speaker 1 (05:37):
I know we've talked about this before, but I still
find it pretty intriguing as well because a lot of
people that do the ones today say that it evens
itself out in the long run.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Perhaps.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Yeah, my deliver at the moment is that we're missing
out on a margin on board and feed that I
don't think we'd fully utilized in the Onnesterday system. So
this was high milk price we missing out on a beat,
and those low milk prices like like the three dollars
ninety payout time we actually we played the dairy base
(06:09):
would tell us we were better off than many of
our Tistaate canidate. Yeah. I just like the low cost
blow Streets system, and it's enabled us to have some
pretty good people around us that have been here a
long tip.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yes, certainly, and I remember talking to you last time
as well, like no caps are on before eight am.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Yes, and no one on family before eight am. Unfortunately,
this spring, the Bobby trip was here just for eight o'clock,
so I had to break my own rule just just
to meet my commitments.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Heaven forbid a dairy farmer had to be in the
shed at seven thirty.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yeah, but it's a great way to look at the
philosophy too, No do. Everybody's got different ideas and the
way they want to run their operations. So hey, if
it where it's in your favor, all power to you, right.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Yeah, and it's I've done a bit of thinking. We've
got a or sort of mentor a few people that
were looking at sheer mocking at the moment, and that's
really cool to the ever closer look at some of
these systems, the numbers they're running, the performance they've had
in the last couple of years. There there are some
great people out there on wages and contract milking and
(07:17):
looking to get through the system.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Absolutely, just before we wrap up, we talk about carving.
You've only got a few lates to go.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Yeah, we chose, and I'm quite pleased about that. We
chose to leave the balls and longer last year and
get a few more cows around us so we could
do some colling. So we've still got kios to the
carve over the next three weeks, but we're only waiting
for the thirty of them really into the manis well.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
The good news as a forecast, I'm looking at a
good lens here, But nonetheless, over what are we seeing
for the next far four or five days. We are
getting temperatures into the middle teens, even going into the
twenties on Thursday, for goodness sake, so these hotter temperatures,
if we can call them hotter, while anything's hotter than
having five degrees long way to continue.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
We see the grass grow.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Right, it's more clean, and that's why we decided to
put the feed and now pushing around there to keep
the ax and grass in front of us and just reset.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Hey good, only Nigel will leave it there. Always appreciate
your time and like you say, the sun will come
out tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Is any once sung?
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Awesome?
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Thanks Andy, Nigel Johnston of Mabel Bush. You're listening to
the muster. Next we're speaking to Tory Tremaine out of
Benaman Crookshend Pride, talking about incorporated societies and something you
need to know
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