When Farmer's Weekly interviewed JK Basson in 2013 after he won the Agricultural Research Council's V (ARC) Master Dairyman Award for the first time, Basson advised others against starting a dairy farm because of the high costs and barriers to entry. He said the situation was particularly difficult in a total mixed ration (TMR) system, as was the case with all dairy farms in the Swartland, where he runs his operation.
Things haven't changed much since then, with the past year's spike in fuel and fertiliser prices placing further pressure on margins that are already under great strain.
To contain feed costs, Basson buys feed ingredients in bulk from Nova Feeds and uses them to develop his preformulated feed recipes. He also produces silage on a large scale, planting roughly 700ha to oats, triticale, and feed barley in rotation with 200ha of wheat and 200ha of canola each year. “But rising fertiliser and fuel costs will make it difficult to plant profitably this year, he says. And as if that isn't enough, Basson has to deal with the impact of power outages on production.
“Dairy production is highly energy-intensive as cows need to be milked when they need to be milked. We have invested in a 150kW solar panel system to reduce our energy costs, but it is tied to the grid, so we are still dependent on generators, which use roughly 50l of diesel per hour when there is load-shedding.
So what does Basson do to keep afloat? He consults experts and uses the latest technology to make the most of his genetics and improve production efficiencies.
FAST FACTS
The Cow Manager system is used to monitor cow health and fertility.
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