With the objective of growing her calves as efficiently as possible, dairy farmer Trish Rankin has changed from feeding whole milk only, to working to a nutrition plan that incorporated calf milk replacer. The benefits have both pleased and surprised her.
She and husband Glen own Rankill Downs at Oaonui, Opunake. Milking 300 cows, the farm is a family affair.
In 2024, Trish reared 90 Jersey calves – 80 replacement heifers and 10 beef animals with AgriVantage’s Sprayfo milk replacers. The marked change from previous years was purposeful.
“Our calves were getting colostrum milk adlib for the first four weeks or so, then 5L once a day” explains Trish. “Because we reared two mobs of calves, feeding to milk supply rather than demand, the first mob tended grow much better than the second.”
Furthermore, she and Glen were “hunting milk in the vat”.
“We want to show what our farm can do, reduce variation in our results. Using a quality milk replacer supported accurate budgeting.”
Having been to the DWN calf rearing expos two years in a row, noting AgriVantage’s focus on rearing calves more efficiently, Trish approached the team about tailoring a system to meet her objectives.
“I was looking for a system that was going to be easy, reduce the length of time we fed milk – weaning by mid-November - and reduce ‘the tail’” said Trish.
AgriVantage North Island Business Manager Brett Fitzhenry worked with her to create a tailored nutrition plan.
Colostrum management remained unchanged; Trish was already brix testing colostrum and tube feeding every calf.
Her first mob of 42 calves were fed adlib colostrum milk and then stored colostrum milk, fortified with Sprayfo Blue whey-based milk replacer. At about 9 weeks, this mob was reduced to once a day feeding and weaned at 80-90kg*.
The second mob of 48 calves were given a calf performance programme: adlib colostrum milk, then adlib Sprayfo Delta whole milk replacer for the first 6 weeks, before switching to Sprayfo Blue twice a day. From week 9, these calves were reduced to once a day feeding.
Trish noted that the second mob were about 70kgs at 9 weeks, and eating roughly 700g meal per day. The first mob were 95kg and eating about 1kg/day.
“This was a great result for Jersey calves” she said.
Come mid-December, the calves averaged 112kg (across both mobs) – a good 7kgs above target weight.
Based on her experience, Trish recommends both AgriVantage and Sprayfo milk replacers.
“For us, making purchase decisions is about follow-up service” she said. “Brett has been excellent, so easy to talk to. He designed a plan to fit our goals and he genuinely wanted to get feedback and provide solutions.
“I am pretty set on milk replacer now. I always thought it would be harder, in fact it gave me better autonomy. I decide when to feed the calves, how to feed them and I’m not taking milk from the vat.
“The biggest change I noted was how calm and settled the calves were this year” she adds. “I didn’t have calves chasing me for milk, they weren’t bleating in the morning, they would simply amble over.”
Furthermore, Sprayfo was surprisingly easy to manage.
“I filled up a 200L drum to three-quarters, added Sprayfo, mixed with a paint stirrer for about 30 seconds, filled 14 feeders and was done in half an hour,” said Trish. “I had no issues with milk separating and another win was how clean the milk feeders were; no fat build-up!
“Working to my AgriVantage plan made calf rearing much less stressful.”
* Weaning weight dependent on type: straight jersey or x bred/beefy.
Products in Trish Rankin’s rearing toolkit
Sprayfo Delta Energised Calf Milk
Our premium curding calf milk replacer for optimised growth.
Sprayfo Blue Premium Calf Milk Replacer
Our premium whey calf milk replacer for enhanced rumen development