Bradley Wilcock is a contract milker on a 700 cow dairy farm in Rangiora, part of Canterbury's Waimakariri District. He’s part of a team of four working 188ha.
In today’s competitive environment, it’s not enough to just be a good farmer. Brad signed up to FarmTune because he needed everyone on board if he wanted to improve the farm.
“I wanted to get everyone in the team on the same page and seeing the big picture. Instead of just coming to work, head down and doing your job, I wanted people to take a bit of pride in what they are doing," says Bradley.
Being Farm Manager brings enough responsibility, without making sure everyone else is doing their job properly. Empowering his team so they could be more efficient were two key areas Brad knew they needed help with.
"With our milking system, we’ve got everyone doing the same thing each time which has improved efficiency and milking time. Having posters up on exactly what needs to be done keeps everyone in line," he says.
"Because we’re quite grass based here, we need everyone to know what 1500 looks like. Making sure the cows are full when they’re getting them out of the paddock, because I can’t be everywhere," says Bradley.
"We use messenger for reporting. Wherever we are on the farm, the guys will take a photo and it goes to everyone so you can see cows are happy, they’re sitting down, hit 1500 residual, the next spray needs to be given or go back to clean up," he says.
"FarmTune helped us work better as a team, getting our milking times down, so everyone can go home early. We’re saving around 10 to 15 minutes in milking, and if you add that up over a week you’re saving a good couple of hours, which is time to spend with the family or whatever you want to do."
For more about Brad's experience, and an overview of FarmTune, here's a sheet you can download and take away.
"FarmTune has also helped with our grass management because everyone knows what they’re looking for - that two and a half to three leaf stage. Anyone can go to a paddock and have a look at what stage we’re at. Do the cows need to go there? Using Messenger we can all communicate as a team so everyone is able to make decisions," says Bradley.
"Having our systems in place, like they showed us in FarmTune, everyone can make a decision around pasture management and communicate what they’re doing to everyone. They’re not coming to me most of the time, which can really take a lot out of your day."
Empowering his team and clearing up expectations has brought improvements beyond pasture management.
"The biggest impact FarmTune has had on us is when there is a problem and something needs to be fixed, anyone can make a decision to fix or problem solve it, which really frees up my time. By not needing to take those phone calls or going out to see a problem, I’m easily saving half an hour per day," says Bradley.
"I’d recommend FarmTune, because the efficiencies it brings to your farm with your milking times, or just having systems and a procedure in place means you’re saving time every day."
Do you want your farm to run more efficiently? Do you want your staff taking ownership of small decisions, freeing up more of your time?
For more information or to register for FarmTune, contact us today.
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“I wanted to get everyone in the team on the same page and seeing the big picture. Instead of just coming to work, head down and doing your job, I wanted people to take a bit of pride in what they are doing," says Hexham Dairies Contract Milker Bradley Wilcock. With FarmTune's help, here's how he did it.
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