Manuka Creek owner Michael Prankerd and his team have been milking about 385 cows on the 164ha farm in Charlton, on the highway between Gore and Mataura, for two seasons.
The conditions for growing pasture this spring had been "average" when compared with last season, he said.
"It is hard not to be negative because last year was such a good season, so it feels worse but it is probably average."
Everything needed for great pasture growth was down on last spring, including soil temperature, daylight hours and rainfall.
"Last year we had slightly warmer conditions and more sunshine — it was bloody good last year."
"Even though I’m saying it is average, the production is fine and it isn’t affecting production too much."
He had been a dairy farmer in other parts of New Zealand, where the weather had a bigger impact on milk production.
"Southland is such a weird place because production is never as affected as you first think — there’s a 5% deferential between a good season and a bad season, where other provinces can swing wildly with a drought or whatever it is, but here in Southland, a drought ends up much of a muchness."
The system at Manuka Creek focused on high milk production per cow and per hectare, which included "feeding a lot of expensive food in the cow shed", including silage and palm kernel.
"Whatever is necessary to fill that gap, so when we are looking at grazing events, we want them to be just as perfect as what we are feeding in the shed — there is no point in sending them out to eat rubbish after spending all that money in the cow shed."
More than 30 people attended a DairyNZ pasture skills day on Manuka Creek last week.
DairyNZ Southland and South Otago extension partner Keely Buckingham, speaking at the event on her final day before going on maternity leave last week, said the focus of the event included grazing covers, grass leaf stages, understanding feed wedges and seasonal differences in grass composition, including dry matter and energy content.
An objective of the event was to highlight how pasture quality impacts milk production.
"What is going down a cow’s throat and what ends up in the vat as a result of that."
