What I have learned thus far about dairy farming

Before I tell you what I've learned thus far about dairy farming, a bit of background.

As a child, I spent many a school holiday on a family friend's farm up in Zimbabwe. They were large scale farmers growing tobacco, cotton, corn, sorghum and coffee. They had cattle, which I remember going to round up on horseback for dipping. They weren't cattle farmers, they just had a herd of cattle. There was a dairy on the brother's farm nearby - I never saw it. But I do remember seeing a worker spinning cream off the milk and I had the pleasure of having fresh farm milk and cream with my mielie-meal porridge in the morning.

I spent my days mostly at the stables, helping to groom and feed the horses.

I have always loved farms and I fine the process of farming interesting. But not enough to want to be a farmer. This is a tough profession and I can recall our family friend being up before the crack of dawn and to bed late at night. Fields, harvest, animals, rainfall, farm machinery, farm workers and their families... I learned early that you need a strong constitution to be a farmer.

Fast-forward many years and I was looking at getting out of my MSc studies in Medical Cell Biology (with a focus on cell biology, developmental biology and reproduction), which wasn't going anywhere. I was depressed and frustrated, and despite loving the part-time lecturer and lab demonstrator post that I held, I wanted out. For lack of any other driving force, I wanted to spent my days adventure racing (which was hardly practical either).

I started looking at job opportunities, first within the human in vitro and reproduction realm. It didn't sit right with me and so I began investigating opportunities in the cattle and wildlife industries. I visited a number of research places and was either told that I was overqualified (WTF?) or that I could work there but they couldn't pay me. At one place I had the opportunity of wearing shoulder length gloves and putting my arm bicep deep into a cow's nether region to feel her ovaries and watching this on an ultrasound. I loved it.

My favourite option was one at Onderstepoort where I met an awesome professor doing incredible work. He didn't have funding for his project but we clicked and I liked what he was doing and my skills suited his lab. As luck would have it, he called a few weeks later as I was driving away from my old life, car packed. I'd deregistered from university and had no idea what I was going to do, other than the adventure race two weeks later. He called to say he had funding and wanted me there. I was in such a bad space then so I kept driving.

I had toyed with the idea of large animal veterinary sciences. I'd already been at university for 6.5 years and I needed out. In the state that I was I couldn't face another bunch of years of study and neither could I fund it nor expect my mom to fund it.

With our YOLO Moo Igloo, I now find myself out on farms - and I love every visit. I love the smell of the farms and this has brought up a lot of childhood memories of being on the farm in Zim.

Having our YOLO Moo Igloo online (FB page specifically), I've experienced what I can only term vitriol from strangers. We're a plastic rotomoulding company, not dairy farmers. Yet they comment on how cruel it is to have a calf hutch for calves, how they should be frollicking in fields and how calves should be left with their moms.

Firstly, directing vitriol at a rotomoulding company completely misses the ball. Very, very few people abstain completely from dairy products (vegan do not consume dairy). That you and I drink milk and eat cheese and yoghurt means that we create a demand for dairy products. I bet that those criticising my calf hutch do not have a cow in their garden which they milk by hand and neither do they know anything about calf rearing and the dairy industry.

The calves that I've seen on a local farm are well cared for (they have dedicated carers). The calves spend their days in the 'garden' part of their hutch-fence, lying on grass in the sun. They have 'friends' nearby that they can see and chat to (but not too close that disease transfer is likely) and they have shelter from the elements from their hutches. When they are old enough and their immune systems are sufficiently developed the roam around in a field with their friends.

What I have experienced is not the intensive calf rearing of Europe and major large-scale producers (I've seen photos online so I certainly know it exists). I started to read up on calves and dairy farming and over the past few months I've been learning as I go.

On Thursday I attended a workshop presented by the Milk Producers Organisation (MPO) in the North-West province about 'Raising calves'. I was there officially to show my calf hutch but personally to learn about calves. There was an excellent speaker lineup and thank goodness my Afrikaans has improved to the point of being able to understand everything bar random unusual / long / difficult words - I still get the context. I most enjoyed the physiological neonatal and postnatal elements as well as content on disease and immunity - taking me back to my past life in developmental and cell biology.

Here are some fundamentals about dairy farming that I've learned from some farm visits and the recent MPO workshop.

• Farmers care about their animals - calves and adults.
• Dairy cows are bred for their milk production genetics, not maternal instincts. Dairy cows are not necessarily great mothers and they may neglect the calf, not cleaning nor feeding it. This is a very good post by a dairy farmer on why farmers separate calves and cows.
• Beef cows are very good mothers. What has been successful is when dairy embryos are implanted in a beef cow and she gives birth to the dairy calf and raises it. 
• Cows come on heat not according to their age but rather according to their weight.

• Human babies are born with antibodies and disease fighting immune factors that they received from their mom while in the womb. Calves are not. They have a developed immune system by no passive immunity nor circulating antibodies from their mom. They get this from drinking colostrum (post-birth milk) after birth and in the first few days that follow. The colostrum from the first milking is the most potent.
• Colostrum contains both immune factors as well as hormones and super-boosted nutritional elements (proteins, fats, sugars, vitamins and minerals). 
• Within six hours of birth, a calf must get 10% of its body weight in colostrum. Its system is geared for maximum absorption of all this goodness. 24-36hrs of birth this ability to absorb the goodness from colostrum diminishes substantially. 
• A newborn calf must drink with its head up, so that what it drinks slides down its throat and into its true stomach and not into the rumen (where food sits for roughage to be broken down by bacteria). If colostrum and milk sit in the rumen, the calf will get diarrhoea.
• A healthy calf and good milk producing adult is directly linked to the quality and quantity of colostrum the calf receives as well as when (timing) it receives this nourishing milk.
• Over the first few weeks of a calf's life, the passive immunity received from its mom diminishes and from about five weeks of age its own antibody production starts to kick in. During the first six to eight week period of a calf's life, it is most susceptible to infection.
• Colostrum is everything! It is better to give more than less. What a calf receives directly after birth and for the first four days has a long-lasting effect on their growth and weight gain and future milk production. If it is born in winter, the calf needs even more milk as it expends a lot of energy on keeping warm. Growth slows if it isn't getting enough milk so what summer and winter calves receive is quite different.

• Illnesses generally take three forms: enteric (diarrhoea - from two days after birth), respiratory (lung infections from three weeks to six months) and reproductive illnesses (from 18 months of age).
• Various bacteria, viruses and protozoa are to blame - fortunately there are vaccinations for these and immunity from vaccinations given to mom can be passed on to the calf in the colostrum.

• The key way to prevent infections is:
• the calving area should be clean with good drainage
• calf hutches should be moved to fresh ground regularly
• Sun (UV) is important to naturally disinfect the ground
• Calves should be kept apart for their first few months

Not all farms are the same. Some milk less than 150 cows (small) and others milk over 1000 every day (two to three times a day). Some house their calves in buildings ('permanent rearing facilities') and others use calf hutches and open fields. There is also an in between with small, individual metal 'pens' that are raised off the ground with slats and mats for faeces and urine to pass through.

Hygiene is critically important. Thorough cleaning of the floors of walled pens in buildings and the bedding and mats is essential for disease prevention. This means disinfectant solutions and high pressure hoses and regular changes of clean bedding. I think the small metal pens raised of the ground are almost worse and they too need to be thoroughly cleaned.

I'm obviously biased towards our calf hutches as I've seen them in use (read this post from a dairy farmer that explains why they have chosen to use hutches). The protocol is simple: move the hutch every few days on to fresh lawn. The calf gets to chill in the hutch or the attached garden pen and it can enjoy the sun and benefit from shelter from the hutch. To clean and disinfect the hutch, turn it over, spray it out and leave in the sun to dry. Let the sun's UV rays do the work (both on the hutch and the previously used ground).

It costs R12,000 to R14,000 to raise a calf - a sizeable investment. Multiply this by 20 or 40 or 80. That's a lot of money.

As far as intensive farming goes, I'm not a fan but I'm also realistic and I know that it happens. I also feel that even in this environment it is a better investment for even these big producers to go the route of calf hutches instead of buildings. I have no figures but my gut feel says disease incidence would be dramatically reduced and quality of life for the calves would be far better in individual hutches. Not having to spray down cement stalls translates to reduced labour demands, less water usage and also less chemical/disinfectant use. All of this saves rands. Lots of them.

The dairy industry has been hard hit. We've gone from 50,000 dairy farms 20 years ago to only 1,600 today. A guy I spoke to on Thursday is one of two dairy farmers in his area. There used to be 72 of them in the 90s. Cost of production, local milk prices, global prices, oversupply in Europe and importing of these into SA has taken its toll. 

Interestingly, we're not producing enough milk for our dairy needs (remember that dairy includes cheese, yoghurt, milk powder, long-life milk and not just liquid milk). We had a 100 million litre deficit last year. The drought in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces has severely affected production too.

I've also learned that dairy farmers support each other through hard times and stronger farms work with struggling neighbours to help them through a tough time. Farms going for five generations have had to close their doors. And then there are the violent farm attacks that have taken out farmers and their families. More than 75 farm killings already this year. Isolated on farms, these poor people are sitting ducks for attackers.

Dairy farming is also a high-technology field where the health of a cow and her milk production is closely monitored by sophisticated systems. The farmer knows when a cow is under the weather before she has a clue that she isn't feeling great.

I still have a lot to learn - my minimal experiences have only given me a taste - and in a few weeks I hope to spend a full day at our local dairy for some experiential learning of calf care, the herds, milking process and herd monitoring.  

While I have absolutely no inclination to be a dairy farmer, I have developed a keen interest in the process, the technology and the logistics of dairy farming. 

Dairy farming definitely isn't all Heidi in the Swiss Alps. There are so many ways in which farms and animals are managed. What I have learned from the farmers that I have met is that they all want to do their best to provide quality care for their calves and cows and to learn how to do even better for them.

Kennel for large dog breeds

From the outset we have joked that our YOLO Moo Igloo, a calf hutch primarily for the dairy industry, is perfect for "calves, sheep, goats and very big dogs". Well, it turns out that our YOLO Moo Igloo is the perfect kennel for large breed dogs like Great Danes, bullmastiffs, St Bernards, Irish wolf hounds and the like.

A week or so ago I posted a photo online of our YOLO Moo Igloo in a variety of colours. It was a hit on Facebook.

I then invited a friend to bring her Great Dane to the factory so that I could take a photo of the dog in the kennel. Lagatha is a one-year old Great Dane and she is still growing. There was plenty of space for her (and her mom Linda) in our hutch (yes, Linda is in there with Lagatha).

A friend tagged me and reminded me of the Hound Sleeper dog beds, which she uses for her dogs. I have seen them before and I like them. I checked out their website and then phoned the lady, Dawn.

Our Moo Igloos do not have a base. Two reasons. Firstly, in the dairy industry the hutches are moved on to fresh grass every few days. Secondly, they can be transported stacked like yoghurt cups. They're big - transport would be prohibitively expensive if you can't stack them.

The Hound Sleeper dog bed keeps your dog off the ground and so it is the perfect match for our YOLO.

The problem that Hound Sleeper owners have is that kennels are not big enough for the larger sizes to fit inside. Our YOLO Moo Igloo can accommodate their biggest large and extra large sizes - with some room. So there is a problem solved on that side.

And it seems that owners of large dogs really struggle to find adequately sized kennels. A friend recently bought a wooden 'Wendy House' to accommodate his large dog (almost double the price of our YOLO).

As a dog kennel and a calf hutch our product has slight differences in the finishing and base frame although the size is identical at 1.7m long, 1.15m wide and 1.1m high.

We moulded an orange YOLO Moo Igloo for a friend today - I'll see it tomorrow.

This is a fabulous and colourful domestic extension of a product we created for the agricultural industry; and a perfect outdoor shelter solution for large dog breed owners.

I hope we get many more orders for our beautifully colourful large breed dog kennels.

Navigation training for the military skills guys

I had a blast last week Wednesday when I hosted a navigation training session for the five guys (four competitors plus coach) going over to the Military Skills competition abroad - they leave this week.

As I've been out of the local orienteering scene since I moved to Parys, I've kept myself busy with mapping the Forest Run area, the local primary school, a section of the Vaal River (for paddle-O) and assisting with the annual rogaining event, which was held out here last year and will be out here again this year. I've had a break for a while and so I was delighted to be recruited by the reservists to plan a training session for them.

I set them a 13km as-the-crow-flies course. Not too difficult, not too easy. The idea behind it was for them to get some practice reading contours and to get into the scale. The terrain can be challenging enough. During the event they compete in teams of three; the competitive trio covered 18 kilometres - they made one big error which cost them distance and time.

The other pair took it steady and had excellent navigation - bar a bad decision that saw them bashing through vegetation and totally missing the lovely path to their right.

I thoroughly enjoyed planning the event for them and also being out there looking for them. A really good day in the office is one where your desk isn't behind a computer.

A walk for mom's birthday

My mom celebrated her 65th birthday on Monday. Many of you know my mom and have seen her around. She has been my greatest supporter and help with everything I've ever done - and she has often jumped into participation too, like at orienteering events. She is most precious to me.

For her birthday we made a weekend of it having my uncle and aunt and friends here in Parys for the weekend. An extra blessing was having my younger cousin here (our fathers are brothers). Chloe was born in the Seychelles but has lived in the UK since she was about 6.

At 21-years young, Chloe is 20 years younger than me. I last saw her when she was 14 (and before that when she was about 4 years old). We are Facebook friends, which has helped me to peripherally to keep up with her as she has grown up. It is so much more magical to see her in person for a few days (we'll see her again at the end of her trip).

My mom's birthday weekend began with a group dinner on Friday night. Saturday morning saw us all at parkrun. Rusty set a new PB of 27:52, almost two minutes faster than her previous PB. She has now done 4 parkruns. Rusty runs beautifully and has been getting fitter. We only lose time when she stops to sniff - her focus is getting better so she is sniffing less. My uncle and aunt were keen volunteers. They have helped here before and are very good timekeepers.

Chloe and I hit the town on Saturday afternoon to cruise the quaint stores. We did a stop for tea and cake and in the evening we were all together again - plus Karen and Graeme - for a meal prepared by my aunt and uncle.

Me & Chloe @ Kiki's

On Sunday morning some of us headed out to my new local walking spot, Rietpoort.

Liz, Chloe, Kev, Rose

It really is a lovely area. The farm owner's dogs came along with us and both Rusty and my mom's Tansy loved being out there.

Tansy - little one-eyed dog. Short of leg, big in heart.

Lovely photo of Chloe and my mom

Rusty got into the little dam - my first time seeing her in water. Just up to her elbows - must have been freezing! I look forward to seeing whether she swims in summer.

There are interesting sculptures around - like this one.

There is a lovely forest section with a neat swing. We had a go.

Chloe showing us how it is done.

We wrapped with weekend with us all together for lunch at The Dog & Fig, our local brewery and restaurant.

Dog & Fig is dog friendly and very welcoming. They offer dogs bowls of clean water. Very sweet. I had a chat with the owner and he says that the dogs that people bring with them are usually all well socialised and well behaved. I guess people with badly behaved dogs don't take them places. Rusty and Tansy are very good in public places and a pleasure to take along everywhere. Dog-friendly venues rank high on my priority list.

On Monday, my mom's actual birthday, we headed out to Venterskroon to give Chloe a taste of the area. I always love going out to Venterskroon Inn, my start-finish venue for Forest Run. Toasted sandwiches completed the afternoon.

Chloe with one of the two miniature horses that roam the property. Rusty has a big fascination with this one.

The Girls at Venterskroon Inn

A good weekend in celebration of my mom's birthday. We dropped Chloe off in JHB today. Her dad arrives tomorrow with her half-sister from the Seychelles and then they head up to Zimbabwe so that he can show his girls where he grew up and for them to have an African experience. I'm sure they'll love it and I'm hoping that Chloe will go rafting on the mighty Zambezi. xxx

Test run of AdventureLisa's Ultra Fun Run & Relay in September

I first had the idea for this event in 2003 after running the 80km Tussey Mountainback relay ultra in Pennsylvannia, USA with my friend Bob. It took me years to get around to doing anything about it and when I started scouting at Lakenvlei I realised that the plantation wouldn't be able to support this concept - and so Forest Run was born. But I didn't stop thinking about potential locations for a relay ultra - I have a few half-plotted routes on Google Earth!

After moving to Parys and exploring the area, I knew that I had what I needed here but it took some friends and some arm twisting for me to get around to measuring out the route and look at dates. And that's about as far as I got. With time whizzing past, I knew that presenting the event this year wasn't looking likely.

Until Hazel, suffering from Washie FOMO, asked if she could come and test run my route - just for fun. She came through last weekend, with her friend Deon. I so loved having them here.

Full of a cough and a cold, I didn't run with them, but Celliers and I did do support - meeting them out on the road. I so loved being out there at 01h00 under the moonlight that I decided to go ahead with a test run of the event on the date I'd pencilled in for it - Saturday 9 September 2017.

A test run of AdventureLisa's Ultra Fun Run & Relay is happening.

I've got an awesome 120km route.

There's no entry fee. There are also no bells & whistles.

I'm looking for a couple of entrants in each entry category - solo, teams and run-bike pairs - to come out to enjoy the area and the route. My aim is to get an idea of how long people take on the sections (splits), whether the checkpoint locations work, any route errors that happen, what kinds of route markings are most effective and logistics with support crews. And also total running times.

Although I love a relay ultra (I've done three 1 x 80km in a pair and 2 x 160km in a 4-person team), the one category that I'm very excited about is the run-bike pair.

For this, the pair has one bike and at any time one person is cycling and one person is running. They alternate. The cyclist is not in anyway allowed to assist the runner (no pushing, pulling or lifting) and the pair also does not have to stay together - so they can do a rolling relay. I am very interested to see what strategies the teams will employ.

There's no time like the present and so I jumped in this weekend to work on graphics and to work up a website and get a Facebook page going. And there we have it... I've got a bit of planning and mapping and recruiting to do - and then we're go.

If you're keen, please drop me a note. I'd love to have you out here.

Discovering the Rietpoort hiking trail

I've lived in Parys for over 18 months now and there is still so much to discover in the area. All of the properties around here are privately owned so many you'd only access if you knew the owner or were staying at the venue. 

This afternoon I headed out with my friend Karen and my mom and our dogs (Rusty, Rocksie and Tansy) to a nearby place, Rietpoort. I've seen the hills and tree and big white farm house from the Potch road and they've always caught my curiosity. At the entrance gate to the property they have a big cement horse sculpture and a newer one of a guy sitting on the wall (I think). I usually see them as a I drive past. Inside, there are a bunch more animals and a guy with a gun.

Karen has been out here a number of times so she knows the routes.

Arriving, the place is enchanting. There are a bunch of charming and interesting cottages and a load of old farm equipment that decorates the place - in a tasteful way that brings a sense of history and authenticity to the farm.

We bundled out of the car and set off on the 'red' trail. The trails are very clearly marked with coloured plastic tags.

This wasn't a route for little Tansy with steep climbs and lots of rocks. I carried her on these sections. 

For the rest, the area is stunning with great views from the ridge, a number of small dams and an abundance of trails. 

The aloes are in flower; they're beautiful.

If you do every loop of every colour of trail there is 6km in total (I found a map on their website). There is a lot of scope to really mix it up and to play around. We did the red route and part of the yellow and purple. I've seen a lot of bits that I want to go back to explore further. Fortunately for me, this great property a 10 minute drive from home.

Defending my doggy

Two weeks ago I defended my dog; and she defended me. We were sitting on a bench next to the river chatting to a neighbour (who had one of her young and unruly dogs on a lead). Her other dog came out of the yard to sniff me and Rusty. She went for Rusty's shoulder. I pushed the dog away and picked Rusty up - 22kg of lovable dog in my arms.

Our neighbour chased her dog off. We sat down.

She (the dog) came back and went for Rusty again. I picked her up and we walked off, getting out of there quickly.

During one of the two 'attacks', I got my hand between the dog and Rusty, preventing the dog from biting her. While carrying Rusty I saw blood; it turned out not to be hers. The dog had bitten my finger. Fortunately her teeth connected with the joint so it didn't rip flesh. Two weeks later and it is almost healed - just the 'core' of the tooth punctures is still sensitive.

It was only a few days later that I realised that I'd injured a finger on the other hang too. I must have slammed it into something (the bench perhaps). It has been very swollen, so probably a bit of tendon damage. It too is healing and should be better within the next week or so.

What I realised from this minor incident is that I would do anything to protect my dog.

Rusty has been in my life for 3.5 months and I can't imagine being without her.

She is getting fitter and running so beautifully. She especially loves running on trails and visiting my friend's place - Otters Haunt. It's a few kilometres from home and there I can let her run off lead ahead of me. She never goes too far away and always keeps me in sight.

We went to Otters on Sunday afternoon for a run. I've had a cough and cold for a week so my lungs weren't yet up to standard - but it was good to get out with her. For most of the past week we've just been walking with light jogs. We both need the running.

She hasn't run parkrun with me for a while as I've been Run Director quite often. But I'm off the hook on Saturday so we'll be participating. This will be her 3rd parkrun. I'm going to keep count of her runs so that I can make her a parkrun 50 tee.

After being pet-free for over a year, having a dog around requires a good deal of thought and consideration and, sometimes, planning. But it is totally worth it to have Rusty in my life.