This year in the circle of friends circulated such a Versailles ranch:
You've probably never heard of it, it's not part of a big group, and it's not a very large ranch.
It is just an unknown family ranch, from 536 heads in July 2019 to the current group of 1306 heads, from the yield of 33 kg / day in 2019, all the way to the beginning, the yield is rising steadily, in just two years to break through 44 kg / day, to achieve high yield, high herd health, high reproduction rate, low elimination, high efficiency of the excellent results.
It is the Asgen Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Development Co., Ltd. located in Guangyang District, Langfang, Hebei Province.
The sea sails by the helmsman, and the ranch is run by the field. The level of leadership and management determines the level of development of a ranch.
Peng Jin, who entered the cattle breeding industry and operated community cattle raising, resumed small-scale cattle raising in 2018, from the initial dozens of cattle to 1350 today.
Seemingly uninhibited temperament, in fact, everywhere shows the meticulousness, truthfulness and boldness of cattle breeders.
Let's follow "Raising Cattle" to uncover the secrets of the farm's rising yield and continuously reaching new heights!
Cows are delicate animals, climate, environment, raw materials, formula changes will have a great impact on the cow, we hope that the cow will be stable throughout life, including the stability of raw materials.
Mr. Peng bluntly said that the first time the community cattle breeding is more casual, the concept is aging, there is no concept of foreign advanced concepts and breeding selection, and there is no level of industrialization;
Stepping into the cattle pen again, he chose to open his mind and believe more in the conclusions of science and data.
Mr. Peng is well aware of the importance of nutritional stability to dairy cows, and also knows that the quality of raw materials fluctuates greatly, so from the purchase of raw materials, formula, production, and sprinkling, all aspects of the materials strive to ensure the stability of raw materials and nutrients for each bite of feed that cows eat.
For each batch of raw materials purchased, samples are required on site and then sent to Cargill laboratories for testing of nutrients, mycotoxins, etc.
Cui Wenwen, cargill technical service director in charge of the farm, said, "Mr. Peng's control of raw material changes is very strict, which can help formulators grasp the changes in raw materials at any time, adjust formula changes in time, and ensure the stability of food in the mouth of dairy cows." ”
In addition to nutrition, it is also necessary to provide a stable environment for cows, and provide meticulous and stable management in terms of comfort, hygiene, temperature, time, personnel, etc., to reduce changes in various types of environmental stress.
For example, in the summer heat stress environment, the amount of food eaten by dairy cows decreases, and the nutrition program relieves the heat stress of dairy cows is only part of it, and the management of the site is equally important!
The same barn is different towards the time and intensity of the sun's illumination is different, the unified switch fan spray equipment can not make all cattle environment comfortable, to adjust the spray fan time on the side with a long light time, to ensure the stability of all cattle environment.
Director Cui Wenwen said: "The work on the site of this ranch is very meticulous, and Peng is always really raising every cow as his daughter." ”
In the past, cattle breeding advocated that calves should hold out the grass bag belly, grass to eat enough, material limit, and now subvert the previous strategy of raising calves, feed enough, grass limit, seemingly microscopic adjustment, data changes are very intuitive.
For the breeding of reserve cattle, Mr. Peng never stingy and always gives the reserve cattle the best nutrition.
In 2019, after the dairy cows purchased from abroad experienced an isolation period to the scene, due to greater stress, the cows were in a very bad condition, Cargill's nutrition staff proposed to adopt the strategy of strengthening feeding, in the face of a high daily feed cost of 18 yuan / day, Peng did not hesitate, "This batch of cattle on the ship, in the isolation field suffered a lot of grievances, to the field should be given to them to eat well", soon the cows' mental condition and growth have reaped unexpected results.
Although the farm had not yet produced milk profitably at that time, and the financial pressure caused by strengthening feeding was very large, Mr. Peng did not cut off the expensive food of the calves. Facts have also proved that Peng Zong's insistence is not wrong, and the peak milk volume of these cows after the first calf has reached 42.5 kg / day, exceeding everyone's expectations.
Compared with the 3-6 month old weaned calves on the market fed 18% CP of calf feed, Asgen Ranch has always controlled the CP of weaned calf feed at about 23%, whether from the data or the naked eye observation can see the increase in the growth ratio of cattle and the change of skeleton. At this level of feeding, the farm's reserve cattle have reached the breeding standard at about 12 months, but they have not waited until 13.5 months of age for initial mating.
Mr. Peng stressed, "Dairy cows do not grow to one litter and do not grow long, they must grow until the second child is fully mature, and premature breeding will affect the milk production and performance of dairy cows in the later stage." He stressed that this is also based on long-term practice and theory, combined with the growth status of his own dairy cows.
The breeding of reserve cattle can not only rely on the naked eye, but also reflect the feeding level through the feed conversion rate at each stage, and reflect the growth of the skeleton through the data of the body size. Therefore, Asgen Ranch has purchased professional weighing and measuring equipment to measure the body weight of the whole herd of cattle at each stage of birth, weaning, breeding and young cattle, and to conduct spot checks and weighing of cattle in the process of each stage, which is difficult to do in other family farms.
Cargill is powerful, but I can't rely on him completely, I can rely on it.
When talking about the key to success, Mr. Peng said bluntly that a good backer is very important.
Asgen Ranch signed a partnership with Cargill for nutrition services in 2018, but unlike many cargill customers, Mr. Peng did not put forward the requirement of sending nutrition service personnel to the site, but proposed that only two days of on-site nutrition services and weekly feed raw material testing were required each month.
Mr. Peng stressed, "I chose Cargill because it is strong, more meticulous, more comprehensive and more understanding of cattle raising, and we must rely on it, but although Cargill is strong, I can't completely rely on him."
If there are resident personnel, then the ranch manager may be lazy and miss the opportunity to grow, Peng hopes to use the twice a month to serve the farm to observe and find problems, with the help of Cargill's strength to make themselves stronger, rather than let Cargill manage the ranch for themselves.
A good nutritionist is like a master chef in a restaurant, although you can download a lot of excellent recipes from the Internet, but in the process of cooking, the amount of each seasoning is not accurate will have a great impact on the taste of the dish.
When asked how to view the three formulas of "formula on paper", "recipe made", and "recipe in the mouth", Mr. Peng gave the above answer.
Feed recipes in the pasture are just like recipes, and with the help of a good dietitian or a professional nutrition team, a good "recipe on paper" is not difficult to obtain, but how to make the three recipes as consistent as possible is as important as how much each seasoning adds to make the most delicious meal.
Each raw material in the formula will have a certain range of deviations, but in the era of precision feeding, if the control of raw materials is not precise, a good "formula on paper" may become a rotten formula during the implementation process, and the original effect of the formula cannot be achieved.
The level of dry matter fed silage is measured every day, and the feed formula is fine-tuned according to the change of dry matter to ensure the stability of the formula on paper;
For small materials with less added amount, Cargill will do a good job of product customization and small material premixing;
Weekly detection of nutrient values and mycotoxins of feed raw materials to grasp the changes of raw materials;
Daily record per vehicle TMR feeding accuracy, all batching equipment are equipped with weighing systems and can be transmitted back to the computer system in real time, requiring ranch staff to add material accuracy of not less than 96%, through mechanized means to avoid human errors, to ensure the consistency of the formula made and the formula on paper;
The TMR uniformity, variability, amount of leftover materials and nutritional value of each barn are counted daily, and the feeding status of cattle is mastered.
With the implementation of the Dairy Revitalization Plan of Hebei Province, Asgen Ranch is equipped with precision feeding recording equipment, the level of automation is constantly improving, and the consistency of the three formulas is getting better and better.
It reminds me where there are big problems and where there are small problems, find answers to these problems, build our database of problems, and the next time a similar problem occurs, it can be solved.
Precise feeding is inseparable from accurate data records, and in addition to nutritional formulas, almost all management of farms also has data to rely on. Mr. Peng believes that "the management of pastures should be meticulous and careful, starting from the microscopic point", and these microscopic problems are hidden in the daily data.
Every day, the ranch data officer will publish various data reports of the day in the work group, and each employee can see the degree of completion of their work and the problems that have occurred. Immediately after finding the problem, look for the cause, solve the problem, through the data can improve the ability of the farm itself to deal with the problem, accumulate experience, establish the farm's own problem library, and quickly solve the problem before the next problem occurs.
At the same time, the monthly herd data physical examination provided by Cargill can establish a farm file and a health file for each cow, and display the data such as comfort (lying rate), ruminant ratio, physical condition score, fecal score, health score, DHI report, somatic cell number, milk flow curve, cow abnormal data, cow milking time and other data in the software, and give the results and reasonable range of all evaluation indicators, and through the comparison with the results of the previous physical examination, the recent problems and advantages of the farm are found.
Monthly data check-up work, so that most of the problems are snuffed out in the cradle, once found in time feedback and resolution.
Data doesn't speak, but data we have a lot of information.
Manager Cui mentioned that the ranch must not be the most advanced farm, nor is it the only farm that implements precision feeding, but there are not many farms that really achieve more than 96% accuracy in feeding, and there are very few farms that really use data and equipment in the management of the ranch.
The wages of the workers are not rewarded to the workers, but are earned by the workers themselves.
No matter how good the nutritional concept, no matter how accurate the data record is, if it is not well implemented, it cannot play a 100% role.
How to make the perfect nutrition strategy into a landable operation, in addition to developing an operable workflow, training employees, and formulating work standards such as "feeding accuracy of more than 96%", Mr. Peng hopes to increase the enthusiasm of employees through rewards, and he emphasizes that these bonuses are earned by workers who bring benefits to the farm through labor.
For example, "when breeding is done, the birth of calves will be very timely, shortening the waiting time, and a successful breeding one day in advance will reduce the cost of feeding for one day", so if the breeder does a good job, it will save feed costs for the pasture, and the workers will share more money.
Manager Cui also commented that Mr. Peng's implementation requirements for employees are very strict, the assessment is very strict, and it is also very effective: in the face of the same data records, workers who have not reached the work standard will think about why the same data can be monitored by others, so as to find reasons from themselves and improve the method, so as to enhance the workers' work enthusiasm, work completion, and the economic benefits of the farm, and use data and reports to monitor the execution of employees, so as to achieve management satisfaction.
Mr. Peng never relaxes the requirements because employees reflect that the work standards cannot be met, and even if he hires more expensive hourly workers, he will ensure the quality of the work completed.
•••
So, what is the secret to the success of asgen Ranch? The above statement has given us the answer:
Choose reliable collaborators, accept fresh ideas, and believe in advanced technology;
Resolute implementation, strict control, so that employees can implement well is a good way;
Find the cause from the micro level, use accurate data to manage the farm, and find problems.
"Advanced concept, sober mind", "precise management, data monitoring", "resolute implementation, strict management" the three are not separated, but you have me, I have you, cooperate with each other, scientific and advanced nutrition management strategies can be 100% implemented, so that it can play the greatest nutritional effect, while accurate data records comprehensive monitoring of pasture dynamics, early detection of potential problems, escort for breeding and management.
Therefore, the farm can break through the expected goals again and again, constantly bring surprises, do what cattle breeders should do, and the cows will give us the best return.