Exeter Open Day brings beef-on-dairy supply chain together
Farmers, rural professionals and industry representatives came together at the Pāmu Exeter Calf Rearing Facility near Taupō on Thursday 29 October for a practical look at the opportunities and challenges of beef-on-dairy.
Despite a cold and windy Reporoa day, 170 visitors moved through the farm to see the system in action and hear from the people working across the beef-on-dairy supply chain.
The day, Beef-on-Dairy: Creating Value from Calf to Market, followed the journey from breeding and genetics through calf rearing, finishing systems and ultimately to market. Pāmu farm teams and leaders were joined by speakers and representatives from LIC, Silver Fern Farms, DairyNZ, the Dairy Beef Opportunities programme, LIFT, VetPlus and Focus Genetics.
Visitors took part in three interactive rotations covering genetics and the wider regional system, calf rearing at Exeter, and the pathway through finishing to market.
Pāmu Chief Executive Mark Leslie says one of the strengths of the day was giving people the chance to see the operation first-hand and talk openly with those doing the work.
“We wanted to give people a practical look at the whole beef-on-dairy journey, from the regional system and genetics through calf rearing, finishing and markets.
“It was great to see the quality of the conversations across the day and the progress being made across the supply chain. We had a lot of questions about how people could apply what they were seeing in their own farming systems.”
Discussions covered genetics, including the Synergizer® brand, breeding decisions, calf sourcing, animal health and welfare, biosecurity, finishing performance, animal flows and emerging market opportunities.
For Pāmu, the work is part of a significant shift in its farming systems as it works towards the goal of rearing all dairy-born calves by 2030. That has required changes across infrastructure, genetics, calf rearing and finishing, along with stronger partnerships across the sector.
Mark says visitors who had attended the previous Exeter Open Day four years ago also commented on how much the system had developed.
“It was particularly good to hear feedback on the progress Pāmu has made over the past four years. There has been a lot of work across our farms and with our partners to get to this point, and Exeter gives people the chance to see what that looks like on the ground.”
Based near Taupō, Exeter sits at the heart of the Pāmu beef-on-dairy programme. The facility is on target to rear around 2,000 autumn calves and 4,300 spring calves this season, which then move through Pāmu finishing systems around the country.
A key theme throughout the Open Day was that creating greater value from dairy-beef calves cannot be achieved by one part of the sector alone. Breeders, dairy farmers, rearers, finishers, processors, researchers and industry partners all have a role to play.
Programmes including Dairy Beef Opportunities and LIFT are contributing to work across genetics, pasture productivity, finishing systems, technology, supply chains and market opportunities.
That collaboration was evident throughout the day, with plenty of discussion continuing between speakers, farmers and industry partners over lunch.
“Days like this are valuable because people get to see the operation for themselves and talk directly with the people doing the work,” Mark says.
“I really appreciate the partnership we have with the organisations involved. The willingness of people to openly share what is working, what we are learning and where the opportunities are is how we keep making progress across the supply chain.”
The cold conditions also made hot coffee and food especially welcome, with LIC supporting the coffee cart and Silver Fern Farms providing meat for lunch. The food, coffee, and time to continue conversations between sessions were an important part of a day built around sharing knowledge and making connections.
Mark says the event was also a credit to the Exeter and wider Pāmu teams who prepared the farm and calves, managed health and safety and biosecurity, spoke during the rotations and kept the day running.
“Opening a working farm to more than 170 people takes a huge amount of work behind the scenes. Our people did a great job representing Exeter and Pāmu, and they should be proud of what they achieved.
“Thanks to everyone who contributed their time, knowledge and mahi. It was a good opportunity to showcase how far we have come, but just as importantly, to keep the conversation going about where beef-on-dairy can go next.”
About the Dairy Beef Opportunities Programme
The Dairy Beef Opportunities (DBO) programme is a joint initiative by New Zealand’s dairy and beef industries and the New Zealand Government to grow the country’s dairy-beef sector, create new revenue opportunities for farmers and strengthen the efficiency and sustainability of the wider livestock industry.
The programme aims to unlock more value from non-replacement dairy calves by strengthening dairy-beef integration and developing New Zealand-focused pathways for raising them for beef.
DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb New Zealand, the Meat Industry Association and Dairy Companies of New Zealand jointly developed the programme, which is co-funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries.
About the LIFT Programme
The Livestock Innovation Farming Transformation (LIFT) Programme is a five-year, Primary Sector Growth Fund co-invested initiative led by Pāmu and industry partners to validate and scale farm-system change enabled by wearable and virtual fencing technologies in sheep and beef systems.
Bringing together farmers, researchers and industry partners, LIFT supports practical tools, research and farm-system innovations designed to improve animal performance, pasture utilisation and finishing outcomes.
