Evolving the farm system with Dave Swney
Description
Tune in as Wade and Matt Towers, local Area Manager, sit down with Dave Swney, the 2025 maize silage catalogue cover and Waikato Dairy Farmer. Dave shares his journey of returning to the family dairy farm, transforming it into a sustainable and efficient System 5 operation south of Te Awamutu.
In this episode, Dave shares the challenges faced over this period, including learning the importance of ‘time budgeting’, dealing with health issues and reducing the stocking rate to improve farm performance. By bringing young stock management back to the farm, Dave highlights the gains of better control and reduced costs, while balancing growing maize on farm with buying in feed to spread risk. The team then delve into Dave’s strategic approach to maintaining feeding consistency, improving reproduction results from 20% to 12% empty rates and emphasising the value of external expertise and farmer networks in continually improving the operation.
United States
