Day in the life on a dairy farm as a herd manager with BJ Watson.
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00:00 Have you ever wondered what it would be like to milk a cow?
00:03 Well starting at 3am is now the reality on this Mount Compass dairy farm since installing
00:10 a rotary dairy.
00:12 This month's day in the life is focused on the role of a dairy herd manager who has worked
00:17 his way up from milking all but 9 shifts a fortnight and takes pride in his role.
00:23 And Dina dairy farm at Mount Compass have 950 pure bred Jersey cattle of which herd
00:30 manager BJ Watson knows individually and can detect health issues from visually looking
00:36 over the cows.
00:38 He said they have their own tilt crush on the farm so that he could attend to hooves
00:42 and health treatments.
00:44 After the milking round is complete every cow exits the dairy over scales where the
00:49 data is collected to assist with any future health needs.
00:53 Hello I'm BJ I'm herd manager here at Roslyn and Dina jerseys.
00:57 The best thing about my job would be the job satisfaction.
01:03 Dealing with cows on a day to day basis is amazing, very friendly animals that we have
01:08 here and I just purely and simply the satisfaction.
01:12 Milking cows are up to 480 now, we have around about I believe we are up to the 900 mark
01:17 in total.
01:19 My day to day roles anything to do with the cows so I deal with cow health, any sort of
01:27 lameness, feeding issues, milking is my primary role so milk harvest is a huge thing for me,
01:35 trying to get the most out of the cows with the least amount of cell count so they are
01:40 healthy cows is a huge part of my job role.
01:43 Other than that it would be lameness and those sorts of things.
01:47 If you are considering a job in dairy I find it's a very rewarding job, it certainly gives
01:53 you a lot of freedom so if you like in my case I have a young family and I'm able to
01:58 get out and about and do the things with family during the week that I wouldn't otherwise
02:03 be able to do in a 9 to 5 job so that is a huge advantage for me in this job role.
02:09 Mr Watson said anyone with a keen attitude to work in the industry would have a job and
02:15 no prior experience was needed before starting a job at their farm.
02:19 He said he enjoys the work life balance of his job as a herd manager and even his daughter
02:25 Isla can get up close and personal with some of the cows.
02:29 [End of Audio] Duration: 5 minutes and 30 seconds
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