Farmers and Rural Professionals
Providing knowledge to farmers and rural professionals is a key strategic outcome at Owl Farm. Owl Farm publishes weekly farm walk notes after our Tuesday farm walk, which is open to all farmers and rural professionals at 10am on Tuesdays (pays to text ahead so we know to expect you on the day).
With over 7000 social media followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and 350 farmers and rural professionals subscribed to our weekly update emails, Owl Farm reaches out to many farming families and businesses, not just in the Waikato but across New Zealand and internationally.
We provide four Focus Days throughout the year which provide seasonally relevant information along with topics presented by our many expert partners and industry personnel. Our next Farm Focus Day is 26th February 2026.
Farmers and rural professionals that would like to arrange a visit to Owl Farm can contact Demonstration Manager Jo Sheridan enquiries@owlfarm.nz to arrange a visit.
Focus Days handouts
27 November 2025: Topics include using pasture data to inform decisions around in-shed feeding with Charlotte Westwood.
Focus Day handout 27 November 2025
11 September 2025: Topics included purposeful lives for calves, supporting our soils and integrating Fescue.
Focus Day handout 11 September 2025
21 May 2025: Topics include Sustainable Farm Loans, Climate change adaptation plans and on-farm planting with Restore Native.
20 February 2025: Topics include herd pathogen snapshot and repro review.
Focus Day handout 20 February 2025
November 21 2024: Topics included quality workplace outcomes, repro update and cost of rearing calves.
Focus Day handout 21 November 2024
September 12 2024: Topics included what we are learning from collar data, preparing for the season ahead, updated Wagonwheel KPIs and Farm Insights reports.
Focus Day Handout 12 September 2024
April 24 2024: Topics included 22/23 DairyBase benchmarking, Wagonwheel KPIs, 23/24 updated cashflow, 24/25 budget and staircase of income and expenses.
Focus Day Handout 24 April 2024
February 29 2024: Topics included Plantain Potency and Practice Programme, and preparing cows for transport.
Focus Day Handout 29 February 2024
November 16 2023: Topics included growing weaned calves, heat stress in cows and our Good to Great workplace journey.
Focus Day Handout 16 November 2023
September 14 2023: Topics included breeding strategies for non-replacement calves and budget updates for the 23/24 season.
Focus Day Handout 14 September 2023
March 23 2023: Topics included; The impacts of farm management on our soil carbon; Pastures for future performance; Using MitAgator to understand phosphate, nitrogen and sediment loss risks.
Focus Day Handout 23 March 2023
November 17 2023: Topics include; How technology changes what we do with our time; Getting our head around on-farm inflation; Udder health and milk quality.
Focus Day Handout 17 Nov 2022 final
May 5 2022: Topics include Capital, Conflict, Covid and Carbon – Nathan Penny Westpac economist. Replacement calf strategies at Owl Farm involving calf milk replacer, chicory and sexed semen heifer synchrony.
March 17 2022: Topics included criteria for investing in technology and why soil matters for climate change.
Focus Day Handout 17 March 2022 FINAL
December 16 2021: Topics included N use paddock mapping, rising cost of increasing industry standards.
Focus Day Handout 16 and 17 Dec 2021
September 15 2021: Topics include results of 20-21 season wagon wheel KPIs
0.0 Intro 15 September 2021 Owl Farm Focus Day
1.0 Farm Performance 15 September 2021 Owl Farm Focus Day
2.0 Animal Well-being 15 September 2021 Owl Farm Focus Day
3.0 Environment 15 September 2021 Owl Farm Focus Day
4.0 Business Health 15 September 2021 Owl Farm Focus Day
5.0 Quality Workplace 15 September 2021 Owl Farm Focus Day
6.0 Community 15 September 2021 Owl Farm Focus Day
March 18 2021: Topics included summer crop review, calves on chicory, mating review and using My Pasture Planner to reduce N use.
Focus Day Handout 18 March 2021 FINAL
November 25 2020: Topics included planning for plantain and clover success, and managing heat stress.
Focus Day Handout November 25 2020 final
September 23 2020: Topics included review of sexed semen/Wagyu calving and wetland performance.
Focus Day Handout September 23 2020 final
June 24 2020: Topics included season review
Focus Day Handout June 24 2020
March 18 2020: Topics included mating review, crop performance, drought recovery and using SurePhos.
November 27 2019: Topics included best practice crop management and time and task analysis.
Event recordings on YouTube
Previous Focus Day presentations can be found on our You Tube channel.
Owl Farm Focus Day 17 November 2022
Owl Farm Focus Day 17 March 2022 – Why soil matters
Owl Farm Focus Day 16 December 2021
Wednesday weekly catchup – 8th September 2021 – mating plan
Wednesday weekly catchup – 29th September 2021 – journey to reduce lameness
Owl Farm Focus Day 15 September 2021
Owl Farm Focus Day 18 March 2021
