Business Rural Winter 2014

Winter 2014

www.waterfordpress.co.nz

Simple panel makes big difference South Canterbury-based Thompson Precast has developed a drop-in panel, which it says will help farmers maintain the feed quality and consistency of their stored stockfeed. The concrete Y-panels can be used in silage pits, grain stores and fertiliser stores to keep products separate and protect them from contamination. • See page 44

INSIDE

Farm-gate milk sales soar - PAGE 3

Prizewinner a right royal cow - PAGE 22

Effluent separator more reliable - PAGE 32

Farm machinery company on roll - PAGE 39

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CROPPING » Kelvin Hicks

Business Rural

Lady bugs may hold secret to beating pest Karen Phelps

Hororata farmer Kelvin Hicks with a bumper carrot crop. His certified organic mixed livestockcropping farm has been chosen by Lincoln University to do research on lady beetles and their effect on containing psyllids, which attack potato and tomato crops.

They may look pretty with their red backs speckled with black spots, but lady beetles (or lady bugs) have been discovered to have a voracious appetite for psyllids.

It’s this that interests Hororata farmer Kelvin Hicks, who is working out how he can encourage the small population of lady beetles released on to his property in a Lincoln University experiment to remain and thrive.

The study, conducted last year, showed promising results. The beetles proved they could knock back psyllids, a pest that attacks potato and tomato crops.

Researchers chose Hicks’ property because its organic status – the absence of insecticides, which would have proved lethal to the lady beetles.

“The second phase will be how we can keep the beetle here on the property and how to use it as a biological control,” says Hicks.

The farm;s Hicks location near the Canterbury foothills explains how Hicks has managed to keep the psyllid pest at bay. The cold winters break the life-cycle of the psyllids, But he thinks there is the potential for more farmers to produce organic potatoes and tomatoes if such a biological control measure can be made to work effectively.

He concedes that not spraying chemicals on crops would be a big change for many farmers, but it is something he has proved can be successful over some years.

The 120-hectare property, named Windermere, is owned by Hicks and his parents, John and Trish, and they lease another 80ha.

The Hicks’s certified organic, mixed livestockcropping farm is one of the larger units of its type in the country.

Last year Kelvin Hicks collected the Canterbury region harvest award in the 2013 Ballance Farm Environment Awards. The judges said the organic

farming business had proven sustainability and was well positioned to take advantage of opportunities.

Carrots and potatoes are the mainstay of vegetable crops – typically 6ha of carrots and 10ha of potatoes are grown. Willowmere supplies supermarkets, wholesalers and some shops directly. Some product goes to Pitango, which makes organic soups and other pre-prepared meals.

The beef cattle and sheep on the farm are largely there to support the cropping business. Around 60 per cent of the farm is in pasture – a mix of ryegrass, fescue, cocksfoot, plantain, chicory, and red and white clover.

The Hickses farm on a three to five-year pasture phase where the soil builds up nitrogen and soil structure and fertility improves. They graze this with the sheep and cattle, then put it into crop for two to three years. The size of the farm allows for a five to seven-year gap between carrot and potato crops on the same ground.

Kelvin Hicks says it’s a traditional way of farming and something the family has done for many years since they bought the farm in the early 1990s.

The process of organic certification was completed by 1995 with help from the Heinz Wattie’s organic programme, which at that time was looking for commercial organic-vegetable growers.

“Organic farmers need to rely on clovers to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. It takes time,” says Kelvin Hicks.

He agrees it involves a big change of mindset for many farmers who are more used to buying soil fertility out of a bag.

But the benefits are tangible, he says. Healthier animals, good strong crops – and the proof lies in the Ballance Farm Environmental Award success.

“We won the award and we were competing against all types of farmers, not just organic ones.

• To page 3

Organic farmers need to rely on clovers to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. It takes time. We won the Ballance Farm Environment (harvest) Award and we were competing against all types of farmers, not just organic ones. The profitability is there, but it’s a different way of doing things.

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Winter 2014

www.waterfordpress.co.nz

Simple panel makes big difference South Canterbury-based Thompson Construction & Engineering has developed a drop-in panel, which it says will help farmers maintain the feed quality and consistency of their stored stockfeed. The concrete Y-panels can be used in silage pits, grain stores and fertiliser stores to keep products separate and protect them from contamination.

• See page 44

INSIDE

Farm-gate milk sales soar - PAGE 3

Prizewinner a right royal cow - PAGE 22

Effluent separator more reliable - PAGE 32

Farm machinery company on roll - PAGE 39

www.waterfordpress.co.nz

Now offering

Bruce Hore Consultant

0275 760 303 bruce@agriganics.com

- Independent Soil Fertility Consulting - Animal Mineral Balancing - Hair Testing - Precision Soil Mapping

Jeremy Cunningham Consultant

027 2002 303

jeremy@fcn.co.nz

RURAL PEOPLE » Julian & Cathy Raine

Business Rural

|3

Child’s play: Georgia Raine fills up at a milkvending machine in Stoke (far left).

Nelson-based farmers Julian and Cathy Raine sell milk direct to the public through vending machines at the farm gate.

Farm-gate milk sales soar Karen Phelps Remember the days when you used to wander up to the farm gate and collect a pail of milk with the cream gathered in a thick crust on the top just waiting to be scooped off?

Well, those days are back again thanks to an enterprising Nelson-based farming couple. Julian and Cathy Raine, who farm in Stoke, have installed vending machines at the farm gate, allowing locals to pull up, and pay and fill a container of milk.

The Raines decided to start selling some of their milk direct to the public under the Oaklands Milk brand when Fonterra ended their winter-milk contract.

“We can’t expand the farm, so if you can’t increase your production, you have to look at increasing your value,” says Julian Raine.

Although Fonterra is still the Raines’ largest customer, they are enjoying having close contact with their users, he says.

“It gets us back in tune with our customers and helps demystify the dairy industry for the public.

Our industry doesn’t always get good press, so this enables us to show our farm to the community and show that we’re good farmers.”

Consumers can buy a glass bottle and re-use it, or bring their own container. They can pay with cash or buy an electronic token from the Raines, which acts like a debit card they can top up.

The couple have been selling at the farm-gate for about 12 months and are so taken with their venture

It gives us instant satisfaction to see customers buying our milk. they have also installed vending machines, made by Italian manufacturer Prometea, in a local café and another in a fruit-and-vegetable shop. They have become the New Zealand agent for Prometea.

Their milking shed has a viewing room so that people can make an appointment to see cows being milked.

“It’s about breaking down the barrier of where people’s food comes from,” says Julian Raine.

But while the Raines would like to encourage farmers who live near cities to give selling at the gate a try, they also admit it can take a lot of work to set up. It took them a year from concept to selling to the public.

They were building a new 22-bail rotary shed, so had installed a pasteurising machine. They have a chilled storeroom and process milk into 300-litre canisters for insertion in the vending machines.

Training staff has also been important, and they employ a food technologist to help with systems.

They say time spent setting up the venture has been well worth it.

“This gives our business diversity and better interaction with the public,” says Julian Raine. “It gives us satisfaction to see customers buying our

milk and giving instant feedback on how they are finding it. Nothing is added to our milk and nothing is taken away. It’s a whole milk, so the consistency changes depending on the time of season and the feed the cows are eating. People seem to like the creamier milk and they like the fact the cream floats to the top because it’s not homogenised.”

Their 460-hectare property at Stoke has a 90ha milking platform, and is challenging land to farm there is only 30ha of flat. They operate a splitcalving system with a herd of 200 predominantly friesian cows.

The Raines have another farm in the upper Motueka Valley, about 50 kilometres north-west of Stoke. This 265ha farm (180ha dairy platform), milking 400 friesian and kiwicross cows, supplies

Fonterra only. The Raines also raise dairy beef here and sell around 100 as fat cattle each year.

The couple also part-owns Wai-West Horticulture, an orchard operation with product mainly destined for the export market. Julian is also president of Horticulture New Zealand, managing director of Berry Fruit Export New Zealand Ltd, a director of private research institute Cawthron Institute, and chairman of the Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarship Trust.

But the Raines remain happy to offer advice to farmers setting up a similar operation selling milk at their farm-gates: “Farmers have already come to see what we are doing and find out what has and hasn’t worked for us. I see this as a real possibility for farms that happen to be near a town.”

PH: 03 528 9065 | FAX 03 528 9069 32 KING EDWARD STREET - MOTUEKA

Organic markets on the increase • From page 2 The profitability is there, but it’s a different way of doing things.”

Kelvin’s parents, John and Trish, are now semi-retired and live on the farm. Kelvin does the day-to-day running of the operation with the help of one full-time staff member, plus casuals as needed.

The Hickses also grow crops of green-leaf and pearl barley, and run a sheep-and-beef operation breeding ewes and fattening lambs, and fattening cattle.

They carry 700 ewes and 150 replacements.

Most of their lambs are sold to Alliance Group for the organic market in the United Kingdom.

Cattle are fattened and sold on the conventional market because it is difficult to source organic heifers or steers, says Kelvin Hicks.

But, he adds, organic markets are increasing steadily.

Right: Organic farming involves a big change of mindset for many farmers who are more used to buying soil fertility out of a bag, says Kelvin Hicks, But, he says, the benefits are tangible – healthier animals, good strong crops , and ‘the proof lies in the Ballance Farm Environmental Award success.’

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Sarah Bell & Cameron Mitchell

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Business Rural

Cameron Mitchell and Sarah Bell wearing their branded Sky’s the Limit vests.

Innovation spices on-job learning curve Karen Phelps

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Going from theoretical knowledge of dairy farming to hands-on farming has been a bit of a career shift for Sarah Bell.

Bell, who grew up on a sheep-and-beef farm, has a degree in science and physical geology; she has worked for Fonterra in the milk-supply area, as an AgITO training adviser, a Landplan farm consultant and a Ballance fertiliser representative.

She has just completed her first season as a dairy farmer – and says it was challenging.

“Before, I’d advise farmers and, while it was the right advice, I wouldn’t necessarily think of the practicalities of how to carry out that advice.

It’s a busy life farming and, unless you are living and breathing it the way we are you, I don’t think you realise how all-consuming but also how much fun it is.”

Bell and partner Cameron Mitchell, who comes from a dairy background in the Bay of Plenty, run the farm. He worked on family farms before moving to Northland where he won the

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No one we knew of had milked on lucerne so there was nobody who could tell us what round lengths to have it on or what the residual should be grazed down to . national Dairy Trainee of the Year title in 2008.

He then went into an equity partnership as operations manager, milking 900 cows over two farms before returning to the Bay of Plenty in 2011. He managed a 650-cow unit before he and Bell moved to their present lower-order sharemilking position for owners Raewyn and Leigh Hamilton at Ngapara, inland from Oamaru.

Mitchell’s hands-on role is complemented by Bell’s skills. It has proved a winning formula and helped them take a different approach to dairying.

“There are a lot of things that have been done in the farming industry because that’s how they’ve always been done, not necessarily because that’s the right way,” says Bell.

An example of their different thinking is the way they have come with using the 50 hectares of lucerne on the platform. They graze in situ rather than harvesting the feed.

“This hasn’t been done with dairy before, only with sheep and beef,” says Bell. “We knew of no one who had milked on lucerne, so nobody could tell us what round-lengths to have it on, or what the residual should be grazed down to.”

They solved the problem by researching Beef + Lamb New Zealand data, then extrapolating the figures to dairying. The biggest problem was that the lucerne did not come on until late September, which left them short of feed.

They fed their milking cows five kilograms of grass and supplemented an additional 13kg of feed. By putting on a fertiliser mix of boron, molybdenum and nitrogen, they were able to reduce rounds from 34-40 to 24 days.

“We discovered that you don’t graze lucerne

• To Page 5

RURAL PEOPLE » Dean & Suzanne Alexander

Business Rural

|5

‘Tweaking’ does the trick Sue Russell Dean and Suzanne Alexander are very much settled in the Southland dairying experience six kilometres from Winton.

The Alexander family bought the farm in an equity partnership back in 1993 after comparing the feasibility and returns of a dairy conversion in Southland with that in the Waikato where Dean grew up on a sheep and beef farm. The Alexanders bought out all the equity partners out in 1999.

“We had looked at doing a conversion in the Waikato, but it was what we would class as second-rate dairying land with rolling hill country,”

says Dean. “When we investigated Southland, which was emerging as a strong dairying region, we decided this was where we wanted to be.”

With the help of his father, Ian, who Dean did the exploratory work, making several trips south looking at potential farms. Having found the right one, they took on a sharemilker. Dean and Suzanne took over the running of the 193-hectare farm in 2010.

“We’ve just finished our fourth season.

This season we’ve milked 561 cows with our predominantly friesian herd, and though we’ve reduced the original herd slightly, we plan to increase the herd to 590 next season.

“What’s pleasing is that even though our numbers have been down, we’ve managed to

increase production each season by tweaking the system.” Last season 268,000kg of milksolids was produced; this season very close to the 282,500kg target. They milk through a 36-a-side herringbone shed on the 193 hectare farm.

Suzanne is very involved with farm life (she comes from a dairy farm near Hokitika) – a near full-time labour unit from calving to the end of mating, then filling in as required through the remainder of the year. One of her key responsibilities is calf rearing.

Staff have come and gone as they have advanced their aspirations but Dean Alexander is pleased that one of his key staff has decided to stay for next season.

“Our guys have been progressive and jumped into the next level of farming as opportunities have presented, which is good for them. We get great enjoyment seeing them taking this next step. I’ll be looking through FencePost for another full-time staff member very soon.”

He described the just completed season as “fantastic”, easily the best of the four so far. He

puts this down to exceptional growing conditions and the system-tweaking beginning to make a difference.

The grass and silage-based feeding system is able to sustain the herd well, evidenced by the fact that supplementary feed per cow dropped from 600-700kg per cow to an extremely economic 400kg during the season.

Alexander acknowledges he’s ‘quite big’ on monitoring and analysing. But there’s no magic bullet to improve performance, he says; it is all about ‘tweaking’. “This is why we have achieved the efficiency and production gains we have. Our motto is Attention to Detail. I am very focused on the farm. I walk over it every five or six days, and this allows me to get grass management bang-on.”

Another important factor has been the herd genetics. Alexander puts huge emphasis on the genetic make-up of the herd.

“Before buying this herd, we must have looked at 30 to 40 herds around the country. Selecting good bulls is pivotal to obtaining the best outputs over time.”

PO Box 41, Winton 9741

• Silage • Round Baling & Wrapping • Direct Drilling All Cultivation work • Ploughing - Sowing All digger & Truck work Suzanne and Dean Alexander. They say`Attention to detail’ is their motto.

Unique approach to farming • From page 4

below five centimetres, or you go below the growing point and it can kill the plant,” says Bell.

“Because it comes into the round late, you have to be ready with supplement.

“Grazing lucerne in situ is cost-effective and gives a break from feeding out in the paddocks Because it is a high-protein feed on a new conversion, it gave us additional feed energy.

Even when we had one herd on lucerne, the milk urea would increase. It’s definitely something we will do again.”

Mitchell and Bell are milking 820 crossbred cows on 216ha effective (340ha total) through a 54-bail rotary dairy. It’s a new conversion on hilly country with flat tops, plunging into gullies. The cows have to walk up and down a hill to get to the milking shed.

The cows use 17% extra energy compared with the flat border-dyke farm the couple previously milked for the Hamiltons, so a wide range of feed (including carrots, potatoes, brewers’ grain and peas) is fed to the herd to keep energy levels up.

Bell says she has found applying principles learned during her business career to farming has paid dividends and given the couple a unique approach to how they run the farm and their business.

This season they concentrated on developing farm procedures and staff culture. For example, they have come up with a logo and brand for their

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“I’ve always worn corporate clothing in my roles, I always felt quite proud walking out with the logo on, and that I was part of a team. It really sets a professional standard on the farm,” says Bell.

They have also taken a different approach to a bonus system.

“There’s a long history and expectation in the dairy industry of bonuses, but in the corporate world, you get a bonus only if you or the business performs particularly well.

“We have a dedicated bonus, but we also have a fine system if staff don’t perform certain tasks to standard. We’ve tied this into other goals, such as health and safety.

“For example, if staff members don’t wear RV helmets, they get fined and an amount is deducted off that annual bonus. It helps create good habits and a team spirit.

“This season we’ve taken it a step further. The bonus and fines are dealt with over the whole group rather than individually. This encourages staff to look out for one another. It’s about thinking how these guys tick and how we can incentivise them.”

The couple say their partnership is working well on their first job together. They are aiming to produce 350,000 kilograms of milksolids this season.

“We’re pretty keen to get our own farm,” says Bell. “We’ve been working out strategies with our accountant.

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6|

RURAL PEOPLE » Tracey & Roger Miller

Business Rural

Conversion helps ‘connect’ couple Sue Russell Converting their farm from beef and sheep to dairying last year is a decision Tracey and Roger Miller, of Waipounamu Dairies, have no regrets about.

The couple say that one of the main benefits to flow from now being surrounded by cows on their 336ha effective farm. five kilometres from Riversdale, in Southland, is the impact it has had on their family life with their two children, 10-year-old Jack and six-year-old Meg. “We came to a point with our sheep and beef property that we needed to build a new wool shed so we decided instead of doing this we would use our resources to convert to dairying,” says Roger Miller.

He also says he was getting “sick of working harder and not being home to enjoy time with the kids”.

The conversion went well though it was very late starting, given Environment Southland resource consent processes regarding irrigation water use, effluent discharge, and consent to convert the couple sought.

“We loved every minute of the conversion process and received amazing support throughout from the contractors and businesses involved in it with us,” says Miller.

“Ivan Lines, our farm adviser for 20-odd years now, was pivotal to the success of our business,” says Tracey. “We would be lost without him at times,” Roger adds.

One centre-pivot irrigator is operating, with plans to install another next summer to fully irrigate the property. The Millers also have ambitious plans to extend their herd to 950 next season as a result of doubling the current 125 hectares of irrigated farmland.

“We get really dry here in Northern Southland, so the extra centre-pivot planned is going to make a huge difference to our production capacity,” says Roger.

Tracey keeps busy dealing with the administration necessary to run the total operation, which includes a 120-hectare run-off 6km away, as well as managing the calf-rearing, which she really enjoys.

Roger is in charge of the management of the young stock, effluent and irrigation, while managing things still to be done as far as the conversion goes.

“One of the things that has been really good for me and for us as a partnership is that I feel much more connected and involved in our dairying operation than I ever did when we were sheep and beef,” says Tracey.

Tracey and Roger Miller, of Waipounamu Dairies near Riversdale, have ambitious plans to extend their herd to 950 next season.

One centre-pivot is operating, with plans to install another next summer to fully irrigate the property...We get really dry here in Northern Southland so the extra centre-pivot planned is going to make a huge difference to our production capacity.

“It has certainly given Roger and me lots more to talk about.”

The Millers employ a farm manager, a secondin-command, a farm-hand and a relief-milker. Their farm manager, Jared Crawford, won the 2013-14

Otago/Southland Farm Manager of the Year award.

“He had to do a two-hour presentation, and we’re very proud of what he has achieved,” says Roger Miller. The Millers went to Auckland in May to support him in the national final.

The Millers have taken on a new 2IC to join them for the 2014-15 season.

“We’re big on valuing every employee on an equal footing, no matter where they are in our staffing structure,” Tracey says. “It has to be a winwin for both parties involved, and we encourage on-farm and off-farm training wherever possible.”

Barley and PKE mixture provide the core of supplementary feed for the herd, while wheat and barley provide additional nutrition in the shoulders of the season.

Another difference the Millers are finding now they have immersed themselves fully into dairying is that the industry is a lot more positive than sheep and beef, and that makes a welcome difference, they say..

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RURAL PEOPLE » Jono & Anna Schouten

Business Rural

|7

Consultant helps streamline dairy communication Jo Bailey Oxford dairy farmer Jono Schouten says having a farm consultant liaising between equity partners and the farmer shareholder who carries out the dayto-day work on a dairy unit is a good strategy.

Jono is a lower-order sharemilker and equity partner with four North Island-based shareholders in a 250-hectare property at Oxford. His instructions come from Farmright, the partnership’s consultants, rather than directly from the other partners.

“This makes things very simple and clear.

Although I get on well with the other partners, who are also farmers, this system eliminates problems that could arise if I was taking instructions from four different people.”

The requirement for him to review the monthly financial reports, and provide cow and grass reports to Farmright has also helped his management practices, he says.

“You can’t be slack about doing the reports when you’re under contract. But this is a good thing as keeping a close eye on our financial and pasture management and animal health has resulted in good production gains.”

Jono and his wife, Anna, have farmed the property since 2008, after returning to New Zealand from a three-and-a-half month combined honeymoon and OE. “I was looking for a job while we were overseas and heard about this position from Farmright. I was manager for the first two years before stepping up to become a lower-order sharemilker and equity partner three seasons ago.”

The well-laid out property was converted 11 seasons ago.

A 60-bail rotary shed with cup removers is in the middle of the farm, which is around 90-per-cent irrigated via a centre-pivot.

Additional k-line irrigation was recently added to get water to the corners of the property not covered by the pivot.

“We are on pretty rocky land, so we try to regrass early in the spring as there can be restrictions on the Waimakariri Irrigation Scheme during

You can’t be slack about doing the reports when you’re under contract. summer. Grass quality is a big focus. We monitor it daily and don’t cut a lot of silage as re-grassing takes much of the surface away early on” Since the Schoutens arrived at the property, cow numbers have grown from around 850 to 920 mainly kiwicross cows, with production going from a previous best of 340,000 kilograms of milksolids to more than 390,000kg.

“We should tip 400,000kg this year, which is mainly due to the extra irrigated land, our regrassing programme, and improving the cows’ condition” says Jono Schouten. “We use around 500kg/cow of palm kernel which is really good for getting weight back on them in the autumn.”

The heifers and any lighter cows are put on once-a-day milking around mid-March to ensure they are in good condition before winter.

Some cows and around half the young stock are wintered on a 200ha dryland block, 14 kilometres away from the home farm.

Jono grew up on a family dairy farm in north Waikato. His parents moved to Southland in 2003, with Jono following them south in 2006.

He managed farms at Culverden and Rangitata, in Canterbury, before getting married to Anna and heading overseas. They have a 20-month-old daughter, Juliette, with a second baby due in July.

A 2IC and two intermediate staff assist on the farm, on a six-day-on, two-day-off roster.

The Schoutens continue to milk around half the time over a whole season.

“Having our own family has definitely made me realise the importance of spending less time working and more time with the family,” says Jono.

He says going to church in Christchurch is an important part of their lives.

“I thank God for the opportunities he’s given us and also the shareholders who have given us the chance to buy into the business. It’s something we don’t take for granted.”

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8|

Rural People: » Steve & Tracey Henderson/Steve Veix

Business Rural

Compet Neil Grant

It has been quite a year for Steve and Tracey Henderson. They are all smiles (above) after winning the Southland Otago Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year award. They also got married during the year.

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Entering competitions can be a useful stepping stone to advancement in dairying, according to Steve Henderson.

So can meeting the right person while you are at university, and marrying her, it seems.

Henderson and his recently married wife, Tracey Heale, hit it off at Lincoln, and worked on dairy farms once they had graduated. He had grown up on a Southland dairy farm at Edendale, and Tracey on a sheep-and-beef farm near Taumarunui. They teamed up contract-milking near Pukerau.

In 2009 Steve Henderson won the Southland Farm Manager of the Year award. He reckons that success was instrumental in the couple getting their current position, 50:50 sharemilking a 320cow herd at Winton.

This year they got married, and they entered the Southland Otago Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year award, and won it.

Although unsuccessful in the national awards, there are no regrets.

“It taught us a lot about being more strategic,” says Steve. It’s a lot of work but the rewards outweigh the time you spend.” The competitions

Compliance officer ends Karen Phelps It would be fair to say that Steve Veix hasn’t always been the most popular guy with farmers.

So now it’s ironic that he has become one. But then again perhaps it was always in the blood.

“My grandfather was a sheep farmer and growing up in town, you don’t realise it’s in the blood until you get out of town,” he says.

After leaving school in Christchurch, he had no idea what he wanted to do. As a lad he’d always been interested in agriculture, topping the class in the sixth form for agricultural science, and he had a penchant for growing plants in his room.

He headed to Lincoln University to do a Bachelor of Resource Studies, but only managed to pass one paper.

“Let’s just say I found the pubs around Lincoln were too inviting,” he says.

This story demonstrates two aspects of Veix’s personality – his love of people, and his self-discipline and ability to change tracks when need be. He moved to Palmerston North and started a Bachelor of Applied Science in natural resource management at Massey University to remove himself from friends and temptation to skive off.

“Growing up in town you don’t have the same understanding as when you grow up on a farm, so the first year of uni was a good foundation for me,” he says.

It was practical work on a dairy farm in Ashburton over summer as part of his degree that introduced him to dairy farming.

“What I enjoyed was being out with no one around me. I enjoyed the solitude, the animals and being out in the middle of nothing – just me, the grass and the cows.”

His first job out of university was working for the Wellington Regional Council processing resource consents and enforcing compliance.

Veix was involved in a project that helped move farmers from discharging waste into waterways to using the nutrients on farm.

“It was a different attitude back then. I wasn’t the flavour of the month; I was telling farmers to change their system,” he says, then bursts into laughter as he remembers one particular incident.

“I remember talking to a farmer with an overgrown effluent pond and, as I was walking along, it was so overgrown with weeds that

I ended up falling in. Of course the farmer thought it was hilarious – the compliance officer falling in the poo pond.”

He moved to another compliance-focused position for Environment Canterbury and it was while he was driving on a farm one day that he heard something on the radio that changed his life forever. The Edge radio station was announcing a wedding competition (called Two Strangers and a Wedding) and was looking for bachelors who wanted to marry.

“I’d just come out of a long-term relationship and I thought it might be a good way to meet someone. I applied on line and they rang me straight back.

“It’s not something I’d do again. I was very nervous on the day because I didn’t even know what Kersha (my wife) looked like until I met her at the altar,” he says.

“But when she turned around I thought I was pretty lucky. For some reason it played out and I had a gut feeling from when I heard the ad that it was the right thing to do.”

That was in 2003. The couple now have three children: Mitchell, 9, Finn, 6 and Joshua, 3. They got into dairying just a year after marrying and ended up working for a farmer Veix had previously bailed up for noncompliance issues.

The job was as an assistant manager at Pleasant Point and Veix was grateful for the opportunity as he knew very little about dairy farming.

“It doesn’t matter what you know, it’s how you learn,” he says. “It was an opportunity and that’s what the industry is all about.”

A year later Kersha got pregnant with their first child and the couple moved to work for Tom and Suzie Mason, equity partners with three other shareholders in Terracostosa (which means ‘expensive land’ in Italian).

Veix was the senior herd manager of 950 cows. He was there for just one season, then a brief stint on another dairy farm which turned sour. At the same Kersha was suffering from post-natal depression, and the couple moved back to Christchurch to be nearer to family.

“The last job was so bad I said I’d never milk cows again. One of the things I’ve learned is that there has to be compatibility with employers and employees; your needs and desires have to match theirs.”

Veix took on a job with Fonterra leading an environmental team and later, when the lure of

Business Rural

RURAL PEOPLE » /Steve & Tracey Henderson/Steve Veix

|9

ition win useful stepping stone It taught us a lot about being more strategic. It’s a lot of work but the rewards outweigh the time. have filled the Hendersons with enthusiasm for the industry.

“When we have staff, I will encourage them to keep upskilling themselves. You never know everything, so you should take every opportunity and keep growing.”

They have one more season on their current farm, but have plans extending out several years from here. They hope to move onto a 650 to 750cow, 50:50 sharemilking farm next, and hope to be in farm ownership in 2022.

Building up the herd is part of the plan.

Their contract says they can keep 20 per cent of replacements on the farm run-off, but they need to rear 30%, so the other 10% of the fully recorded heifer calves are grazed off the property.

They might need to go further afield to find a suitable property for their advancement, but Southland is where they intend to settle in the long run.

“I’ve only ever been in Southland so I don’t know any different,” says Steve.

“Southland is summer safe and there are no irrigation costs. Canterbury is higher-input farming, but you get more return on your investment per cow there.”

Like most human endeavours, dairy farming has its highs and lows. Among the highs, he reckons, are getting your next job and seeing how it pans out, and seeing how you grow. The downsides include accepting that you are your own boss and you can’t blame anyone else if something goes wrong.

Similarly, in farm competitions, the highs include the feedback and constructive criticism you get from the judges, and of course, the pleasure of winning.

These are balanced by the time involved in preparing for judging, and pulling your business apart to see why you get up in the morning.

Right: Steve Henderson says building up the herd is the current part of their plan building towards farm ownership.

up on other side of pond It was a different attitude back then. I wasn’t the flavour of the month; I was telling farmers to change their system.

I remember talking to a farmer with an overgrown effluent

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pond and, as I was walking along, it was so overgrown with weeds that I ended up falling in. Of course the farmer thought Proud to support David Giddings

it was hilarious – the compliance officer falling in the poo pond. farming grew too great, a role as a sustainable dairy specialist helping shareholders improve their environmental performance on farm. He was back in his element: “I loved dealing with farmers in an advisory rather than a compliance role. I tried to give them everything I could to help them improve.”

When Fonterra disestablished his job, he realised he’d been thinking more about going back to farming. With three young children, he was tired of not being able to spend as much quality time at home as he would have liked.

“As I got older it was my last-ditch attempt to return to farming. Doing that job for Fonterra helped reinvigorate my love of dairying and I had to get back into it.”

He spent two years working as a farm manager for Rangitata Dairies at Hinds before returning to manage Terracostosa and another farm, Terraverde (green land) – 315 hectares effective – which had been bought. Both farms are milking 2100 cows.

Veix cites the Masons as his mentors, but his return to farming has not been without its challenges. Despite vaccinating the cows, he has had a salmonella outbreak which saw cows with blood poisoning from aborted foetuses, lost calves and cows that didn’t come into milk.

“It was a bit of a nightmare if I can put it nicely,” he says.

“We had more than 180 cows in a sick mob at one stage – that would be a whole herd in the

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And it is precisely what he is doing now that Veix realises is his true love – managing cows and people. He’s proved to not be too shabby a farmer either – the Veixes were runners-up in the Canterbury North Otago Farm Manager of the Year this season.

“My job now is more a corporate role. This is where I feel comfortable. I have the flexibility to have work-life balance. It’s nice to be part of a big team again.”

With land prices rising, he is realistic about his chances of owning a farm. Instead he is focused on getting a master’s degree in agribusiness, which he is currently completing, and aiming to own a share in a farm.

His ultimate goal is to again work in an advocacy role assisting farmers.

“That is my real passion. It’s the people interaction and the excitement of going to new farms and seeing what farmers are doing.

The dairy industry is progressive and full of opportunities. What farmers do for the country is really important.”

And in his moments of leisure, there is one favourite pastime: “I love pulling up a chair in a paddock and just watching the cows. I don’t know what it is about them but they’re just intriguing.”

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10 |

RURAL PEOPLE: » Paul family

Business Rural

Succession ‘all about the next Jo Bailey Succession planning on a family farm with a 138-year history can be a challenging exercise.

However, the Paul family, of Waimate, have managed to work through the process without too many difficulties, says fifth-generation farmer Quintin Paul.

“My brother Greg, father Lester and I have put a lot of time and effort into making it work. Dad has retired into a nice home at Waimate, our sister has been paid out, and Greg and I started farming separate dairy units in our own right from June 1 this year.”

The brothers are already farming two properties independently on separate Fonterra numbers under a family trust, although until now, everything has gone into the same pot.

“It’s been really helpful to run things this way while we’ve increased the farming operation, as it’s give us a lot more collateral and borrowing power,” says Quintin.

“Each generation, including our father, Lester,

has brought more land into the partnership and increased the asset. But we’ve stopped developing now and are happy with where we are at.”

Around 80 hectares of Quintin’s 220ha property on the Waihao River flats near Waimate Airport is the original family farm, settled in 1876.

It was a cropping farm through most of that time, and later used for dairy grazing before being converted to a 200-cow dairy unit in 2001 when Quintin and his wife, Dana, returned home.

He ran the dairy farm on his own for the first season with only a couple of afternoons off each week.

Within three years, Greg and his wife, Tania, were back too. Around the same time, the family trust bought a nearby 170ha riverbed block.

“We cleared more than 100ha of gorse, turning around 80ha into dairy land and the remainder into a run-off,” says Quintin.

Being able to access the Morven Glenavy Ikawai Irrigation Scheme in 2006 was a turning point for the operation, he says.

“We did a land swap with three other farmers, swapping part of Greg’s run for some dairying land.”

The Paul family of Waimate (from left): Greg, Charlie, Dana, Tania, Zavier, Frances, Rosie, Mackenzie, Lester and Quintin. Right: The homestead and new cowshed.

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Business Rural

RURAL PEOPLE: » Paul & Sarah Smith

| 11

generation’ This property was converted around five years ago and from June 1, it became Greg’s own farm, milking 377 cows.

As well as milking around 800 cows on a 220ha (210ha effective) dairy platform, Quintin has taken over a 126ha irrigated run-off on the other side of the Waihao River, which includes a 50ha block acquired in 2007.

His herd is milked through a new Rakaia Engineering cowshed and platform with Reid plant.

The shed was built in 2012 to replace the farm’s old herringbone shed, and has automation, measuring and metering.

Last spring, Quintin teat-sealed his heifers and high-cell-count cows only, which resulted in a dramatic drop in cell count from around 130 to an average of 44 across most of the season until around late March. ”We also have a low-cell-count, in-calf rate of 79 per cent at six weeks,” he says.

Production has also increased dramatically since the introduction of the new shed.

“Maximum production in our old herringbone shed was around 305,000 kilograms of milksolids, but with grain feeding in the new shed, and making use of its computerised measuring technology, we upped that by 60,000kg in the first season and will probably do around 375,000kg in total this season.”

Although the Waihao River provides a valuable water supply, it is also the biggest threat to the dairy operation, he says.

“We’ve already had major winds and two 900cumec floods this season which saw us lose two or three hectares of milking land in April,

Each generation, including our father Lester, has brought more land into the partnership and increased the asset. including all the planting and river protection work we’d done in spring. However natural disasters aside, it has been a great season. We’re still ticking along well.”

Quintin and Dana are assisted by a relief milker and two permanent staff, sisters Nicole Bevan, who is second -in-command, and Gemma Thomson.

Quintin and Dana have four-year-old twins, Mackenzie and Zavier, while Greg and Tania have two primary school-aged children, Charlie and Rosie.

“Our children have been uppermost in our thinking throughout the whole succession planning exercise,” says Quintin.

“We realise succession is not about us, but about the next generation, and making sure both farms are viable so that there is an opportunity for them to carry on.

The next generation of farmers: Youngsters Xavier and Mackenzie Paul with pet bull Marvin.

Farms, fires, forums, family – it’s a busy old life Sue Russell Paul and Sarah Smith combine dairying and growing beef for export on their Papakaio property in the Lower Waitaki area of North Otago.

“Years ago I used to drive trucks and tractors, but as Dad bought more farms, he needed me to be here helping, and that’s how we came to own the farm ourselves,” Paul Smith says.

There is always plenty happening on the farm which uses three methods of irrigation.

A centre-pivot covers 80 hectares, 58ha is irrigated with border dyke, and just under 50ha by k-lines.

The Smiths are in the process of introducing another centre-pivot to replace the border dykes.

A manager, a second-in-charge and a farmhand run the 174 hectare (effective) dairy unit, which was home to 590 cows last season.

At a day-to-day level, this frees Paul to concentrate on the beef operation and a further 150ha of land he leases just up the road.

“I enjoy the stock work and the animal husbandry,” he says. “At peak we have up to 600

cattle, a mixture of killable and export cattle.

Two 500,000-litre effluent tanks are expected to be commissioned on the dairy platform before winter sets in.

Outside of farming Paul Smith is also a member of the voluntary fire brigade, so the pager is always handy. This can involve him in 40 to 50 call-outs each year. Sarah takes care of the books for all of the farms.

One thing that concerns Paul Smith is the lack of work ethic he sees in young Kiwis.

“They may be well educated, but many don’t expect to have to work really hard. I hear negative comment sometimes about Filipino farm workers, but I see the difference in just how hard they are prepared to work.”

The couple have two children, 14-year-old Jack and 11-year-old Scarlett. Jack is involved in rowing, while Scarlett belongs to the local Sea Scouts.

When it comes to their futures, Paul says they know they have to go out and ‘see the world’ before deciding what to do.

“It is really important they have experiences to draw on when deciding what they want to do.”

Paul Smith himself left school at 16 years

of age and worked for a couple of years at the Burnside freezing works, near Dunedin.

Then he was a freelance operator driving diggers and tractors in the North Island as well as doing a stint with Shell Oil installing fuel tanks in Dunedin before returning to the land.

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12 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Ryan Moseby & Abby Bateman

Business Rural

Frustration breeds new conversion Neil Grant Succession planning was one of the main drivers the Moseby family thought about dairying on their 326-hectare property on the eastern side of the Mataura River, in Southland.

“Frustration with returns in the sheep and beef industry meant a lack of options for succession,” says Ryan Moseby.

“That led us down this path to conversion, which created the option for me to carry on the family farm. ” Moseby is 29. He spent five years in rural banking after university, so doing the numbers required to check out the feasibility of conversion to dairying came naturally.

Nonetheless, the last 12 months has been a hectic process, getting the farm ready to start milking in the coming spring.

“I’m going to be hands-on in the running of the farm. This is new for me; my dairy experience consists of four months during uni’ holidays, which was eight or nine years ago. It is a huge learning curve.

PHOTOS Below: The sun shines on the shed and conversion work on the Moseby’s farm in Southland.

Above right: Ryan Moseby with partner Abby Bateman in the new dairy shed

“A big focus has been on getting the core infrastructure right to make the management of the farm as efficient as possible once we’re up and running, so there is a lot of automation. One man will be able to drive the shed a piece of cake, with another bringing the second herd in.”

The nearly completed De Laval 54-bail rotary shed has auto drafting, grain feeding, cup removers, weigh scales, milk meters with conductivity measurement, automatic teat spray and auto plant wash.

He says there has not been much time for learning how to be a dairy farmer – much of the last 12 months has been devoted to planning the conversion after doing the numbers to make sure it made economic sense and was sustainable. Then the physical work started.

“I was advised not to get bombarded with information by asking too many people about various aspects. I picked a couple of people who are good operators who have recently converted farms and picked their brains.

“We got a consultant to help through the consent process, and were lucky to have a family friend, Russell Morton, who is a good contractor with experience in dairy conversions. His help was invaluable. The Southland Farm Services (De Laval) guys were excellent with the planning for the shed and effluent system. We have a good team around us which has been a huge help throughout the conversion.”

are proud to support Ryan with the conversion of Kanadale

The farm is largely rolling, although it has some flats which run up into the rolling country. All parts are cultivatable by tractor.

One big challenge with the contour and elevation around the farm was the water system. Southern Trenching and Excavation installed what was a reasonably complex water system to cater for dairy demands, Moseby says. Around six and a half kilometres of laneways have been put in and these, plus the waterways and 30ha of tree plantations, are surrounded by nearly 30km of new fencing, Destocking the sheep had to be factored in to allow pasture renewal. Approximately 100ha has

been regrassed since last spring. Pasture renewal had been a part of existing practice, so, fortunately, there is now less than 20ha of pasture over five years old.

“Everybody told me to do as much as you can at the start because you don’t get another chance once the cows are on.’”

Staff will consist of two experienced full-timers – an assistant manager, and a general farm worker – and Moseby himself. In addition, his partner, Abby Bateman, will rear calves with the help of an

• To page 13

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RURAL PEOPLE: » Andrew & Katherine Welsh

Business Rural

| 13

‘Recognition of hard work’ Karen Phelps Getting half of the farm’s lambs away to the works at 88 days and 18 kilograms is something most farmers would dream of. For Katherine and Andrew Welsh, it’s the norm.

The couple TEFRom composites were rated the fastest growing dual-purpose lambs in New Zealand across all breeds at the second annual Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) Sheep Industry Awards. The results of the genetics-based awards were calculated on ram breeders’ performance in the Stock Improvement Ltd Advanced Central Evaluation (SIL-ACE) dual purpose for growth (lamb growth and adult size) – a large-scale, across-flock and breed genetic evaluation of more than 300 rambreeding flocks.

“It was brilliant recognition of all the hard work we’ve been doing concentrating on growth and survival,” says Andrew Welsh.

The couple farm a 437-hectare unit at Mandeville in partnership with Andrew’s parents, Russell and Pam. There is another 210ha at Balfour.

The family runs a commercial flock of 3500 sheep and operates two sheep studs under the Twin Farm brand. Their suftex stud has 500 ewes and 200 hoggets.

The Welshes top cross/interbreed the suftex to produce a black-faced sheep that is meaty and grows fast. Their TEFRom stud (texel-east friesianromney) composite is comprised of 800 ewes and 350 hoggets.

TEFRom is a composite breed made up of 25% texel, 25% east friesian, and 50% romney; the Welshes were one of the founders of the breed in 1997.

At that time they had a long history of breeding high-performance romneys and sought to retain longevity, soundness, fecundity, high growth rates, wool weights, freedom from pigment and other basic faults, parasite resistance and good temperament.

“We could see there was a real advantage with the texel because of its muscling, combined with the east friesian for its fertility and milking ability,” says Andrew Welsh. “The romney was a good base because we already had a high performing romney stud.”

They say the texel has enhanced the wool bulk, parasite resistance, hardiness, muscling, and lowered the wool-fibre diameter of the TEFRom. The east friesian brought the benefits of higher ovulation rates, especially in hoggets. It also increased milk production, especially in late lactation, and positively influenced wool bulk.

The award win has resulted in more interest in the stud, and backs up anecdotal evidence from clients, says Andrew.

“Clients can’t believe how much of an improvement our genetics give their flock. They’re saying their average kill dates are coming forward by a month and kill weights coming up by a kilo.

Our neighbours are seeing it too, and wanting to get on board.”

The Welshes sell around 400 ram lambs and two-tooths each year by private sale. The farm was part of the Ovita lamb survival programme for six years. The programme has built up a huge database of performance records of New Zealand lambs, with farmers contributing a substantial amount of pedigree via SIL, lambing records and post-mortem data, with NIWA providing appropriate weather data to produce a knowledge base of the factors that influence lamb survival across very different environments and lamb genotypes.

The difference with TEFRoms and other breeds can be huge, says Andrew Welsh.

“We were surprised by the difference when we moved from our traditional romney stud base because we had very high performing romneys.

But we found TEFRom would have 10-15% better survival and lambs would be 3.5 kilograms heavier to weaning. We got these kinds of figures year after year. Our ewes are already scanning at over 200%, so we’re very focused on growth rates and lamb survival.”

He says they keep pressure on the sheep by running them in a big mob as a commercial farmer would.

“This means we are seeing the true genetic merit of the animals, so we know which stand out and which to cull. We cull hard on the figures and

experienced calf-rearer. His father will be an extra set of hands to help get the venture off the ground he will take care of most of the tractor work and other general day-to-day duties.

The Mosebys will begin the new milking season with the 630 crossbred herd they are now wintering. They hope to build the herd to 650 as and if the farm allows. One neighbour has signed on to winter the cows, and another to graze the heifers.

the physical animals.”

Andrew and Katherine look after the day-to-day running of the business as well as looking after their son Toby, 15 months. Russell and Pam still live on the farm and assist with their many years of experience.

“It’s great to have them to talk to - they have so much knowledge to give.”

Andrew Welsh (far left) won the SIL-ACE Dual Purpose for Growth (Lamb Growth and Adult Size) for his TEFRom composite (texel-east friesianromney)for the fastest growing dual purpose lambs in New Zealand across all breeds at the second annual Beef + Lamb New Zealand Industry Awards.

‘Do it once, and do it properly’ • From page 12

Andrew and Katherine Welsh and son Toby. The couple farm a 437-hectare unit at Mandeville.

“No trucks, we just open the gates, which is great,” says Ryan Moseby Twelve months of doing feasibility studies, planning, getting consents, and then actually doing the physical conversion are nearly at an end.

“I had two principles: do it once, and do it properly – don’t cut corners where it will cost you in the long run.

“This is my crack at making the family farm work. Our family has been on it for nearly 150 years and this is an exciting new challenge.

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RURAL PEOPLE » Roger & Sue Bates

14 |

Business Rural

Expansion name of game Karen Phelps

We know the target we have to aim for by 2023 but we don’t know what will be required to achieve this yet. The biggest concern is if we have to reduce production and then this will reduce the value of our asset and the viability of the business.

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Roger and Sue Bates confess they don’t like to sit still for very long when it comes to their farming business.

The couple are in the process of converting a 126ha run-off to start milking on December 1. The farm will be their second unit and will milk a herd of 470 cows through a 44-a-side herringbone shed and be managed by the Bates’s son, Martin, 25.

“He went away, did a carpentry trade and his OE, and now he’s back milking. He’s born to be a farmer,” says a proud father.

Roger Bates grew up on a farm in Northland while Sue was a townie. Roger went shearing as soon as he left school then worked full-time on the family farm milking 100 cows.

He stayed there for 20 years as his parents, Peter and Eileen, gave him opportunities to progress through the dairy system – from management to contract milking and then 50:50 sharemilking. He and Sue bought the farm in 1987.

The couple headed to Canterbury in 1996 for educational opportunities for their children and options to develop their business as their Northland farm was land locked.

They put a manager on the family farm and worked on wages for a year at Dunsandel before putting a 50:50 sharemilker on the Northland unit, bringing their herd south and going 50:50 sharemilking on the Dunsandel farm.

They started with 550 cows and built up to 1000 over five years. In 2000 they sold the family farm in Northland and bought their first farm, at Burnham, in Central Canterbury.

This now 200-hectare property is supported by a 160ha run-off and milks 750 jersey and jerseycross cows through a 50-bail rotary shed. The Bateses also lease a further 30ha, which they use for cropping and dairy support.

They are aiming to increase the size of their herd to 800 next season. The unit employs a contract milker.

Roger says the biggest challenge will be nitrate loading and increasingly tightening regulations.

“We know the target we have to aim for by 2023, but we don’t know what will be required to achieve this yet. The biggest concern is if we have to reduce production, then this will reduce the value of our asset and the viability of the business.” .

The couple have already installed a new 1500 cubic metre, concrete 30-day storage pond on the home farm. A travelling irrigator spreads effluent over 60ha of the property.

The new conversion will have a concrete

Canterbury farmer Roger Bates says that nitrate loading and tighter regulations will be the biggest challenge for dairy in the future. storage pond with a weeping wall. Effluent will be distributed through centre-pivots and will be used as a green wash on the yard.

The Bates live on a 40ha lifestyle block nearby, and both of them are active in the day-to-day running of the farms.

Their children are all grown up but still take a interest in the farm. Although they may not be doing the day-to-day running, Roger Bates thinks they will all be involved in some capacity in the business at some stage.

Steven, 24, is an engineer working for

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AgResearch at Lincoln; he takes care of the farm resource compliance.

Victoria, 23, works as an office manager in Christchurch and uses her skills in the administration side of the family farm. Charlotte, 21, is a motel manager on Stewart Island.

Over the last two seasons season the Bateses have [produce around 320,000 kilograms of milksolids.

Their main focus now is on consolidation and improving efficiencies and performance across the board..

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RURAL PEOPLE » Neville & Carey Alderton

Business Rural

| 15

Incoming: Cows enter the dairy shed yard at Neville and Carey Alderton’s farm at Greenvale, near Gore. The former beef-and-sheep operation was converted to dairy in 2012.

Succession plan seeds conversion Karen Phelps When Neville and Carey Alderton were looking at plans for farm succession they realised it would be virtually impossible for their family to operate their sheep-and-beef unit and make a profit. So they made the decision to convert to dairy.

“It was a big decision but the reality was we couldn’t pass the farm onto family without converting. I did the sums and they would have been working here for nothing as the industry wasn’t profitable enough,” says Neville. “Put it this way, after converting my gross income in a very good year in sheep and beef is now my taxable income in dairying. That’s the difference between sheep and dairy.”

The farm, at Greenvale 20 minutes north of Gore, was converted in 2012 and daughter Bridget and her partner, Nic, returned to manage the unit.

Although Neville and Carey were “newbies” to dairying, Bridget and Nic had experience, so took the helm.

The Aldertons’ farm has a history as a sheep and beef unit. The original block was bought in 1945 by Neville’s father, David, when he returned from the war. David and wife Rita ran the farm until Neville and Carey took over.

It was in 2009 when Neville had a back operation and Bridget came back to look after the farm that the Aldertons started thinking about

One of two new 75m ©Herd Homes at the Greenvale farm of Neville and Carey Alderton. dairying. Bridget made it clear she was interested in pursuing a career in the dairy industry.

Today the farm has a 195-hectare dairy platform with the remainder of the 336ha property used as run-off (around 90ha) or planted in trees and

shelterbelts. A portion is rough gullies and the land rises from 600-1000 feet. The Aldertons peak-milk 510 kiwicross cows through a 54-bail rotary shed with automatic cup removers and Protrack.

They have been working on getting the grasses

and grazing patterns correct. About 50ha of new grass was put in straight away and targeted use of nitrogen has helped paddocks flourish. The farm also has two new 75-metre ©Herd Homes.

“Our run-off is too small, so we have to buy in a lot of feed or put the cows out to graze. Once we did the costings, a ©Herd Home made sense. It has added value to the farm as we have a capital asset and we can save the $170,000 we would have spent sending cows out to graze each year.

We’re also told that each cow should produce 20 kilograms of milksolids more each year, but we’ll see.”

Neville says converting and the challenges it has brought has reinvigorated his love of farming.

“I’d been sheep-and-beef farming for so long I could do it in my sleep. Converting to dairy has revitalised me. Bridget is in control of the dairy shed while Nic takes care of the running of the rest of the farm. I’m just the boy now and I get told what to do.” .

Although he is taking a backseat role these days ,Neville still takes a management role and Carey relief-milks, raises calves and looks after the bookwork.

The farm produced 175,000 kilograms of milksolids in its first season and was on target for 193,000kg in the just completed season. Neville and Carey’s plan is to retire in four years. Bridget and Nic will buy an equity share in the farm and become contract milkers next season.

O’Connor Richmond Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors

We are proud to be associated with Neville Alderton Contact any of our partners: Chris Boyle, Mike Millard, Craig Carran Phone: (03) 208-9240 Fax: (03) 208-9433 Email: admin@ocr.co.nz 15A Hokonui Drive, Gore

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16 |

RURAL PEOPLE: » Brendan & Katya Caird/Richard & Christina Reynolds

Business Rural

Caird’s crew: (Left) Staff member Cam King, farm manager Scott Searle and Brendan Caird, with sons Henry (3), Toby (9), Oliver (7) and Matthew (5).

Right: Cows graze on fodder beet on the Caird farm south of Temuka.

Opportunity knocks Don’t get left behind Contact us today on 03 983 5514 to advertise in the next issue of Business Rural

Karen Phelps Good timing and taking calculated risks has helped Brendan and Katya Caird develop a successful farming operation.

Brendan grew up on a sheep and crop farm south of Timaru and Katya on a small lifestyle block near Pleasant Point. Brendon admits he never planned to go dairy farming, but the offer of a job on a farm at Winchester when he left school got him started, and he’s never looked back.

He says his employer handed him responsibility quickly giving him good opportunities to learn. Five years later he moved into partnership with that farm owner, Alvin Reid, on a farm across the road.

Brendan managed the unit and owned half the cows and plant.

Two hundred cows became 600 cows over six years and Brenan left with half the herd and half the dairy company shares. He used the capital to buy a 58-hectare farm at Winchester and leased another 27ha. He milked 300 cows for three years then bought 47ha next door and raised herd numbers to 500.

This farm was sold and the couple now farm a

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day in between milkings. Brendon says that as long as this is carefully managed, it is less work than harvesting and feeding out.

The couple is also in an equity partnership on a 237ha effective (255ha total) farm at Pleasant Point, which they converted in 2008 with neighbours Bill and Pip Pearce. This farm milks a herd of 850 kiwicross cows through a 50-bail rotary shed. In the last year they have leased a 140ha support block for wintering and grazing young stock to give them greater control.

The effluent system on this farm has also been upgraded recently to a concrete storage tank system with 1.2 million litres of storage capacity.

Production will be around 1500kg milksolids per hectare this season.

Each farm is run by a manager, and seven staff are employed over both farms. The Cairds want to give others the types of opportunities they were so lucky to get themselves when they were building their business. Next season the manager of the Pleasant Point farm will take on a lower-order sharemilking contract on the farm.

“It’s important to give new people coming through a chance, a stepping stone,” says Brendan Caird. .

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163ha effective (182ha total) block five kilometres south of Temuka milking 585 kiwicross cows. The farm sits against the south bank of the Opihi River.

The herd is milked through a 36-a-side herringbone shed. It has a support block of 90ha used for grazing young stock and wintering. They also grow crops of fodder beet and kale (this season around 12ha) and make 500 bales of silage.

The focus for the couple is to farm a selfcontained, low-input system. On the Temuka farm they have used up to 300kg of bought in supplement per cow and produced 1700 kilograms of milksolids per hectare. Last season they used only 100kg of bought-in feed per cow and produced 1550kg milksolids. They are targeting 1700kg of milk solids per hectare next season by lifting cow numbers to 620.

The key has been re-grassing the farm extensively and having 130ha of the home farm under centre-pivot irrigation. They have a lined, 50day storage pond that was put in last season. Being able to put effluent through the centre-pivot has given them greater control over dispersal.

“It’s easy to be compliant now,” says Brendan.

They also grow fodder beet on the dairy platform and let the cows graze it for 1.5 to two hours each

Free Quotes No Job Too BIG or Small

Sue Russell Former Dairy NZ farm consultant turned dairy farmer Richard Reynolds has developed a healthy philosophy when it comes to what makes for success in the dairying industry.

“The fact is the dairying industry is always evolving and that is how it has managed to sustain itself and grow. The key to success is to understand that there are many ways to achieve positive outcomes and goals. Certainly farming is not a one-fit fits all industry.”

Richard, wife Christina, seven-year-old Iris and four-year-old Tavis enjoy life farming on their 145-effective-hectare property near Barrytown, on the West Coast. The couple have been on the farm for seven years, initially coming in to a 50:50 equity partnership arrangement.

A large area of the farm has a base of fine sand, given it was dredged for gold more than half a century ago. It can dry out very quickly in summer.

“Last year we were hammered by the drought,” says Richard Reynolds. “Then at the other end of the spectrum because we’re farming over peat swamp the water-table can

rise to the point where there is nowhere for the water to drain. It’s part and parcel of farming where we are between the coast and the Paparoa ranges.”

Production dropped significantly last season but 2014 is on track to produce 130,000 kilograms of milksolids – which he puts down to wintering off two-thirds of his 350 freisian/ kiwicross herd and extending the autumn round.

Milking through the 30-a-side herringbone shed can be managed by one person. The morning milk takes about three hours while the afternoon revisit takes another two.

The couple employ one full-time and one part-time staff so Richard is still very much hands-on through the daily rhythm and flow of farm management tasks.

Plans ahead include taking on a lower-order sharemilker on the farm, freeing Richard to pursue ownership of a second farm on the Coast. He is also appreciative of the fact that what has traditionally been seen as the ultimate goal – to own your own farm – isn’t necessarily these days going to produce the best outcomes for everyone working in the industry.

“Dairy farming is a marathon, not a sprint. If you burn yourself out early doing what you think

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RURAL PEOPLE » Daniel & Emma Todd

Business Rural

| 17

Uphill, down dale for couple Karen Phelps Working on a hilly farm has been a steep learning curve for Southland dairy farmers Daniel and Emma Todd. Puns aside, the couple say that they have learned invaluable skills as dairy farmers on the 550-cow farm they milk at Fortrose, east of Invercargill for farm-owners Neil and Lisa Crosbie.

“Around 15 hectares of the farm can only be grazed when it’s dry because cows have to climb 500 metres up a hill,” says Daniel Todd.

“So when we plan to go there we always have to have a backup plan in case it rains. But it’s a well set up farm so as long as you take your time with the cows and don’t push them then there’s no more issues with a hilly farm compared to a flat farm.”

He says it has helped that he grew up on a hilly sheep-and-beef unit at Titiroa in Southland.

“Basically it’s harden up and deal with it,” he jokes.

Dairying has always attracted him. He reliefmilked for neighbouring farms while at school, which was where he first got a taste for industry.

After leaving school, his first dairying job was working on a 450-cow farm at Seaward Downs as an assistant for two years.

He then went back to work on his parents’ farm for a couple of years as well as continuing to relief milk at Seaward Downs before returning to that farm to take on a second-in-charge position. He then moved to a 430 cow farm at Mokatua where he progressed to assistant farm manager over two years.

It was on a 400-cow farm at Rimu where he and Emma first joined forces to take on a contract milking position together and created their company, Deep Dairies Ltd. They stayed for two years before moving to their current job at Fortrose

The 280ha total, 240ha effective farm has a distinctive 50-bail internal rotary shed. Daniel says this has been a bonus when training staff as each can see what the other is doing.

“It’s more like a herringbone with the contact you have with the cows. With staff you can also easily talk to one another and communicate to look out for certain cows when they come around etc,” says Daniel.

Good communication with the farm-owners has helped the couple settle into the job.

“The Crosbies have a lot to do with the farming operation and we try and send them weekly reports. Lisa does all the LIC Minda records and all the AI while both Lisa and Neil oversee the operation,” says Daniel, who looks after the day-today running of the farm.

Emma concentrates on bookwork, staff management and health and safety as well as filling in where needed on the farm. The farm employs two full-time staff.

The couple are focusing on raising production.

This season they are on target to produce 202,000-204,000 kilograms of milksolids. Daniel says his personal goal for next season is 220,000228,000kg.

They will be milking an additional 20 cows and have brought the calving date forward by 10 days to give more days in milk. They will focus on more strategic placement of urea.

The Todds have two children: Jamie, 3 and Elyce, 10 months. They say farm ownership is their goal, but are aware 50:50 sharemilking jobs are hard to come by. This would ideally be their next step or an equity partnership.

“I love the lifestyle,” says Daniel. “I say that with a big smile on my face because sometimes it’s not ideal as well. But I love the fact that I can come and see the kids and take them out on the farm. I’m not stuck in an office all day.”

PHOTOS: Above: The 50-bail internal rotary shed at Fortrose, east of Intracranial, owned by Neil and Lisa Crosbie (above).

Left: Daniel and Emma Todd with children Elycie and Jamie (left).

Lower left: The Todds receive the silverware after winning the 2013 Southland Farm Manager of the Year competition.

outcomes in dairy industry The fact is the dairying industry is always evolving and that is how it has managed to sustain itself and grow. is the right and only way to do something, you’re going to struggle and possibly not reap the successes you want.”

For people starting out, Richard says a handful of key issues need to be addressed in order for the right outcomes to manifest.

“First of all, read your contract. A number of people have signed lower-order contracts and not read them through well nor sought advice before signing. When I do sharemilking disputes, this is the first question I ask.”

Farming is a business and Richard says farmers starting out have to equip themselves to be very good at the business, not just at farming practice.

“People become dairy farmers because they like dairying. It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing what they are good at, but these practices don’t output into the maximum gain for the business itself.

“There are many many ways of achieving positive personal outcomes from dairying, whether that is farm ownership or contract management or sharemilking. I think farm ownership is not the end-goal any longer because you can earn really good money without the stresses that come with ownership.”

Richard points out that the dairy industry is the only industry where the career and business expectation has traditionally been to own a farm.

“We set a lot of people up for a fall with this narrow thinking about what success is.”

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Looking at his own situation and with seven years of farm development to draw back on, Richard says he’s ready for a change.

“My farm has now developed to the point where everything is running smoothly as a farm.

The business systems and support networks are in place so it is the right time for us to be looking at a new venture.”

The final piece of advice to help achieve success Richard says is to want to ask other people how they have got to where they have.

“Always be open to new learning and be open to the unusual more than the norm. I’m after that little ‘gem’ of experience that I can consider taking into my farm and business management practices. They’re wor th their weight in gold.”

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18 |

RURAL PEOPLE » Mike & Andrea Shore

Business Rural

Early siteworks and footings at Mike and Andrea Shore’s dairy conversion of a 100ha run-off block at Ladbrooks, near the home farm at Clydevale in South Otago

Productivity gains from taking care Neil Grant Working on the business rather than in the business is Mark and Andrea Shore’s plan.

Their home farm is a 290ha effective dairy unit at Clydevale in South Otago, running 980 cows.

Mark’s family emigrated there from the UK 34 years ago. In 2000 – 2001 it was converted to a dairy farm where three staff were employed. They now employ six full-time staff, including a tractor driver on the home farm and one full-time staff member at the new conversion at Ladbrooks, plus casual staff for calf rearing and relief milking for both farms.

“I oversee the business, organise the guys for the week and leave them to it, under my watchful

The Shores run 980 cows on a 290-hectare dairy unit at Clydevale, in South Otago.

I think we will see more and more feedpads going in as it stacks up well for the business, financially and environmentally.

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eye, and Andrea’s great systems, policies and procedures; although sometimes I seem to be just the tractor driver and repair man. But I don’t put cups on cows any more, unless I have to; as we consider our role in our business to be more productive when we are working strategically on the business rather than too much in it.”

Five years ago, after a succession planning process, Shore and Andrea bought the farm.

They are still paying his parents out, and figured that they needed to make the business grow, so are in the process of converting the 100ha run-off five kilometers away into a standalone dairy farm.

“We’ve been planning this for three or four years, and started in December on the lanes.

The fencing and draining is already done, and we hope to have it finished in May so we can milk

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RURAL PEOPLE » Sakura Pastoral

Business Rural

| 19

Partnership a ‘very happy’ arrangement Neil Grant

Concrete feed pads take shape at the Ladbrooks conversion.

of business cows before the end of the season. The weather in the next few weeks may dictate that.”

Not having a run off means that young stock will be grazed away at Owaka, and the main herd will be winter grazed at Millers Flat. Another local farm has been leased for silage support for both milking properties.

The new farm is planned to complement the home farm. A new 30-a-side herringbone shed with Waikato milking plant, automatic cup removers, Protrack drafting and a 300-cow feed pad will complete the conversion.

Several local contractors have been engaged for the conversion earthworks, building the shed, installing the milking plant, and laying the concrete feed pad.

The Shores want the conversion to be a good place to work in, so the house is also being renovated. When the conversion is finished a manager will run it and Shore will oversee this operation too.

“We’ve employed a top manager. It will be a one and a half person unit, calving 320 friesian cross cows. If we ever decided to sell it, it would be attractive; particularly as a “stepping stone”

property for sharemilkers or contractors wanting to get into farm ownership, with its being a small tidy unit.

“We won’t need more machinery as the two farms can run side by side and crank along nicely. Feed costs are going through the roof so the pad makes efficient use of supplement with no wastage. Some contours are steep so the pad will also address safety issues with tractors in the paddocks, and reduce pugging.”

The Shores have two sons, Ollie, seven and a half, and Josh who is six. Andrea, looks after the business’s HR department, and the financial and compliance side of the business. She also breeds riding ponies, many of which compete successfully in the North Island and Australia.

A local accountant told Shore he believed the expense of putting in feed pads stacks up as a return on equity.

“I think we will see more and more feed pads going in as it stacks up well for the business, financially and environmentally.

“We are conscious of not making the whole business too capital intensive. We certainly hope to get a good return on our investment.”

“Some people think a farming partnership can be fraught, but this is a very happy arrangement,” says George Reveley, referring to Sakura Pastoral.

“There’s a whole range of things that are getting better and better, and the owners are happy with progress. Make no mistake, they are investors, and they need to see a return, and the value of their asset climbing.”

Sakura is a four-year-old venture. It has a 202 hectare farm between Rakaia and Southbridge.

The six directors and investors are spread between Singapore, the Waikato and Ashburton.

It was already a dairy farm when they bought it. It has three houses, 21 paddocks and a dairy well-sited in the middle so there are few cow lanes, and the herd does very little walking.

Set up some 18 years ago, it was border dyke irrigated. The land is somewhat undulating, so this was not ideal. The farm now has an eight and a half hectare irrigation pond, filled via an open channel from the Rakaia River. The border dykes were removed, the whole farm regrassed and refenced, and it is now watered by a full circle centre pivot, a half circle one, and K-Lines in the corners.

The pond is designed to provide water for 20 days if necessary when river levels are low. In the 2013 dry spell, careful management saw it eked out to a month, when, fortunately, the rain came.

The herd is 650 cows this year – down from 680. Milk solids production has gone from 415kg per cow to 460 odd.

“It seems counterintuitive,” Reveley says. “You take cows off, and you get more milk. But the herd is getting better. They get more supplement of grain rolled on the farm. The reduced herd reduces costs, and we get a better selection of which cows to keep.”

The crossbred herd is on the friesian side of the cross. They bought a package of high breeding worth (BW) semen, so are driving hard

Make no mistake, they are investors and they need to see a return, and the value of their asset climbing. to improve the genetics quickly by generating more artificially bred calves than they need to give choices. Low BW cows have a hereford put over them. Their calves are easily identified by their white faces and are not kept in the herd.

The farm is currently managed by Tony and Sue Reynolds. They are moving on to farm their own property. A new manager has been appointed for the new season.

Reveley is a FarmWise consultant. He sees his main task as enabling the manager to do his or her job. Oliver Saxton, the chair of directors (all the owners) takes an active supervisory role, along with the farm accountant.

To keep everyone properly informed, detailed farm information is loaded into Google docs, so everyone has access to it. The manager or his deputy deposit pictures of such things as the state of the pond or pasture.

Equipment maintenance issues, live weight issues and performance graphs are loaded into a monthly report. It can include land and feed wedges, milk graphs and somatic cell counts and reports from the cash manager. Reveley says the directors find this a helpful way to keep up to date so they can make informed decisions at the two or three meetings held each year.

Common sense dictates that growth cannot continue for ever.

“A levelling out looms for every farm in Canterbury. As land and water plans kick in, production will level out and may even go back a bit. The challenge is to remain profitable.

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20 |

ON FARM » Jock & Kirsty Armstrong

Business Rural

The new Barfoote Construction cowshed at Matt and Julie Ross’s conversion at Duntroon, in North Otago. Sharemilkers Jock and Kirsty Armstrong have just finished their first season on the 230ha (effective) property.

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First day sharemilking for Jock Armstrong’s young protégé.

North Otago sharemilkers Jock and Kirsty Armstrong have made a smooth transition to a newly converted 230-hectare (effective) dairy platform at Duntroon, in North Otago.

“We’ve just finished our first season as lower-order sharemilkers and haven’t had any real teething problems,” says Jock Armstrong. “We have been involved in a new conversion before, so were quite aware of the challenges.”

The Armstrongs had spent the previous four years managing another property “two farms away” for the same owners, Matt and Julie Ross, so were already familiar with their farming regime, he says.

“We moved here in May last year and started sharemilking on June 1,” says Armstrong. “It has been great to have the opportunity.”

He says around 90 per cent of the 250ha total land area has been “turned over”, with a considerable amount of earth shaping, tree removal and filling-in of small ponds completed before regrassing and development could begin.

The property has a new 54-bail rotary shed designed by Whangarei firm Barfoote Construction.

“It’s not your normal-shape cowshed. The architectural design has nice lines and an oval shape that really suits the landscape.”

Inside, the shed has Waikato plant with automatic cup removers, auto-teat spraying, inshed feeding, and Protrack auto-drafting.

Armstrong says they continue to follow a high-

input regime on the new farm, with grain fed in the shed “pretty much full time”, and molasses added at the beginning of the season.

“We’re probably about as intensive as you can get without a feedpad. The cows are always on grass, and we feed out silage and other supplementary feed to make up any gaps. Matt’s theory has always been to do the basics right, feed the cows well, and they’ll repay you. We have cows capable of high output, so it’s a bit of a waste if we’re not feeding them properly.”

The herd is made up of cows acquired “in house” from the Rosses’ other properties, as well as some lease cows.

Around 710 cows were peak-milked this season.

“In spring it was fairly wet, which made it tough with the new conversion,” says Jock Armstrong.

“We had to spread the cows out and let them go a lot sooner that we normally would. But overall, the season has been pretty good.”

They plan to add a few more cows to the herd for next season, and, with on-farm development all but complete, will turn their attention to getting production and fertility “really well established”.

The new dairy unit has four pivot irrigators and 70ha of k-line. It is largely self-contained, with a small amount of winter crop grown on the farm and a run-off, which is shared with another of the Rosses’ dairy units.

• To page 21

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Business Rural

ON FARM » Craig & Maree Sharp

| 21

Farmer cares for town’s water Jo Bailey Southland dairy farmers Craig and Maree Sharp have an unusual situation on their Knapdale farm. Gore’s main water supply is drawn from an underground acquifer is right in the middle of their 210-hectare (effective) milking platform just four kilometres from the town.

“An average of three million litres of water is drawn from the aquifer every day, which definitely makes us careful about what we’re doing on top of the ground,” says Craig Sharp.

Farming in such a “sensitive area” was the main reason for the recent upgrade of the Sharps’ effluent system, a year earlier than the consent required.

“We wanted to bring our technology up to speed as the old system only gave us two days of storage.”

The Sharps went with a Permastore aboveground effluent tank, manufactured in the United Kingdom, and supplied and built by All Pumps in Invercargill.

The steel and glass tanks sit on a concrete pad, which reduces the number of corrosion issues and eliminates the risk of leaking.

“It was important to us to put in the best effluent storage system we could, rather than simply go for the cheapest,” says Sharp. “This is a proven system. There are Permastore tanks overseas that have been around for 50 years and never leaked.”

He is pleased with the tank, which is now fully operational.

“The way the season has been, we’ve managed to keep levels fairly low. But, with 1.5 million litres of storage, the capacity is there when we need it.”

The Sharps are also happy with their “great season” given the high payout, heaps of grass,

and production of around 250,000 kilograms of milksolids from 575 cows at peak.

“One of the main things we focus on is controlling our costs,” says Craig. ”Farm working expenses for this year are budgeted at $3.16kgMS which we mainly achieve by doing all our own ag work and fixing everything ourselves.”

Maree Sharp does the farm accounting through Banklink, so they can keep close eye on budget.

She also helps with relief milking and calf-rearing, Craig and Maree farm in equity partnership with PHOTOS Craig Sharp gets to grips with his calves in the paddock (above) and on his bike (left) with the little Sharps (from left), Nathan, 9, Ryan, 5, Brooke, 7, Erika 11.

Four pivots on new dairy unit • From page 20 Jock Armstrong comes from the West Coast where his father was an engineer and his mother was a chef.

“I left school by mutual decision when I was fairly young and went dairy farming because a couple of friends were doing it,” says Jock. “I enjoyed waking up early and doing some work.”

He moved to North Otago because there were more opportunities, which is where he met Kirsty, whose parents had been dairy farming in the area.

“I met Jock when he was working for some family friends I used to babysit for,” says Kirsty.

“After we got together we moved to Canterbury for five or six years where I worked for an accountant doing mainly human resources work, and Jock worked on dairy farms. About five years ago we

came back to North Otago and started working for Matt and Julie.”

They have two sons, aged four and two-and-ahalf, with another baby boy due on June 30.

“It’s going to be a busy winter,” says Kirsty.

With just minor improvements to be made on the new dairy unit, they are concentrating on staying within regulatory and environmental guidelines while improving productivity and trying to set an example that dairy farmers “aren’t bad people”, and can create a healthy, sustainable business.

She says they have an open mind about the future: “With young children we expect to be familyfocused for the next few years, and haven’t set any specific fence-posts we’d like to reach. We’ll always consider opportunities, and see where we go from there, although there is definitely a lot more to achieve here first.”

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Craig’s parents, Graham and Lyn Sharp.

“We were sheep farming before we decided to sell up and go into dairying five years ago.

We bought this place which was already a dairy platform, and last year sold an additional 115ha of land to buy a bigger 204ha support farm around 15km away, which Dad runs.”

The Sharps make all their own balage – around 2500 bales this year – on the support farm and dairy platform, and feed around 2kg of barley per cow per day in the shed, plus around 0.3kg molasses towards the end of the season and until the end of mating.

A 17ha lease block has been incorporated into the dairy platform this season which will allow the Sharps to increase their friesian-crossbred herd to around 590 next season.

“We could have already increased cow numbers a bit before taking on the extra land, but we’d rather have nice, big fat cows making lots of milk,” says Craig.

They have recently been granted a new 10-year consent for 700 cows from Environment Southland.

“The Gore District Council supported the consent, which means it is happy with the way we protect the town’s water supply,” says Graham.

They were pleased to get second place with their in-calf heifers at a stock competition at Wyndham: “We were aiming for top 10, so were pretty happy with the result. It’s a bit of fun to be able to compare our stock with other local farmers’.”

Long-term employees Elza Given (more than five years) and Nathan and Vanessa Clark are a key part of the operation, says Craig.

“Nathan and Vanessa were here with the previously owners. We’ve just put Vanessa through her AgITO level 4 herd managers course. Both are fantastic workers and we are keen to have them stay on indefinitely.”

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22 |

ON FARM » Dean & Jo Geddes/Mark Sullivan

Business Rural

Prizewinner a right royal cow Karen Phelps

The Geddes Gang: Dean Geddes with son Tom (above) at the 2014 Collection Sale, and Sophie Geddes with Tahora Uno Tara (right).

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Breeder Dean Geddes’s Tahora Goldwyn Toni-ET, was not only judged the supreme champion holstein friesian dairy cow award at last year’s Canterbury A & P Show, she also hobnobbed with royalty.

“Prince Charles saw her when he visited the show, rubbed her on the head and said, ‘She’s a lovely cow’, says Geddes. “I don’t know if he knows much about cows, but he’s right. Good conformation, feminine and with a perfect udder – she’s probably the best cow we’ve ever bred.”

Tahora Farms has won the award many times, but to have a ribbon presented by the the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall was a first.

And Geddes, who is well known for his opposition to the breeding-worth ranking system after he took a nine-year court case against Livestock Improvement Corporation claiming the system devalued his cows, can’t resist taking a dig after his win.

“Tahora Goldwyn Toni-ET would probably be a cull cow in the BW system,” he says.

Geddes, who focuses strongly on conformation, longevity, fertility and production, is also not a strong believer in an all-grass system.

“In an all-grass system, cows are consuming a lot of water to get enough dry matter. Our herd production average is two to three times better than the national average, but we don’t feed them two to three times as much.”

Tahora Stud was founded in 1963 by Dean’s parents, Jim and Judith Geddes. They based the stud on the breeding philosophy and success of Judith’s late grandfather, L.H.Leslie, and her late father, Merton Leslie.

L.H.Leslie bred registered friesians from 1925 to 1938, showed or bred six Canterbury champion cows and the 1934 Royal Show champion cow.

Pareora Ethel Burkeje.

Dean Geddes, who took over the stud in 1991, says it is essential for anyone wanting to breed top cows to work on their farm. He and wife Jo calve and milk around 320 cows, run their own replacements and heifer calves, and about 50 bulls.

“You have to work with cows in a hands-on way to breed cows. It’s subtle things like milking speed, use of feed, their legs and feet, how well they walk.

If you are working with cows all the time, you notice things.”

He sees three ingredients to breeding a great cow: passion, dedication and money. He places a great focus on investing in the best genetics he can source, and believes it shows.

Geddes has a half-share in an Australian cow, Pooley Bridge Titanic Alicia; the granddaughter of Shoremar S Alicia, she is one of the first Excellent 97 cows in Canada. He has a quarter-share in another Australian cow, Blue Chip Goldwyn Paradise, which won junior, intermediate and senior titles over three consecutive years at the International Dairy Week in Australia. He also has a third share in a sister to Blue Chip Goldwyn Paradise.

The Geddeses – who farm a 180-hectare block at Greenpark, just south of Christchurch, and a 37ha run-off at Rolleston –also run a polo-playing and breeding operation, involving around 20 horses.

Milking ‘not the sexiest job..

Karen Phelps Technology means that farming remotely while doing your OE is now a distinct possibility, as the Sullivan family is proving in Southland.

The Mark Sullivan-owned family farm is getting a helping hand from his son, Kieran, 27, who is overseas. He has an agricultural science degree, and worked in Landcorp’s head office in Wellington before returning to the family farm where for three years before heading away “Kieran still plays an active role in the farm,” says Mark. “With GPS pasture metering etc, he just logs into a computer and advises from wherever he is.”

Mark Sullivan says it has taken a lifetime to build up the farming business. One of nine children. he grew up in town and defines himself as “a prodigy of the dairy industry of the day”.

“Because Dad was a teacher, we were all on the move a bit growing up – the West Coast

and Wairarapa.” However, there were farms “all around” and he chose to go into the cadet scheme straight from school.

Mark Sullivan understands his son’s desire to see a bit of the world before settling down to the business of dairy farming. At the age of 21 he headed to Canada and Europe on a cultural exchange for six months – the trip made him realise he still had a lot to learn.

He completed a farm-management course at polytechnic in New Plymouth, then returned to Canada for three years, working on dairy farms.

Back in New Zealand, he worked his way through lower-order sharemilking to owning his first farm, 60 hectares in the Wairarapa. He put a sharemilker on the property while he continued to sharemilk the next-door unit; he eventually worked his farm full-time for five years, leasing another 30ha and building up to 250 cows.

He sold up and came south in 2003, buying a farm at Otatara, on the outksirts of Invercargill

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ON FARM » Simon Washer & Stacey Weir

Business Rural

| 23

Young gun blazes dairy career trail Kelly Deeks

Simon Washer is thankful for the influences in his life that have led him to dairy-farming success. At just 26 years of age, he has bought his first farm, in South Taranaki.

If that wasn’t enough to celebrate, he has also set up his own on-line stockfeed business. farmfeed.co.nz is the result of a chance encounter Washer had when he was farming in Canterbury about three years ago.

“We had just bought $100,000 worth of silage, and the day we put it in the bunker, our neighbour was mowing half his farm as he was converting it. We asked what he was doing with the feed and he said he had sold it. We worked out that if we had known that feed was for sale, we could have pulled it over the fence and saved about $30,000.”

This lost opportunity sparked an idea. Washer decided the answer could be an on-line hub where farmers could see all the feed available around New Zealand and put offers in for how much they would be prepared to pay for it.

All feed listed on farmfeed.co.nz is qualitycontrolled through a partnership with Hill Laboratories, which does certified testing system on listings for dry matter, metabolisable energy, crude protein, and digestibility of dry matter. The website requires every listing to be tested for dry matter at least, with the other values optional.

The aim is to keep things as simple as possible. Once sellers have entered a listing, they are sent a test-kit and instructions on how to take a sample of their feed, and a courier bag to return the sample to Hill Laboratories. The results are then added to the listing and it goes live.

To keep costs down, buyers can register free and buy off the website, and sellers are not charged commission, listing fees or photo fees.

All a seller has to pay for is the laboratory

tests, which come in at $40 for a dry-matter test and $65 for the full feed-value test.

There is also an option for buyers to request a quote for freight from preferred transporters.

“Farmers and contractors are busy people,” Washer says. “Every hour counts on the land, so farmfeed.co.nz has been developed to provide a simple, quick, user-friendly, one-stop shop to advertise and buy farm-feed supplements nationwide in a fair market-rate environment.”

Despite developing the website and new business, Washer has still found time to develop his dairy farming business.

He has bought an 87-hectare dairy farm with an adjoining 45ha lease block at Manaia, near Hawera, where he will start milking 420 cows on July 20.

He has been lower-order sharemilking on his father, Mark Washer’s Manaia farm for the past two seasons, and felt he was ready to take the next step and go 50:50 sharemilking on another farm. He started talking to a good friend and neighbour who had just bought his first farm after eight years of sharemilking.

“He said that if I was going to go 50:50, why not stretch myself a bit further and buy my own place.”

With support from his accountant and local bank manager, Washer spent hours doing his sums and worked out that it was possible. Luckily he had some money left over to fill the farm with cows.

With a budget of $2200 per cow and help from livestock manager Grant Weir, Washer bought some quality cows as the nucleus of a herd to breed from, made up the numbers with cheaper cows, and came in under budget.

Washer will run the new farm with his partner, Stacey Weir, whom he met last year after winning the 2013 Fieldays Rural Bachelor of the Year competition.

..you have to be passionate’ – at the time it was the southernmost dairy farm in New Zealand. He milked 300 cows on 220ha until 2008 when he sold to buy his present 333ha (207ha effective) property, which was converted from sheep farms. In his first season, the farm produced 130,000 kilograms of milksolids; by this season, production was around 274,000kg.

The Sullivans milk 640 kiwicross and friesian cows through a 54-bail rotary. They are still developing the land and bringing new pasture into their system (20ha this year) that has been put into crop first.

The aim is to increase the farm area to 240ha (effective) in two years and milk 700 cows.

Sullivan says the secret has been aerating the underlying Kapuka soils and free draining Tiwai gravel, especially after the first or second year of new grass.

“The key has been to get the roots to the gravel to get to the nutrients to grow the most grass.”

When he took over, the Olsen P levels averaged 17. Now they 33, the result of intensive capital fertiliser. The family aims to graze to residuals of 1500, but Mark says getting the balance between fully feeding stock and grazing down is the key. The farm is on 28 to 30-day rounds for the whole year.

The addition of a third full-time staff member next season will allow Mark Sullivan and partner Barbara Blair, who does the bookwork, to spend more time off the farm.

Sullivan is a big believer in family-owned farms:“We need family farms in New Zealand because we’re supplying a commodity.

Corporates can drop an investment like a hot potato (if it’s no longer lucrative); if there are too many corporate farms, it could put pressure on the co-op. A family-owned farm is more secure because it’s not all about profit. It’s not the sexiest job milking cows; you have to be passionate about it.”

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24 |

ON FARM » Mitchell & Lyn Bragg

Business Rural

Centre pivots prove pivotal Karen Phelps Major developments have gone on over the past year at the South Canterbury property at Glenavy managed by Mitchell and Lyn Bragg.

The couple are now entering their seventh season on the 266ha effective (290ha total) farm currently milking 980 cows. Last year a major irrigation scheme was installed on the property with three centre pivots replacing a border dyke system.

The whole dairy platform is now under irrigation and this season the couple is in the process of converting the centre pivots from 180 degrees coverage to 360 degrees as well as building 12 bridges over an ecologically sensitive waterway running through the property – the Waikakahi stream.

The steam is under Fonterra’s Dairying and Clean Streams Accord, agreed in 2003 between Fonterra Co-operative Group, the Minister for the Environment, the Minister of Agriculture and regional councils. The steam is also home to Canterbury Mudfish; an acutely threatened species.

Mitchell admits the irrigation scheme and related works has been a major undertaking but says the benefits will be more efficient use of water and growing more grass.

“How much more we will grow is the million dollar question. We’re not 100 percent sure but we’ll definitely grow more grass,” he says The farm is on target to produce 360,000 kilograms of milk solids and is aiming for 370,000 kilograms next season.

After growing up on a sheep and beef farm in the Coromandel, Mitchell’s career has included shearing and working on sheep and cattle stations in the King Country and Northland. He’s a relative newcomer to dairy farming having started around 15 years ago when he was in his early forties. It

How much more we will grow is the million dollar question. We’re not 100 per cent sure but we’ll definitely grow more grass.

A major irrigation scheme was installed at Glenavy, South Canterbury, last year. The 266ha farm, managed by Mitchell and Lyn Bragg, is now irrigated by three centre pivots, replacing a border-dyke system. was the opportunities the dairy industry presented that converted him.

“I was managing a bull beef farm in Northland and the owner also had a dairy unit next door. So Lyn and I went straight into 50:50 sharemilking,” he says.

Starting out with 400 cows, they stayed in that job a year before moving to the Waitaki Plains to

milk a herd of 320 cows for three years. They then worked in the same region on a Landcorp farm 50:50 sharemilking 600 cows for five years before making the move to the South Island to the farm they are now based when they had the opportunity to enter an equity partnership on the property. They remained in this for three years before selling their share but staying on to manage.

“We wanted to give our children something.

I was getting older and I wanted them to have

opportunities that I didn’t have,” explains Mitchell.

Two of their children – William, 22, and Sophie, 17 – used the opportunity to invest in a house.

They both now work on the farm. Kieran, 21, works for a contractor.

The farm runs a crossbred herd through a 60 bail rotary shed. It’s supported by a 290ha run off located 15 kilometres away at Ikawai. Around 120ha of this property is under k-line irrigation. It’s used for grazing young stock and winter grazing.

The Braggs grow 14ha of kale and take off 600-700 tonnes of silage each year.

On the main farm the Braggs are re-grassing around 10% each year favouring Shogun, an NEA endophyte hybrid ryegrass touted as producing winter growth equal to that of many Italian ryegrasses and out-yielding most perennials during summer and autumn. Although it’s too early to really form a comparison Bragg says initial results are looking positive.

“We seem to be grazing it a lot quicker,” he says. The irrigation scheme and re-grassing is the end of a long development process over the past seven years which has also seen a new farm layout, water supply, laneways and fencing.

The farm employs the Braggs, their two children

• To page 25

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ON FARM » Craig & Gaewyn Hodsell

Business Rural

| 25

Hard yards on the hard road to success Karen Phelps Challenges have seemed to follow Craig and Gaewyn Hodsell wherever they have gone during their dairy career. The couple has arguably chosen some of the most difficult dairy farms in the country on which to build their business.

The Hodsells jumped into dairying head first around 25 years ago by purchasing their own farm, a block located next door to Craig’s parents’ sheep and beef unit at Maungaturoto in Northland.

The 81ha farm had an eight aside herringbone shed, no fencing and no house. The longest walk was 2.5 kilometres from the back of the farm to the cow shed. “We bought everyone’s cull cows because that’s all we could afford. It was quite a challenge, stressful and I wouldn’t advise anyone to do it that way,” says Craig with a laugh.

Demonstrating their determination the Hodsells made a go of it, learning how to be successful dairy farmers along the way. They had both grown up on sheep and beef units then worked in Auckland so their knowledge of dairy was non-existent. But they believed that a farm was a great place to raise a family.

Ten years later through hard work and determination they had built their farm up to 202ha milking 450 cows. Realising that Northland wasn’t the easiest place to farm, citing heat stress and facial eczema as issues, they sold up and headed to Southland taking on a 50:50 sharemilking position at Winton on a 450 cow unit.

Challenges seemed to follow them though.

“It was a late conversion so we didn’t have a cowshed until October. We were still on a Northland cycle so the cows calved in July. We had to send the cows out to be milked on other farms and received just enough milk back to feed out calves,” explains Craig. Once again the tenacious couple faced the challenges head on. Five years later they had built their herd to 700. This enabled them to purchase their current farm at Taramoa, 17 kilometres from Invercargill on the coast.

The 336ha (270ha effective) farm milks a herd of 480 crossbred cows through a 40 aside herringbone shed. The farm is supported by a 19ha

run off where they have staff accommodation and run young stock and a 58ha block where they also run young stock, cut silage and raise 500 store lambs. The couple is in their sixth season on the property, which is fully self-contained apart from feeding a little palm kernel in spring and autumn.

This year they are growing 8ha of fodder beet and 23ha of swedes. They grow 100 tonnes dry matter of pit silage and 1000 bales of bale age for wintering.

“There’s probably not many dairy farms in this area that are self contained but we prefer it this way.

We probably have higher staffing needs -– three full time plus part timers – because there’s more work involved but we also have more control, particularly over the growth of the young stock.”

They have undertaken considerable development because true to form the land initially brought its challenges with sandy areas and peat swamps.

They say they merely saw this as an opportunity to improve the property and have now developed 60ha of the peat land, draining it and putting it into pasture giving them a 160ha milking platform.

The couple’s three children are all interested in farming. Sam, 21, is helping out with the store lambs and along with Deklan, 23, is fencing and tidying up the 53ha run off block which is a recent acquisition to the business. Daughter Lee, 18, is studying a bachelor of agriculture at Lincoln University.

To show how far they’ve come in their first season on this property they produced 163,000 kilograms of milk solids with 380 cows. This season they are on target to produce 255,000 kilograms with 480 cows.

Their next major project will be to apply for a new consent which will involve upgrading their effluent system which presently only has 28 days storage. They hope to get consent to increase cow numbers, not because they particularly want to grow the business further but because they want to future proof it for the next generation. “We are probably near the end of our dairy careers but someone else who comes here might want to milk more cows. It’s about keeping our options open and allowing for expansion. You never know what’s around the corner.”

Development phase completed • From page 24 and one other full time staff member. Lyn is also heavily involved in the day to day running as well as taking on the administration side of the business.

Mitchell says it’s been great to see his kids pursuing a career in the dairy industry.

“William is the farm second in charge and is very capable. Sophie has just started working on the farm and she’s learning a lot as well. Dairy is a great future for them. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but I wish I’d done this when I first left school as there are many more opportunities for progression.

You don’t see many cattle and sheep farm managers going on to own their own farm unless its family property. But in the dairy industry you can see young people come up through the system and succeed in farm ownership.”

The farm the Braggs manage is owned by an equity partnership and is operated under a corporate structure with a board of directors. The Braggs have several meetings a year with the farm owners. The Braggs say they are happy managing and have invested in rental property in Waimate.

“As you get older your priorities change. Now I’d rather give my kids the opportunities.”

Taramoa farmer Gaewyn Hodsell with staff members Greg, Daniel, Fred and husband Craig.

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26 |

ON FARM » Philip & Becky Wilson

Business Rural

PHOTOS: Above left: The 60-bail rotary dairy, with cup-removers and in-shed feeding, at Tilverstone Dairy at Ngapara, North Otago. Above/Bottom: Views west across the 216-hectare property to the hills.

Degree career stepping stone Karen Phelps

Twenty-six-year-old North Otago sharemilker Philip Wilson has been busy getting on with his farming career since graduating from Lincoln University in 2008 with with a Bachelor of Commerce in Agriculture) “The degree helped me to network with ruralindustry people and research different ways of farming,” he says.

As a new graduate his first farming job was in a second-in-charge position on a 500-cow, recently converted farm at Leeston, in Canterbury.

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He stayed there one season, then went lowerorder share-milking with 400 friesian cows for two seasons. Last season he moved to a 260-hectare property at Ikawai on the north bank of the Waitaki River, where he was lower-order sharemilking 700 cows.

At the start of June last year, the Wilsons headed a bit further south – to milk 850 cows on Tilverstowe Dairy at Ngapara, which is 25 minutes inland from Oamaru.

“We have 216 hectares of the farm fully irrigated using centre pivot and k-lines, and the herd is milked through a 60-bail rotary shed with cup-removers and in-shed feeding facilities,” Philip Wilson says.

One of the benefits of this bigger-scale operation is that he is in a better position to use staff and work with their strengths.

“I have a very good 2IC and farm assistants, and I move around between milking managing the business end and the day-to-day running of the farm, as well as making sure I leave time for family.”

Milk production this season is expected to reach 395,000 kilograms of milksolids.

“Next season we’re going to drop our cow numbers back and try to do 385,000kg with more grass in the diet and less bought-in feed. We will graze fodder beet in situ during autumn and early spring, which is grown on the platform.”

Three hectares of maize, grown under plastic was sown in October as a trial to see if it could fit into a rotation after fodder beet.

Wilson says the best part of his lifestyle is being outside working on the land and with stock. Wife Becky, a former school teacher became a full-time mum with the arrival of Leah 16 months ago.

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Their focus remains to achieve the best possible production from the energy and inputs the farming operation receives.

“Just trying to be the best you can be is what we focus on,” says Phillip. “There’s lots of potential that I see in our business and in the farm too. You’re always learning and always improving.”

His advice to those aspiring to a life on the land is to “surround yourself with people that you want to be like and can learn things off”.

“Farming is an exciting industry and dairy farming is really exciting. There are so many possibilities and opportunities and it is inspiring to be around likeminded progressive farmers in the industry.”

We have 216 hectares of the farm fully irrigated using centre pivot and k-lines, and the herd is milked through a 60-bail rotary shed with cup-removers and in-shed feeding facilities...

I have a very good 2IC and farm assistants and I move around between milking, managing the business end and the day-today running of the farm as well as making sure I leave time for family.

Taranaki breeders come Kelly Deeks When Wayne and Leeanne Taylor attended the 2013 New Zealand Holstein Friesian Association conference in Invercargill, they had no idea they would win two major awards.

The Taranaki dairying couple were presented with the association’s Distinguished Service Award for almost 30 years of sustained commitment and service to the association and the breed. They also won the Valden Cow of the Year Trophy with their 13-year-old Muritai Leader Willow.

“Winning the Distinguished Service Award was pretty special,” says Wayne Taylor. “It was humbling to be recognised by our peers for the time and effort we’ve put in.”

The Taylors have given years of service to the association, both within the Taranaki branch and at national level. Wayne is a long-standing national councillor who was HFNZ president from 2010-12.

He is also a senior holstein friesian judge and was a TOP inspector for a number of years. Leeanne was the association’s national youth co-ordinator from 1999 to 2004.

The Valden Cow of the Year Trophy has been presented for only the last two years, and the

Taylors have won it both times. It takes into account a cow’s longevity within a herd, lifetime lactation, protein production, daughter production performance, sons and grandsons marketed

by AI companies, show successes, type and conformation, and Star Brood status.

“Four of the six cows in the finals belonged to us and we were thrilled when Willow won the overall trophy,” says Wayne. ”We’ve had a lot of success and fun with her in the show ring, and now as a brood cow. She is in her 10th lactation, and to date has averaged 592 kilograms of milksolids per season.”

The Taylors farm the Muritai Holstein Friesian Stud at Ian and Janet Finer’s 68-hectare (effective) property at Tikorangi, near Waitara, where they are 50:50 sharemilkers milking 200 cows.

“The stud cows regularly produce above the 400kg milksolids mark, even when there’s a drought,” says Wayne.

The Taylors are big fans of the Queen of Calves nutrition programme which they have used for more than a decade: “It certainly makes a difference, especially with the young stock and helping to get growth into our two-year-old heifers before they come into milk.”

Wayne says cows from his uncle’s herd

ON FARM » Blair & Sara Gallagher

Business Rural

| 27

Conversions force rethink Neil Grant Dairy conversions have wider ranging implications than are at first obvious. It is not only the farmer who changes from sheep and beef or cropping to dairy cows whose life and work alters dramatically.

Other farmers in the district are affected too.

Rangiatea Station, near Mt Somers in the Canterbury foothills, is a 720-hectare sheep-andbeef farm. Blair Gallagher’s father bought it in 1959, and in 1971 registered a perendale stud based on ewes from Massey University where the breed was developed.

Over the years a pattern of farming developed in which some lambs were fattened on the property and others off farm under various arrangements.

In-lamb hoggets were wintered down country where there is less likelihood of snow. Angus beef cattle balanced the business, with a sheep-to-beef ratio of around 80:20.

As more and more Canterbury Plains country changed to dairying or dairy support, it became clear that Gallaghers’ business model would need to change too. Fewer farmers required store stock, less land was available for off-farm grazing, and fewer farmers produced supplementary feed for sale.

“We need to be more sustainable,” says Blair Gallagher. “We have reduced our flock from 5850 ewes to 5000, and we’re taking on 140-150 older cattle in autumn and finishing them from spring to December. We can now put in more greenfeed crops to be more self sufficient. By running the older cattle through to weaning, we have a lot more worm-free pasture for the lambs.”

The cattle herd is 130 angus cows, plus dairy cows taken in over summer. All progeny are fattened on farm for Five Star. The change has seen the sheep-to-beef ratio become 65:35, with stock units remaining at 9000.

The perendale ewes are mated to perendale rams, except older ewes, which go to dorset/texel or suffolk texel terminal sires. The older flock is lambed early, in mid-September, so that they can get a good draft away at 17-18.5kg. Stud ewes lamb at 150-165%; the main flock on the hill country at 130-140%; and the hoggets, which have a condensed mating period of only 21 days, scan at 60-90%. Their lambs are regarded as a bonus.

The perendale stud concentrates on fertility, weaning weight (a lot of clients sell store lambs so rely on good weight) and the amount of meat on the carcass. Conformation is also important. About 200 rams are sold each year to farms from Gisborne to Gore, and on the West Coast

We need to be more sustainable. We have reduced our flock from 5850 ewes to 5000, and are taking on 140 to 150 older cattle in Autumn and finishing them from Spring to December. We can now put in more greenfeed crops to be more self sufficient.

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Blair Gallagher (top) farms sheep and beef on the 720-hectare Rangiatea Station, near Mount Somers.

His wife Sara (bottom) runs a jewellery business from her Tack Room Gallery.

“Perendales are hardy, are good mothers, produce a high yielding carcass lamb, and have good longevity,” says Gallagher. “A lot of our clients in hill or high country run merinos and perendales on the same property – merinos for the fine wool and perendales for the meat.

“Our flock sheep produce reasonably high-bulk, very white fleeces at 35 to 37 microns. It is sought after for the finer end of the carpet market, and for jerseys and so on.”

Along with the farm, Sara Gallagher runs the

jewellery business Gallagher started when his father was running the farm. It is based on the two deposits of fracture free-agate associated with the volcano that became Mt Somers 90 million years ago.

She has expanded this to include items made from, for instance, paua, fresh water pearls, mother of pearl and nautilus shell. Tucked away in the extensive garden on Rangiatea Station, The Tack Room Gallery is an unexpected little gem of a jewellery shop to visit in the Canterbury foothills.

up with double reward formed the genesis of the award-winning Muritai stud: “We registered our first animal in 1985 and have been very fortunate that farm-owners we’ve worked for have encouraged our involvement on the breeding side of things.”

Not all the Taylors’ cows are registered, but it is something they are working towards. They have developed some strong families within their herd that have given them a lot of enjoyment and recognition, says Wayne.

“We are seeing the fruits of those efforts with several of our young bulls going back into AI service in the industry. We found out during the New Zealand Dairy Event that CRV is releasing another of our bulls to the market this year.”

The bulls not sold to CRV or Livestock Improvement Corporation are sold at the gate for dairy-beef and bull-beef rearing, with a couple sent to the national sale each year.

The Taylors say they have no desire to increase the size of their herd or farming business.

“We don’t have a burning ambition to hang a multi-million-dollar mortgage around our necks,” says Wayne. “We’re at a stage in life where we’ll complete what we’re doing and continue to enjoy the progress of our children through the industry, who are all involved in sharemilking.

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ON FARM» Dietmar & Rabecca Kopsetschny

28 |

Business Rural

The Kopsetschnys take a close-up look at the farm’s new centre-pivot irrigator From left: two-year-old Tessa; Dietmar; three-yearold Bob, Rabecca.

Centre-pivot the latest step Jo Bailey A new centre-pivot is the latest initiative during a sustained period of irrigation development at Propad Investments, a Dairy Holdings farm at Lowcliffe, near Hinds, says sharemilker Dietmar Kopetschny.

“The new pivot will increase the efficiency of the operation and, we hope, save us some water and allow us to grow a bit more grass.

If everything goes to plan, it will be a real improvement, but we’ll still have to use a RotoRainer to a lesser scale on the areas outside the pivot.”

When Dietmar and his wife, Rabecca, started working on the 265-hectare (effective) property in 2006, it was a traditional borderdyke farm on lighter soils with “never enough water to go around”.

”Preceding our first season, things were very dry with severe irrigation restrictions and wells running dry. Tucker was short and feed costs were high. Since then the property has been developed step by step, which has definitely improved things.”

Over the years Roto-Rainers have been upgraded to reduce the area irrigated by borderdyke and sprinklers.

The introduction of the pivot will see the borderdyke area reduced to just 10 hectares overall, and sprinkler use limited to a four-hectare block currently not irrigated.

Kopetschny says a huge effort has gone into making the irrigation system work, so he doesn’t think he’ll notice a huge pasture production response with the new pivot.

“But I still expect to see something.”

The property’s mixed herd of 970 cows exceeded budgeted production of 330,000

kilograms of milksolids in the 2013-14 season, which was up on the previous year.

He says 2012-13 was not a very good season for them: “We put super on quite early in one hit and had a big rainfall event afterwards, so ran out of fertility. This year we delayed the application and split it which I think has paid dividends.”

He says they run a reasonably low-input, mainly grass-based system, with silage the only supplement.

“If we do have a surplus, we tend to make silage and use the opportunity to do some regrassing.”

Dietmar Kopsetschny was born in Austria and moved to New Zealand with his family in 1985 at the age of 12. The Kopetschnys settled in Wellington, where his father worked as a car mechanic.

“Although I don’t come from a rural background I always wanted to be a farmer. I enjoyed farm holidays when I was a child in both Austria and New Zealand, and my grandfather had some land in Eastern Europe.”

After finishing school, he did an agricultural science degree at Lincoln University. It was during his studies that he “fell into” dairy farming.

“I worked at Graeme Thompson’s dairy farm at Springston to help pay the rent and my university expenses. The Thompsons couldn’t have been nicer people to work for. “There were two of us in a seven-a-side shed. We’d finish milking at 8am, get eggs on toast and porridge for breakfast, go to Lincoln, and be back in time for afternoon milking.”

He then “door knocked” at Thompson’s brother-in-law (Jim Geddes)’s place looking for

• To page 29

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IRRIGATION » North Otago Irrigation

Business Rural

| 29

More irrigation in the pipeline Neil Grant

Water is drawn from Borton’s Pond, east of Duntroon.

Water runs through a canal and pump station.

Dad helps fill the holiday gap • From page 28 a job, and ended up working mainly for his son, James, at Norwood.

“I ended up with the Geddeses for four or five years, moving from wages to contract milking.”

After working on a few other Canterbury farms and stepping up to a sharemilking in the 2004-05 season, he took the opportunity on the Propad Investments property, 25 minutes south of Ashburton and four to five kilometres from the coastline.

He and Rabecca live with their children – Bob, aged three, and Tessa, two – on their own small farm just down the road from the dairy unit. They run some pigs and chickens.

Rabecca was born and bred at high country station Mesopotamia, where her father Cyril Coldicott was a shepherd. Her focus in recent years has been on the couple’s young family, but she is “hands-on” when it comes to stock work and is starting to get busy again on the farm.

Cyril Coldicut is helping them on the dairy unit with pivot development, fencing, and building projects while one of the four full-time staff is on an extended holiday.

Dietmar Kopetschny says they would like to stay with Dairy Holdings for the immediate future; their long-term goal is to have their own dairy farm of a decent scale.

Drought was long considered a fact of life for North Otago farmers on the rolling downlands south of the Waitaki River. Governments accepted that they would have to bail out affected farmers at times, but the farmers did not accept that this was good enough. In the 1990s the North Otago Irrigation Company was formed. In 2002, Environment Canterbury granted it consent to take 8220 litres per second from the lower Waitaki River, and, four years later, the first stage of the scheme opened. This first stage draws about half of the consented allocation.

Water is drawn from Borton’s Pond built beside the river several kilometres east of Duntroon in the 1970s. It runs through a canal and pump station system from which some is sent south-west along the Duntroon Line, while most is lifted 150 metres to the head pond, a three million litre storage pond at the highest point of the scheme.

From here, 75 kilometres of pipes snake east and south like blood vessels, using contours to deliver water by gravity under pressure to about 100 farms watering nearly 14,000 hectares. Up to seven hundred litres a second of water goes into the Waiareka Creek, both for irrigation and to improve the creek’s habitat.

In the intervening years, other farmers have joined the scheme. All farmers get water equivalent to their shareholding. No longer is there the likelihood of farmers in the scheme being forced to walk off their land by drought.

The North Otago Irrigation Company is now embarking on stage two, which will use the other

All going well, stage two could be delivery water by October 2016. consented 4000 litres per second and push pipelines further south and east into the Kakanui Valley, reaching almost as far as Maheno, and water a further 9000ha. The plan is to offer 8000 shares once the Otago Regional Council has issued consent and the prospectus is produced.

Planning for the new pipelines has begun, but final design will be determined by irrigation demand and ‘constructability’. All going well, stage two could be delivering water by October 2016.

“We are well into the planning stages of this expansion” says NOIC chief executive officer Robyn Wells, “and we recently hit a major milestone by receiving sufficient expression of interest to have confidence the community sees the value of bringing water into their area. We are now working towards formalisation of an offer where we will be looking for binding commitments.”

The whole scheme has been based on a ‘community-cooperative’ strategy which decrees it brings water to as many properties as possible, and that there are no second-class shareholders.

Land-use changes have been apparent with irrigation. Some traditional sheep-and-beef farms have converted to dairying, some older farmers have been able to sell up to give younger fellows a chance. .

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30 |

EFFLUENT » Effluent management Bulk Earthworks Effluent Ponds Earth dams Gravel Extraction Pond Lining (PVC and GSL) Paddock levelling Land Development Root Raking Drainage alignment Pipe Laying Roads Cable and Pipe ploughing General Roading Lane Maintenance Dairy Lanes Tree Stump removal Forest Roads Quarry Development

WINTON

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New from Plucks Engineering Before

Business Rural

Application rate seen as key to effluent upgrades Application rate is the key environmental consideration in upgrading an effluent-application system, according to Environment Southland communications co-ordinator Adrienne Henderson.

Other factors to be considered are: • Buffer distances from boundaries, residences, streams and water supplies.

• Whether to use a travelling irrigator or a low rate pod system • The ability to apply a low application depth of effluent (mm) and low application rate (mm/hr).

• Wetted width and uniformity of application.

• Height of effluent application (should be low to the ground).

• Presence of automatic shutdowns, lowpressure alarms and anti-siphon valves.

• Requirement for maintenance.

• Requirement for ongoing labour (shifting irrigators).

• Suitability of topography and soil type.

• Ease of conversion to water a larger area.

Henderson says that In Southland, a resource

consent is required to discharge effluent to land from dairy sheds servicing more than 50 cows. If cow numbers increase or the effluent-disposal area changes, a change is also needed to the resource consent.

“The consent-holder is required to ensure the effluent disposal system meets application depths and rates as stated in the resource consent.”

Environment Southland has sites measuring soil moisture, rainfall and soil temperature. Information is available on the organisation’s website “When establishing a new effluent application system, it is good practice to do an applicationdepth test at the most extreme set-up for which the irrigator is run – for instance, at the highest elevation above the pump, or the paddock that is the greatest distance from the pump.

“This will give you an idea of the ‘worst case’ performance of the system, which still must meet depth and nutrient loading requirements.

• Information: Environment Southland – 0800 768845; www.es.govt.nz.

Course concentrates on effluent ponds After

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Contractors and designers of farm dairy effluent ponds are getting the chance to catch up on the latest in effluent-pond design at Ashburton on July 22-24.

A Farm Dairy Effluent Pond Design and Construction course, led by Opus International Consultants, will be held in Ashburton on July 22-24. Courses have also been run in Hamilton, Palmerston North and Whangarei.

Brett Marais, from Opus, says participants are put through their paces: “Dairy farmers can be confident that those who have completed this course have the knowledge to provide an effluent pond built to industry good practice.”

Regional councils are increasingly focusing their attention on storage ponds and ensuring they are well constructed ponds and sealed to the right standard.

Dairy New Zealand’s Theresa Wilson urges companies to sign up: “They are really stepping up to the plate by attending these courses. These are specifically designed to help companies meet the standards for the design and construction of ponds, outlined by the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand.

• Information/registrations: www.nzweta.org.nz.

Feedback from course participants: www.infratrain. co.nz/Dairy_Effluent.htm.

Business Rural

EFFLUENT » Effluent Spreading Southland

The price is right at ESS Jo Bailey After a year spent farming in France, entrepreneurial Southlander Regan Scharvi and his wife, Jo, returned home, bought an 18,000-litre slurry tanker, and have set up an effluent-spreading business.

Effluent Spreading Southland began work last spring and has already picked up several clients around the region.

“After we got back from France, I could see a niche in the market for a cost-effective effluent spreading service, and with the tightening regulations around effluent disposal believed there would be even more need for it in future,” says Regan Scharvi.

Although mechanical irrigators dispose of most farm effluent, slurry and sediment still builds up at the bottom of effluent ponds, he says. Overflowing ponds can also be a problem, particularly during wet spells or when there are staffing issues.

“It’s wise to deal with these sorts of issues early and ease the pressure by emptying the pond before there is a major problem.”

Using an effluent-spreading service can also help farmers speed up the rounds on their irrigator to increase grass growth and maximise fertility without dispersing urea, he says.

“This is becoming even more important in Southland, where we’re starting to get more regular droughts during summer.”

Effluent Spreading Southland’s slurry tanker can fill in as little as three minutes, and takes only a couple of extra minutes for thicker slurry. This is then spread on the farm’s consented areas, and GPS proof of placement can be printed for farmers’ records.

The effluent is dispersed from the tanker via a splash plate that sends it from right to left, covering 180 degrees, with up to 13 metres of coverage.

“Our tanker has a triple axle and large flotation tyres to minimise the impact on paddocks. It leaves virtually no indentations at all.”

Effluent Spreading Southland also provides a service for weeping walls.

“By mixing in effluent green water with a pond stirrer, we are able to suck the slurry out with the tanker, which eliminates the need for a digger.

It makes the cost to do this work a lot more competitive.”

The pond stirrer is also used to break up the crust on top of effluent ponds or for stirring up sediment, he says.

Providing a reasonably priced service is at the heart of Regan’s business philosophy.

He says the company’s rates are less than half of some of its competitors who use different effluent removal and disposal methods.

“Price is definitely our point of difference, without compromising on service, as we have the capability to move up to 600,000 litres per day.”

Regan Scharvi’s heritage is Italian, although he was born in the North Island. He worked on his

Southlander Regan Scharvi and wife Jo with the company’s 18,000-litre slurry tanker. grandparents’ dairy farm as he was growing up, and in more recent years has carried out this kind of slurry work for other farmers as an employee.

Jo Scharvi grew up in Southland, where the couple have lived for the last 14 years.

Between them, they have been involved in the dairy industry for more than 25 years – working on dairy farms; vet nursing; working for a dairy supply store and local carrying company; and dry-stock farming.

Jo is the Southland/Otago area sales representative for Winton Stock Feed.

The Scharvis are pleased with how Effluent Spreading Southland is going and are keen to raise the company’s profile.

“We’ve had a lot of support, but it is early days and there are still farmers who are unaware we exist,” says Regan. “We believe one of our key points of difference is that we specialise in this market rather than offering general contracting services. We’re focused on the job and never have to run off to do other things.”

Price is definitely our point of difference, without compromising on service, as we have the capability to move up to 600,000 litres per day.

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EFFLUENT » Rainer Irrigation

Business Rural

Effluent separator a ‘more reliable, Karen Phelps

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Dissatisfaction with current products on the market has led two South Island businesses to jointly develop a new effluent separation system that could help farmers get a better handle on tightening effluent regulations.

“Products on the market were wearing out prematurely and came with high costs to repair and maintain,” says Gavin Briggs, owner of Rainer Irrigation.

“The aim has been to cut maintenance costs for farmers and provide them with a more reliable and effective system,” The Rainer spin separator has been developed over two years by Ken Scott, the owner of Scott Biotechnologies, who provided the technical wizardry, and Briggs, whose background as a dairy farmer and years of working with rural clients provided the practical user information.

“It’s very easy to build a product on a concept,” says Briggs. “ But the concept may not work in the day-to-day operations of farmers. It was important that this product was made to meet their needs.”

The new spin separator uses an industrialstrength, submersible water pump to provide the grunt to get the job done. And because the separator has no moving parts, there is minimal wear on the unit.

Another key point of difference from competitor products, says Briggs, is that the separator can refine the effluent to a very fine liquid of just 80 microns reducing blockage problems.

Effluent doesn’t need to be pumped at

Business Rural

EFFLUENT » Rainer Irrigation

| 33

effective system’ a set volume or consistency – impor tant as the effluent changes in consistency depending on the food matter being fed to cows and the time of season.

“Watering patterns of a pivot are often affected by the consistency of the effluent with matter such as hair, grass and silt collecting in the nozzles.

“Because the separator removes this hard matter to a finer level, these problems are reduced.”

The resulting liquid is odour-free and tests are being under taken to determine the reason. Briggs suspects it is because the liquid is more refined and therefore not so nutrient rich, which would mean farmers could have more control over dispersal of nutrients and nutrient loading on their farms.

The more nutrient-dense solid waste that results from the process could be spread on crops or paddocks giving a slower release than is possible with liquids, he says.

The spin separator is being marketed as a kit so that installers can hook it up with plumbing and wiring on the site. Rainer Irrigation supplies and installs the product in the South Island and is looking at three distributors/installers in the Nor th Island.

Although it has literally just been released, the product has had enthusiastic uptake from farmers, says Briggs.

A system has been installed on a dairy unit at Hinds, in Mid Canterbury, and another is due to be installed in Rotherham, in Nor th Canterbury.

Rainer Irrigation is building two demo trailers – one for the Nor th Island and one for the South Island – so that a unit

can be towed to farms to demonstrate its capabilities.

Additional technology can be added to the system to provide farmers with more information so that they have more control over effluent dispersal on their farms.

“The exciting thing is we are changing the way the dairy industry treats effluent,” says Briggs. “We’re giving farmers a lot more control.

“Rather than just applying a band aid to their present system to meet ever changing regulations, this system can also offer them facilities such as proof of placement, application rates etc if they choose.

“We’re helping our clients to future-proof their farms.”

The average cost of installing the spin separator is estimated to be around $30,000. A patent is pending.

Briggs believes the product has applications beyond the dairy industry, and says there has been interest from industries such as viticulture, agriculture and breweries.

He says he is in talks with a number of New Zealand-based companies to take the product to the international market.

Ashbur ton-based Rainer Irrigation was star ted in 1989 and employs four generations of the Briggs family.

The family has been heavily involved in the South Island farming scene for generations. Briggs says this gives them an understanding of the challenges facing the farming sector.

The company employs nearly 100 staff and services the area from southern Otago nor th to Nelson.

Products on the market were wearing out prematurely and came with high costs to repair and maintain. The aim has been to cut maintenance costs for farmers and provide them with a more reliable and effective system.

The exciting thing is we are changing the way the dairy industry treats effluent. We’re giving farmers a lot more control.

The more nutrient-dense solid waste that comes from the process could be spread on crops or paddocks giving a slower release than is possible with liquids.

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34 |

RURAL SERVICES » Permbrand

Business Rural

Dairy growth provides challenges Kelly Deeks

Permbrand provides products and follow-up care and maintenance to the New Zealand agricultural industry..

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Permbrand specialises in meal feeding systems for the dairy industry.

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More and more farmers are starting to realise the benefits of feeding cows in the dairy shed.

Dairy-industry growth has given Christchurch agriculture support company Permbrand a new set of challenges and opportunities, with the company developing new products to cater for the demands of larger-scale operations.

Permbrand has been operating for the 10 years, and changed ownership last year to a family with many interests in the dairy industry.

It’s specialist business – providing meal-feeding systems and other products and follow-up care and maintenance for the dairy industry – remains unchanged, and follow-up care and maintenance to New Zealand’s agriculture industry – remains unchanged, says sales manager Steve Waters.

Under the new ownership, the company is looking to improve efficiency around its in-house processes and procedures.

“More and more farmers are starting to realise the benefits of feeding cows in the dairy shed,” Waters says.

“Meal feeding has become very popular with dairy farmers as they understand the need to feed their cows high-energy feed to increase production, weight, and help cows cycle. Meal feeding in the shed achieves this and is cost effective.

“The system ensures full control of feed delivery, and no extra labour is needed. Cows are fed automatically with the push of a button while they are producing milk into the vat.”

Many dairy farmers are now realising the benefits of using a meal-feeding system to get minerals into their cows as well.

“A lot of cows will get their minerals through the water system, but when you get wet weather like we’ve had recently, cows don’t drink much water, so you get a lot more health issues in the winter,” Waters says.

Permbrand provides meal-feeding systems, grain-milling equipment, grain storage, molassesfeeding systems, and mineral-delivery systems for dairy sheds (rotary and herringbone), piggeries, and poultry farms.

The demand for mineral delivery has led to the introduction of mineral bins to deliver mineral pellets to cows in the shed. The Permbrand Min-Bin, has been developed for the transfer of pellets that arrive on farm in one ton bags.

“CP Lime Solutions came to us with a new product, Vitalise, a pellet supplement,” Waters says. “They needed an accurate way of getting the product into each cow at milking. The advantages of this are many. As the rate is very low, it’s important to match and supply the correct components to provide a ready to go system that can be retrofitted into any shed.”

Permbrand has also introduced a maintenance programme for checking milling equipment with the aim of making herd-feeding trouble-free.

The growth in the dairy industry has also created a need for teat-seal trailers in the veterinary field, says Waters. Since Permbrand developed these four years ago, the company has designed and built a number in New Zealand and Australia.

“Teat-seal trailers have been huge this year,” he says.

“It’s all about health and safety. Vets can teatseal in the dairy shed, but it’s very risky as they can get kicked. Our trailers can hold five or six cows at a time, and the vet has easy access to the cows’ rear ends with no danger of being kicked.”

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RURAL SERVICES » BTW South

Business Rural

| 35

Kate Scott, managing director of BTW South, was named New Zealand Institute of Management Young Executive of the Year (southern region) in 2013.

Red tape a headache? Try BTW South Jo Bailey If you’re “up to your Red Bands in red tape”, it’s time to seek the assistance of BTW South.

This catchphrase is at the heart of the service provided by the surveying, planning and engineering consultancy practice, which has offices in Cromwell and Gore.

Since it was established in 2007 by managing director Kate Scott, surveying and engineering manager Mike Borthwick, and Kath Hooper, who oversees health and safety, BTW South has concentrated heavily on the rural market.

“Several of our 15 surveyors, planners, engineers and hydrologists come from a rural background, or are involved in their own rural businesses,” says Scott. “We know how farmers work and what is important to them.”

BTW South’s services include topographical surveys, land-development feasibility studies, project management, assistance with gaining resource consents, and consultation with local communities and iwi.

“Resource consents for dairying, farm mapping, and irrigation and effluent projects are

Resource consents for dairying, farm mapping, and irrigation and effluent projects are a big component of our work. We can get involved at any stage of a project, but are often brought in at the beginning to assist with the paperwork, provide information and guidance, discuss best-practice options, and assist with compliance, which is a fairly big cost these days. a big component of our work,” says Scott. “We can get involved at any stage of a project, but are often brought in at the beginning to assist with the paperwork, provide information and guidance, discuss best-practice options, and assist with compliance, which is a fairly big cost these days.”

Many of these processes can be quite technical, which is why it’s a good idea to get help from the experts at the beginning, she says.

“Most of our clients would rather be out in

the paddock than dealing with a mountain of paperwork. We work closely with them to take the stress out of the process and help them make the most informed decisions about their project from a whole-business point of view.”

The changing regulatory environment around effluent has brought BTW South work on a growing number of these projects.

• To page 36

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36 |

RURAL SERVICES » BTW South

Business Rural

BTW South is busy with dairy conversions, consenting 14 last year and working on the same number in preparation for the 2015 season.

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Effluent discharge consents growth area • From page 35 “We work with farmers on new conversions and renewals of consents for effluent discharge.

We’re usually involved fairly early on in the process, talking about what they might need to do to renew the consent, looking at all the options in terms of effluent systems, and working through farmmanagement and nutrient-management plans as part of the conversion process.”

She says the firm is still busy with dairy

Nutrient management is an area we see as having continued significance for our clients conversions, consenting 14 last year and working on at least as many in preparation for the 2015 season.

In Otago, the renewal of water permits, irrigation, and nutrient management are the “fairly big topics”.

“Nutrient management is an area we see as having continued significance for our clients.

We have skilled staff in this area who regularly undertake courses to keep up to date with news and recommendations.”

BTW South is working with the Manuherikia Water Strategy Group on a feasibility study to

identify the most cost-effective, efficient and sustainable options for irrigation and water-users in the Manuherikia catchment.

“I’m project manager for this project, overseeing the feasibility study and interaction between the farmers, environmental groups and other interested parties,” says Scott.

While rural projects remain the company’s main business, it is involved in other sectors, including mining, with clients ranging from individual property owners to multinational companies.

“Our services are tailored to meet our clients’ requirements and time frames. If that means catching up with a farmer in the woolshed, or cowshed after milking, we’re happy to do so.”

The company won two awards in 2013. BTW was named Central Otago Business Excellence Award Winner, and Kate Scott the New Zealand Institute of Management Young Executive of the Year (southern region).

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Business Rural

RURAL SERVICES » BTW South/Power Farming Canterbury

| 37

Company adds self-propelled sprayers and beet harvesters A highly accurate survey drone is the ideal tool for topographic surveys for effluent ponds and farm mapping as it can cover up to 300 hectares an hour. Surveyors on the ground can take one or two days to cover the same area.

Survey drone sophisticated tool in BTW South arsenal • From page 36 A highly accurate survey drone is the latest piece of sophisticated technology acquired by surveying, planning and consulting firm, BTW South.

The drone is the most accurate of its kind and the only one in New Zealand, says managing director Kate Scott. It has the ability to achieve height accuracy of down to two centimetres, and captures high-resolution aerial imagery.

“It is the ideal tool for topographic surveys for irrigation or effluent ponds and farm mapping as it can fly around 200 to 300 hectares per hour,” she says.

“Surveyors on the ground could take one to two

Power Farming Ashburton and Power Farming Canterbury have begun importing and retailing Agrifac self-propelled sprayers and beet harvesters.

Simon Jackson, dealer principal and jointventure owner for both Power Farming Ashburton and its northern sister-company, Power Farming Canterbury, rates the United Kingdom-produced equipment as “a premium product”.

Last October Agrifac released four new machines at the Agritechnica agricultural exhibition in Hanover, Germany – two crop sprayers (Condor Endurance and Condor MountainMasterPlus) and two beet harvesters (HexxTraxx and OptiTraxx).

Jackson says his businesses seek to tailor

products to clients and provide back-up from Power Farming’s national network.

The firms supply a wide range of equipment and runs a 24-hour service and parts business.

All up the Ashburton branch has 17 staff and the Canterbury branch 15.

Their selection of equipment includes Deutz Fahr tractors from Germany and, for those wanting something smaller, Kioti tractors from South Korea.

Plus: Merlo telehandlers (front-end loaders) and feed wagons; McHale balers; Simba Great Plains drilling equipment; Kverneland ploughs and

• To page 38

days to cover the same area and still not achieve the same level of detail.”

The two-metre wing-span drone looks similar to a stealth bomber and travels at speeds of up to 80km/h. Its flight path is pre-programmed using GPS and is managed on the ground by two operators, who observe the flight on a computer screen and apply the strict rules around its use.

“The adoption of this technology is really exciting for the company and offers long-term benefits given the type of data we can capture and use. One of the biggest advantages is the drone’s ability to simultaneously provide both farm mapping and aerial imagery, as aerial imagery can be quite hard to source and expensive on its own.”

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The Agrifac Condor in action on tulips (above) and Deutz Fahr tractors from Germany (below).

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38 |

RURAL SERVICES » Power Farming Ashburton/Power Farming Timaru

Business Rural

Timaru firm Kelly Deeks

The Jaylor mixer wagon.

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Proud to be associated with Power farming TIMARU Unit 3/27 Meadows Road • Washdyke, Timaru Ph: 03 6882249• Mobile: 027 4814081 Email: ajtimaru@xtra.co.nz

• From page 37 cultivating gear; Vicon mowers, rakes, and balers; Maschio powered cultivation equipment.

A specialist part of the two businesses is the Jaylor mixer wagon sourced from Canada, which chops and mixes feed for a mixed ration to predominantly milking cows.

Jackson says Power Farming encourages clients to think six months ahead so that their equipment can be built overseas to their specifications.

“We can then make it slightly more attractively priced.”

The company’s stock-indenting policy is an extra incentive.

Jackson says both branches are based in agricultural `melting pots’ – intensive agriculture in Ashburton’s “patch” from the Rangitata to the Rakaia River, and intensive and expansive agriculture in Canterbury’s “expansive patch” from the Rakaia to the Conway River, and across to the Lewis and Arthur’s passes.

The company is keen to work with young people on the land, says Jackson, particularly with many farmers choosing to continue family operations, especially in dairying and arable.

Australasia’s largest independent importer and distributor of farm machinery Power Farming Group has grown significantly in Timaru over the past six years under a joint-ownership venture with dealer principal Ross Dawbin and his wife, Jo. The couple have expanded staff numbers from 13 to 20, and have more than doubled the company’s turnover since 2007.

The Dawbins are now finalising plans to extend Power Farming Timaru’s premises on Racecourse Rd. The business has outgrown the workshop where 12 mechanics work, and which is the base for a round-the-clock, mobile on-farm service.

He says Power Farming Timaru now has a powerful marketing tool in the form of Trade Me, which facilitates a lot of business at a time and place convenient for clients.

The Timaru-based business has grown with the dairy industry in South Canterbury and North Otago. Ross Dawbin says there are now some huge dairy operations milking up to 5000 cows.

“The dairy industry has increased, and grazing has increased, and now we have a range of cultivation products and drills we can put into all the cropping farms and compete where we couldn’t before.”

The dairy industry has increased, and grazing has increased, and now we have a range of cultivation products and drills we can put into cropping farms.

He is referring to the Power Farming Group’s acquisition of the distribution rights for the Simba/ Great Plains range of cultivation machinery and drills.

Great Plains bought Simba International in the United Kingdom in 2010, bringing together the products, expertise, experience, and knowledge of two major international manufacturers of tillage and drilling equipment.

Great Plains is the largest, privately-owned agricultural tillage and seeding manufacturing company in the United States.

“They have really good models which have enabled us to supply South Canterbury and North Otago farmers with everything they need,” Dawbin says.

A Great Plains disc drill. The Power Farming Group has acquired New Zealand distribution rights for Simba/Great Plains cultivation machinery and drills.

Business Rural

RURAL SERVICES» Power Farming Timaru

| 39

on major growth spurt Power Farming Timaru released the latest 5000 series Duetz-Fahr tractor at the Southern Field Days in February this year. It’s a machine that is surprising farmers who use it, says Dawbin.

“We’ve sold seven units since the Southern Field Days, and one farmer who bought one a couple of weeks ago has called up and ordered another one,” he says.

“He just couldn’t believe how it handles and operates.”

Deutz-Fahr has a long history in the development and manufacture of tractors. Dawbin says it seeks to anticipate trends in farming and make machines that are adaptable to all kinds of operating conditions.

The company focuses on the total package and not just individual technical characteristics, he says.

He also has big wraps on another new product, the McHale Fusion 3 Plus integrated baler wrapper.

It uses plastic rather than nets to wrap bales, which makes silage easier to feed out. The machine also wraps bales while they are still in the chamber to reduce the amount of air getting into the bale and therefore producing better-quality silage.

In the development of the machine, McHale realised that changes in temperature and sunlight could affect the chamber wrapping film – as the day gets hotter or cooler, the film is either overstretched or under-stretched. In turn, this can cause reliability problems and result in inefficient film use.

To combat this, McHale developed a patented application system which adjusts the breaking force on the roll of plastic in line with working conditions, and allows for a continuously variable stretch that can adjust to changes automatically.

Dawbin says the film-application system ensures consistent film stretch, reliable film application, and optimum bale shape and bale density. If an operator wants to use net wrap for hay or straw, this can be done through an adjustment.

Power Farming Timaru dealer principal Ross Dawbin and wife Jo.

Kiwi kitset crew crosses the Tasman When looking for a shed, barn, garage, or even a house or a commercial building, New Zealand owned and operated company Easy Building Systems is offering a wide range of kit set options for steel framed, portable buildings.

Easy Building Systems was established by builder Simon Johnson in Dunedin early in 2013, and the company has now expanded into Australia.

Easy Building Systems New Zealand sales manager Eric Bygate says the company has been built on a foundation of quality, service, and competitive prices.

“With a history of building combined with our hybrid design and installation expertise, we’re capable of creating sheds, carports, barns, and many other structures of any size,” he says.

Easy Building Systems can either provide a kit set and leave its clients to install it, or it can act as a one-stop-shop for the

duration of its clients’ builds.

“We can take care of things like wind resistance, council fees, design challenges, excavation, delivery, installation, and laying of concrete slabs,” Bygate says. “If you think you might want to put something in a tricky area, we can help you work out the details.”

He says Easy Building Systems provides three quotes, with a kit price, a slab price, and an installation price, so clients have the option to choose as many or as few services as they require.

As the products are kitset, they are delivered anywhere in New Zealand for free, whether it’s the Bay of Islands or Bluff, and can be installed anywhere.

If a standard design isn’t what you’re after, Easy Building Systems can build a shed, carport, garage, workshop, or barn to any size or specifications.

“You can have custom drawings and plans drawn

up and emailed to you within minutes of requesting a quote,” Bygate says.

The company is now offering accommodation kit set systems, with 7m x 3m and 7m x 6m buildings completely selfcontained with bedroom(s), living area, kitchen, and bathroom.

An Easy Building Systems building offers flexibility and future proofing with the ability to resell or relocate the building after it has been initially installed.

As well as having the capabilities to install a new garage, carport, or barn, Easy Building Systems can also offer a range of labour services relating to building and installation of garages, sheds, carports, barns and other related structures.

“If you’ve bought a shed and realised the install is going to be a bigger job than you thought, you might need some extra

help,” Bygate says. “We can install any structures you might have, and give you advice on what else to get.”

Easy Building Systems provides excavation services, and often lays concrete slabs for custom building projects, and can also construct car parks, helicopter landing pads, and any other area.

With an easy to navigate website, Easy Building Systems’ intuitive online store is able to provide prices for kitset, installation, concreting, and council fees for certain products, all online instantly.

“When you buy online, you don’t have to worry about council approval, engineering, installation, and the associated work that comes with managing them,” Bygate says.

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RURAL SERVICES » McDonald Agri-Fert

Business Rural

| 41

Ian McDonald, managing director of McDonal Agri-Fert, says liquid fertiliser CM3 replaces nitrogen fertilisers.

CM3 alternative to nitrogen fertiliser Kelly Deeks McDonald Agri-Fert is offering farmers an alternative to nitrogen fertiliser in the form of Biohelp New Zealand’s pasture and plant stimulant, CM3.

McDonald Agri-Fert managing director Ian McDonald says liquid fertiliser CM3 replaces nitrogen fertilisers.

“Everyone is hell bent on stopping nitrogen leaching, and we can stop it successfully by not putting nitrogen on,” he says. “We’ve got a product that’s not going to cause damage, and still grow the grass.”

For the first three seasons of its use, CM3 applications contain 4.2 kilograms of nitrogen in the mix. McDonald says that by year three, the nitrogen can be taken out of the mix.

“You can get rid of the nitrogen completely and there is no leaching. As the clover grows, nitrogen on these farms is actually increasing.”

He says CM3 is thickening pastures, which

is where big improvements in dairy pasture can come from.

“This technology is the future in profitability with environmental impact minimised,” he says.

CM3 causes plant roots to grow bigger, resulting in more growth above ground.

“We are really doubling the size of the roots, and doubling the amount of growth of nitrogen fertilisers. Our customers are getting dry matter for less than 5 cents a kilogram.”

Application of CM3 is easy and saves money, says McDonald. It is applied directly through a conventional spray boom, direct injection into an irrigator, or mixed with chemical or fine particle fertiliser. It has been pre-filtered to prevent blockages in spray booms or irrigation nozzles.

McDonald says a perfect partner for CM3 is Microlife, a living soil inoculant that develops high yielding, healthier, more profitable soil.

It is a highly concentrated blend of living soil organisms selected for their beneficial

effects on plant and animal production systems, he says..

It focuses on soil improvement and disease suppression, followed by yield enhancement. It helps create high yielding disease suppressive soils supportive of plant root development and natural nitrogen fixation.

Microlife is also the best way to get better use of the nutrients in soil reserves, says McDonald.

“Our clients have noticed soil improvements in just a few months, but changes are possible for years. They notice improvements in the quality of their crops, and

typically they also comment on the ease of tillage after using Microlife.”

He describes Microlife as highly effective in reducing problematic diseases in soil, and says crop losses of more than 20% from problematic diseases have been reduced to less than 1% by using it.

“It has multiple and compounding benefits,” he says.

“Improving the soil health and depth helps both the initial crop and subsequent crops.

The effects begin to compound. Soils get deeper and softer, and crops get better and better. Water is used more efficiently as well.”

Our pastoral farming products are superb for reducing both Nitrogen and fertiliser input requirements. They facilitate both the expansion of high producing properties and the restoration of tired or low producing properties. You can increase production, increase natural disease suppression, and improve your environmental foot print all at the same time. Multiple benefits compounding with time.

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42 |

RURAL SERVICES » Field Engineering & Construction

Business Rural

‘We’re Karen Phelps Field Engineering & Construction doesn’t just build dairy sheds; it takes a more comprehensive approach to projects, aiming to service customers’ ongoing needs, and providing the latest products and innovations.

“We’re not just cowshed builders,” says director Robert Kircher.

“We aim to take a very professional approach partnering with our clients. We don’t just build the shed and walk away, but expect to have an ongoing relationship with our clients.”

Part of this has been offering dairy maintenance contracts to ensure sheds continue to run smoothly after the build.

Contracts are also offered to owners of dairy sheds that may not have been built by Field Engineering & Construction. The company also carries spares for a range of rotary platforms, and offers an emergency breakdown and call-out service.

“Preventative maintenance agreements help avoid breakdowns and downtime,” says Kircher.

“They also assist with the longevity of the platform as it lasts much longer if it’s being serviced regularly.”

Kircher started the company in 2011 after managing an engineering company in the dairy sector and seeing a gap in the market for a more comprehensive approach. He began with two employees and now has six.

Some customers have delayed their shed build so that his company can do it, he says.

“They’ve had experience working with me and they know they’ll get a good job for the price agreed. It’s about quality and security. We undertake only a limited number of builds each year. ” The Timaru-based business designs, builds and maintains dairy sheds. It has its own design

Agreement adds Field Engineering & Construction has formed an agreement with Rakaia Engineering Ltd to offer REL feed systems, including silos, crushers and augers.

“It’s a very well-known brand and I’ve known the company owner for a long time, so it’s a good option to work together,” says Field director Robert Kircher, “It’s another string to our bow and means we can offer clients a complete service and they will have fewer contractors to deal with. It also helps in

In addition to rotary or herringbone dairy shed projects, Field Engineering does dairy and yard alterations, track and roller replacements, and structural steel fabrication and erection.

When Only The Best Will Do Rakaia Engineering Ltd are proud to support Field Engineering & Construction Make Yours the BEST – Choose Ours.

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027 541 1001 03 688 5111 Experienced and professional construction team New dairy conversions Design and build drafting facility Structural fabrication & erection Rotary & Herringbone feed systems

Motivated and competent maintenance team Rotary repairs and maintenance Annual servicing programmes Breakdown & call out service Yard alterations and repairs

www.fieldengineering-construction.co.nz

Design | Build | Maintain

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Business Rural

RURAL SERVICES » Field Engineering & Construction

| 43

not just cowshed builders’ Some customers have delayed their shed build so that we can do it. They’ve had experience working with me and they know they’ll get a good job for the price agreed. It’s about quality and security. We undertake only a limited number of builds each year..

CAD facility, which allows it to take a project from conception to completion.

It also employs its own certified structural welders, most of whom have 10 years or more of dairy-industry experience.

The company works with Russell Black Building and other regular contractors and suppliers, Kircher says he chooses firms to work to work with on the basis of quality, workmanship and ethics.

In addition to new rotary or herringbone projects .Field Engineering & Construction does dairy and yard alterations, track and roller replacements, structural steel fabrication and erection, effluent pontoons and general engineering.

Kircher says he has established relationships with a number of platform and milking-machine suppliers, but remains independent.

This allows his firm to source products that will to suit a client’s particular needs, he says.

Electrical Solutions S.C. Ltd Servicing South Canterbury

‘string to bow’ our design process as we can integrate everything together for the customer into one seamless design assisting project management and flow.”

He says Field Engineering & Construction has already completed several feed system projects and has more in the pipeline.

“I’m very pleased with how quickly we’ve been accepted in a very competitive marketplace. The potential for continued growth is there, but we need to make sure we’re capable of handling that growth.

19 Donald St Temuka Phone 03 6159114 Mobile 021 029 45081 esolution@xtra.co.nz

The workshops at Timaru-based Field Engineering & construction. Company director Robert Kircher says the business continues to flourish and plans to move into larger premises.

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Panels help hold feed quality South Canterbury’s Thompson Precast Ltd is offering farmers a practical storage solution to help maintain quality and consistency of stock feed.

The company’s concrete Y Panels are used in silage pits as well as grain and fertiliser stores to separate products protecting from contamination.

Thompson Precast Ltd Director Michelle Thompson says changes in agricultural processes mean the old soil lined silage pits contaminate feed and cause a loss of quality, particularly prudent with increasing feed costs and more intensive farming styles coming into practice.

“Since the advent of wintering barns and increasing number of dairy conversions, we have seen a need in the agriculture industry to protect feed quality as much as possible,” she says. “With rising demand for feed putting pressure on prices, the farmer needs to maximise the return he gets from his supplementary feed including that grown on-farm. This has lead to the development of our Y Panel with input from a structural engineer (IPENZ). Benefits of use include maintaining feed quality and consistency, and prevention of water damage and ground contamination to retain the energy (ME) in the feed so the farmer can retain this for the cows.”

Alongside retaining feed quality, consistency is just as important and can be maintained by lining the silage pit with concrete Y Panels and further enhanced with a concrete floor.

“When farmers are mixing feeds, the resulting feed needs to be consistent from day to day,” Thompson says. “Contamination is an issue especially with mixer wagons. If rocks and stones get into the mixer wagon they can damage the machine, a critical piece of machinery used daily.

Thompson Y Panels are completely self-supporting. This makes them cost effective and easy to install with no special foundations required.

“You can take it off the truck, drop it in the ground, line them up, and start filling,” Thompson says. “We’ve had farmers install our Y Panels themselves.”

Reinforced with high-tensile steel, Y Panels can be used to store light to heavy density materials, from potatoes to grain and even fertiliser when used internally as a divider in an existing building.

The Y shape is self cleaning as it prevents product from clinging to the sides of the panels, and they can be relocated as product storage requirements change.

With the backing of the Thompson Group, with its construction, engineering, and precast divisions, if the project requires larger panels, the company group can work with its clients to design and build a precast concrete solution. An example of this is on the front cover of this issue.

Left: Michelle Thompson (left), a director of Thompson Precast, and Dave Taylor, production manager of Thompson Precast, are surrounded

by Y-panels as they check the condition of stockfeed.

Below: Taylor (left) and Thompson (right) confer with Nathan Fletcher, operations manager for Kinsman Contracting.

Van Leeuwen Dairy Group’s new silage pit (stage one completed) uses precast panels and concrete floor, with steps for access between. The gap between the pits, in this instance, gives a storage area for tyres used to hold the silage covers in place. Van Leeuwen Dairy Group has also installed Y Panels on an existing concrete pad to store maize and maximise use of the area.

With 400sqm of heated table space in Thompson Precast’s Timaru manufacturing plant, a high quality finish and a quick turn-around is provided every time by using steel casting beds for precast panels.

Thompson Group has become an industry leader in its 35 years in business, and continues to expand with an increasing demand for its products and services, and a strong customer base from Mid Canterbury to North Otago. As the company’s capacity increases, so does its ability to take on projects outside of the region, especially in Christchurch where demand is growing rapidly.

Thompson Group specialises in the design and construction of all types of buildings, with the design team working with clients to create purpose designed buildings optimised for their requirements.

Together, Thompson Construction and Engineering, and Thompson Precast offers commercial, industrial, and agricultural clients the whole package from initial design to certificate of completion.

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