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ON FARM» Brendon & Karen Stent
Business Rural
Ongoing conversions ‘big challenge’ Jo Bailey Brendon Stent always wanted to give dairy farming in Canterbury a go. So, two years ago, when the Horowhenua-based farmer was given the opportunity to oversee the ongoing conversion of Landcorp’s sizeable Maronan livestock complex in Mid Canterbury, he jumped at it. “Taking on the farm business manager’s role here is a big challenge, but I love it. It took quite a few years to convince my wife, Karen, to come south with me, but she’s warming to the region now we’re here.” Maronan Pastures – an 1100-hectare farm about 30 kilometres from Ashburton on the way to Mayfield – incorporates two 1300-cow dairy units and a dairy replacement cattle grazing operation which has been gradually converted from a deer, sheep and cattle farm. An additional 260ha farm, Rosebank, at nearby Carew has been converted to provide dairy support for Maronan. The first shed was built on the main farm six years ago. Over the last two years the focus has been to convert 100ha of the farm’s deer operation into an additional dairy unit, says Brendon Stent. “We ripped out all the deer fencing and converted the old border-dyke irrigation to pivots. The second dairy shed was commissioned in February this year. We plan to start building a third shed on the farm by the end of the year on a further 130ha of deer land we are in the process of converting.” Around 1300 cows have been wintered on each of the dairy units this season. “The long-term plan is to have three 1050cow dairy units once the conversion is complete. We want them to be equal in size so that we can benchmark each farm with the other, and against the top 10 per cent of dairy farms in the district.”
We ripped out all the deer fencing and converted the old border-dyke irrigation to pivots. The second dairy shed was commissioned in February this year. We plan to start building a third shed on the farm by the end of the year on a further 130ha of deer land we are in the process of converting.
Maronan Farms manager Brendon Stent and wife Karen. The conversion has been a “long process” but is going well, says Stent. As farm business manager, his role is to oversee the development as well as managing Maronan’s day-to-day operations, and setting budgets and five-year strategy plans with each farm manager. “One of my main goals is to ensure our 13 staff get home safe at night. It’s important our health and safety policies are adhered to to provide a safe working environment. Along with animal welfare, this is an area we want to be industry leaders in.”
Sustainability is also key: “We milk only around 3.1 cows to the hectare. We have placed soilmoisture meters alongside the pivots, we use storage ponds to hold effluent, and we ensure we apply effluent at the right times of the year to mitigate nitrogen leaching. It is our goal to leave the land in the best possible condition for future generations.” Last season’s production – around 1200 kilograms of milksolids per hectare – was achieved largely on dry ground as the pivot area was still being developed. “We were a little behind target. But over all, we were pretty happy as we milked 2250 cows through one 60-bail rotary for much of the season.
We won’t get a true indication of production until the conversion is complete; our goal is to eventually sustain around 1500kg/ha.” Before coming south Stent had been a sharemilker with Landcorp for 10 years and had managed one of its farms for four years. He and Karen also own a 350-cow farm in Horowhenua, which is managed by their son, Robert. “After sharemilking 1000 cows there, a 300cow farm wasn’t enough of a challenge for me. It’s great to have a succession plan to allow our son to develop in the industry too.” Brendon Stent has recently relinquished his role on the executive of the NZ Dairy Industry Awards after several years, and would love to mentor some of his staff to awards success. “It would be great to assist one of my farm managers to win the Farm Manager of the Year title, and I would love to see the Landcorp name feature at the Ballance Environmental Awards. “It’s a goal I’d definitely like to achieve before I step down.”
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The combination of opportunity, being given a chance by others, and being prepared to work hard and take responsibility can make dairying a road to success almost without equal in New Zealand. Kiwis of all ages have taken a punt in recent years, often coming into the industry with little or no dairying experience, yet finding fulfilment, pleasure and economic stability, despite what is proving this season to be a somewhat volatile market. After studying, travelling overseas and working in various jobs, Jonathon Rowe and his sister and brother-in-law formed a company called XL Farming . They took on sharemilking for the Fraser family, near Waimate. “They gave us a chance to get going five years ago, even though we didn’t have any proof to say we could do it,” says Jonathon Rowe. “It was an awesome opportunity. We’ve gone from nothing to sharemilking one farm, then joining an equity partnership, running three farms with 2300 cows.” The three partners had grown up on farms, so were not completely without experience, but,
nonetheless, they are appreciative of the gamble the Frasers took. The equity partnership has equal thirds to XL Farming, the Fraser family’s Mt Cecil Farms, and another investor from Waimate. Rowe is running the newest of the three farms, and his sister and brother-in-law look after the other two. His farm is 185 hectares of flat to rolling country near Makikihi. Seventy hectares is under k-line irrigation, the rest under pivot. It had been a dairy run-off until its conversion. Fencing was fine, so what needed doing was improving a couple of races, building a new 54-bail rotary milking shed and yard, and making effluent ponds. Experience has shown they needed more water to grow enough grass. The past two seasons have required quite a bit of palm kernel as supplement. They have sunk a new bore this year with the expectation the extra water will improve the amount of grass grown so that they can at least halve the amount of supplement they need to buy in. Rowe’s farm has four full-time staff equivalents, plus occasional part-timers such as at calf-rearing time. The other two farms have eight or nine staff to attend to their 1600-odd cows.
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