RURAL PEOPLE » Tim & Carol McPherson
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Dalmore: family farm steeped in history Sue Russell It’s 40 years since Tim McPherson took over ownership and running of the family dairy farm. The farm, 15 kilometres west of Riverton in Southland, has been in the family for 143 years. Originally run in conjunction with a butcher’s shop in Orepuki during the goldmining era, and Tim says Maori settlements in the area also traded flax and potatoes with Sydney. The property was named Dalmore after the farm Tim’s great-grandfather, Archie McPherson, worked on in Kintyre, Scotland before coming to New Zealand in 1963. The 277-hectare farm tracks over flat land with some gullies, and carries a 160ha milking platform, with with 60ha used for winter cropping and young stock. Drainage is an issue on parts of the property. The farm is owned under a family trust and the farming business is the day-to-day responsibility of Tim and Carol McPherson’s son, Matthew. This frees up to concentrate on his passion for breeding. “Carol and I have lived in the old dairy factory for the last 10 years,” says Tim. “Eight years ago a property adjoining the farm was purchased just after Matthew returned.” The original herd was a shorthorn-cross-type cow, then ayrshires in 1953; in 1967 the herd was moved to predominantly friesian. “From the 1990s there has been a move to crossbreds as a result of mating heifers to jersey sires for ease of calving. The kiwicross animal is better at coping with the walking distances and the condition of some of the farm’s races.” Dalmore has used herd testing for about 90 years and AB since 1960, while heifers have been mated to AI and traits (other than production) recorded since 1973. About 20 bulls have been sold to AI companies
PHOTOS Left: The Dalmore herd has moved from a shorthorn-cross type cow to ayshires in 1953, then predominantly friesian in 1967 and then a move to kiwicross from the 1990s. Below: The view west from Dalmore to the mountains of Fiordland.
with three – Dalmore PK Kai, Dalmore Kryptonite and Dalmore TEF Lima – going on to be widely used. The lower payout has forced some adjustments: “We used to rear quite a bit of extra stock, but now we are just rearing our own replacements.” There has also been a shift in the type of cropping the farm does to supplement pasture feed with a move away from swedes and brassica vegetables toward growing fodder beet, which Tim says is a very versatile crop. “It produces twice the yield as the traditional brassica lines and because it has a high energy content, you can put the weight on and maintain condition through autumn and winter.” He describes the Riverton district as the Riviera of the South with a strong dairying sector likely to grow. His interest in breeding has given Tim the chance to see the immense gains from developing tidy, efficient and productive cows that are easy to manage.
He thinks dairying’s current unsettled times will become the norm and the sector will have to adjust. “When I began farming, there was certainty in that products kept being produced and stock-piled. Now it is a very different situation with significant changes in Europe affecting markets we can sell to.
It will be a case of it working its way to outcomes on supplier farms. I’m not optimistic things will improve quickly.” However, he feels his own farming has been most enjoyable and rewarding: “It has been a privilege to have been involved over my lifetime.”
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• From page 4 “Before we started this development we were struggling to get 120% lambing.” The farms’ produce 120,000 to 130,000kg of wool from two clips a year, in February and August. Although Cameron says their hogget and ewe wool is too strong at 36 to 39 microns, and lamb’s wool similarly strong at 32 microns, “at the end of the day, bulk still seems to be winning at the moment”. A total of 950 hereford-cross beef cows are run on Campbells, Tin House and Otapiri. Cameron has a pragmatic approach to their role.
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“They’ve got to do a job. They do a lot of our topping. They’re there for pasture quality. I think, cows, when people look at their bottom line, are underestimated on their value for tidying up, pasture quality and parasite management.” The management of such a large operation is helped by the brothers’ good relationship, and the reassurance that if one is away, the other is around to make decisions and deal with issues. Today, their roles largely involve management and organisation, rather than hands-on work. “It’s about managing you time and your people, and trying to get the best out of both of those,” says Cameron.
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