DAIRY PEOPLE: Terry & Gemma Adams
NZ Dairy / Winter 2013
13
Get cows right, rest will follow Terry and Gemma Adams have put three years of hard work and passion for dairying farming into the 470 crossbred cows and 160 hectares (effective) they farm near Hawera. Now the cows and the land have competition for their attention – their threemonth-old daughter, Maddie (seen in Terry’s arms here).
Karen Phelps Increased production will follow naturally as their herd improves, Terry and Gemma Adams belief. To bring that belief to fruition, Gemma focuses on calf rearing and monitoring cow condition, while Terry concentrates on pasture management and feeding. The couple farm 470 crossbred cows on a 160-hectare (effective) unit six kilometres from Hawera in South Taranaki. The herd is milked through a 36-bail rotary shed with automatic cup removers. Their focus on herd improvement has largely been by necessity. The herd was not in the right condition when they bought it. “They (the cows) turned up at the property light and we struggled to get weight on them,” says Terry. “Lameness was an issue around mating time, with a mob of 50 lame cows at the peak. We had to ensure cows were milked correctly and that stock was handled well to avoid more problems.” Because there is a lot of concrete on their farm races, small stones can be a problem. They have brought in a road broom attached to a farm tractor to sweep the races, and this has helped ease this issue. The lame mob peaked last season at 15 cows. The Adamses treat each lame cow themselves and record them so that they can keep tabs on which animals constantly present with problems. This provides a basis for culling. They have also worked hard on the growth and development of their young stock, weighing them to ensure they meet target weights and culling as required. Empty rates have been high (around 15%) for the last two years because the calving spread has been reduced a lot. They are aiming to
We had to ensure cows were milked correctly and stock handled well to avoid more problems.
“Totally Dependable”
reduce the empty rate 12% in coming season. Terry was raised on a farm in Opunake while Gemma is a townie and studied computer graphics as university. When Terry left school, he worked as a dairy assistant on other farms before spending a year on the family farm as a manager. He then went lower-order sharemilking for a year on a 180-cow unit in Rahotu, in coastal Taranaki. When Gemma joined him they moved to a 50:50 sharemilking position in Pungarehu where they milked 200 cows for three years. They are now in their third season on the Hawera unit; 65 of its 160ha are gully land which they use for grazing young stock. They done a lot of cleaning up, particularly fencing, gates, weed control and pasture management. With the support of the owners, Patricia and Lewis Hickman, the races have been re-metalled and re-concreted. The Adamses employ two staff, one full-time, one part-time. This is their first position where they have been managing staff, and they say getting human-resources and general procedures correct has been key. In their first season the couple milked 506
of generational expansion herringbone dairy shed with a 60-bail rotary, and upped cow numbers to 750. They also put in two centre-pivots to irrigate 56ha. The original block had been fully irrigated since 1970 with gun irrigators, which are still operational. By 2003 more neighbouring land had been bought and the herd stood at 1000 cows, producing 360,000 kilograms of milksolids. The acquisition of another 100 cows in 2004 pushed production up to 390,000kg milksolids; in 2006, 1250 cows did 414,000kg milksolids. In the 2004-05 season, a third of the herd went onto once-a-day milking because of the distance they had to travel to the dairy shed. Another 30ha of pod irrigation and 30ha of pivot irrigation were added in 2006. Following the death of his grandmother, Stewart Weatherstone, his wife, Alexandra, and his parents, Bryan and Sherry,
formed their own company. Over the next two years more blocks were bought and more irrigation was added. By 2010, the herd was up to 1300 cows producing 461,000kg milksolids. The purchase of a 486ha sheep and beef block in March 2011 effectively doubled the size of the farm. The herd grew to 2000 and the cows produced 620,000kg milksolids The total farm area is now 1017ha, plus 120ha of leased and 100ha of owned run-off land. There is another 30ha on the south side of the original block where 110 jersey bulls are run. . This season, still with 2000 cows, Stewart Weatherstone is on target for 680,000kg milksolids. Two thirds of the herd are now on once-a-day milking. The new dairy shed is being is being built on the former sheep-and-beef block.
cows, but say they feel they struggled to feed them properly. After they cut herd numbers, production has increased each season even though they have bought the same amount of feed each year. First season: 155,000 kilograms of milksolids; last season 168,000kg with 475 cows; this season: 175,000kg target with fewer cows. On average the Adams buy in 240 tonnes of palm kernel a season. They used to also buy in maize, but now grow this on farm. Busy times are ahead as the couple’s first child, daughter Maddie, arrived on the scene just three months ago. They say they have their minds on farm ownership, whether it be outright ownership or equity partnership.
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