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DAIRY PEOPLE » Johan and Theona Blom/James & Ceri Bourke
NZ Dairy
Data capture key for winners Kelly Deeks Named this year as Central Plateau Sharemilker/ Equity Farmers of the Year, Johan and Theona Blom have been entering the Dairy Industry Awards competitions since 2011 and say they have helped to fine-tune their business and find out where their limitations lay. The Bloms immigrated to New Zealand from South Africa with their three children in 2008, keen to make the most of the sharemilking industry and the opportunities it could present them. Johan was working as a dry-stock agricultural extension officer in South Africa, having obtained a Bachelor of Science majoring in agriculture, while Theona worked as an accountant. The couple have progressed quickly through the dairy industry since arriving in New Zealand, with Johan starting as assistant herd manager in Tokoroa, then moving to Cambridge the following season for a herd-manager positon. The next season he was promoted to farm manager. Then the couple started a 50:50 sharemilking job at Broadlands, where they stayed for three seasons before moving with 270 cows to Ron and Jan Hall’s Ngakuru 97-hectare dairy farm this season. The Bloms entered the Waikato Farm Manager of the Year competition in 2011, and the Central Plateau Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year in 2013, before winning the title this year. They say the benefits of entering the awards are in fine-tuning their business and not getting complacent. Johan Blom says feedback from competition judges as well as taking out the recording and productivity award and pasture performance awards show that the couple’s teamwork and attention to detail in capturing data through
Johan and Theona Blom, Central Plateau Sharemilker/Equity Farmers of the Year. measuring and monitoring are their strengths. “Having good information definitely helps to make proactive decisions, and we work very well when we put our individual strengths together,” he says. The Bloms want to own their own piece of dirt one day, so continue to build cow numbers and cash equity. They were on target to achieve record production of 107,000 kilograms of milksolids in
their first season on the Halls’ farm, ahead of the six year average of 104,000kg milksolids. Blom says it has been a normal stop-start season in the Central Plateau, but pretty good compared to the previous couple of years, especially through January and February when the farm never got yellow, but did get dry green. While the Bloms’ No.1 goal was automatically to improve milk production, this season’s low pay-out has meant they worked hard on managing their cost
structures while still fully feeding his cows. This meant they sought to buy in feed at a reasonable price. They also concentrated on managing pastures and getting some grass cover ahead for the winter, as all the cows are wintered on farm. And, because he wanted to put a bit of body condition on the cows before winter, he went down to once-a-day from April 17 after been doing 16 -hour milkings since the middle of February.
Second dairy shed good Karen Phelps
19 White Street,
Rotorua
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A second shed has brought benefits for sharemilkers, staff, cows and farm-owner, say James and Ceri Bourke, who sharemilk on the property near Culverden. “It has allowed us to create more senior roles on the farm for staff to move into,” says James. “It has also helped the farm-owner add more value to the property while allowing us to expand our business. “The cows have benefited by having less distance to walk, which has helped feet and lameness issues.” Staff member Damien Anderson, who had never milked cows until three seasons ago when he joined the Bourkes, has grown into the role of block manager and is in charge of one of the sheds. The other shed is run by Roger Paragas, leaving James Bourke free to oversee the operation. Ceri Bourke rears the calves, looks after the financials, and fills in as needed. James is in charge of the other shed. The farm employs four full-time staff. James Bourke comes off a dairy farm in Taranaki. After leaving school, he went to attended Telford for a year before heading into the workforce as a dairy assistant, working his way through the system on farms between Ashburton and Rangiora.
Ceri Bourke, who is originally from Wales, had no farming experience when the couple met. A pivotal moment in their farming careers came while working for Mike and Anne Prattley as second-in-charge on a 1250-cow unit at Rangiora. “They encouraged us to pursue sharemilking,” says James. The couple’s next move was indeed a sharemilking job, between Lincoln and Lake Ellesmere. They bought 200 cows and formed a sharemilking company with James’s parents, Rick and Dianna. The farm milked 470 cows on a three-year contract. They are now in their third season with Pete and Ruth Mossman, at Culverden. The Bourkes 50:50 sharemilk 800 cows and contract-milk a further 300 on a 520-hectare (515ha effective) property. The herd is predominantly crossbred (a third of the herd are jerseys) and is milked through a new, 54-bail, rotary shed and a 50-bail rotary. Cows are all wintered on the property, with fodder beet a growing part of their autumn/winter feed. “Compared with kale, fodder beet helps us to lower the total nitrogen output during autumn/ winter.,” says James Bourke. “It also brings feed costs down and increases cow body-condition quicker. We planted 14ha last year to feed 300 cows. This season we moved fully to fodder beet.” The primary focus has been on converting to spray irrigation from a border-dyke system – 45ha is now under long laterals and k-line, with the balance of the farm irrigated by centre pivots. The change has not only lifted production on the farm but also reduced the environmental footprint of the operation, he James. The Bourkes were on target to produce 650,000 kilograms of milksolids The new, 54-bail rotary shed has been good for everyone involved with the property, say James and Ceri Bourke.