Business Central July 2021

| 69 PRODUCTION Papawai Dairies Young couple enjoying farming journey Happy place: Hamish and Rachel Hammond took out the coveted Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Share Farmers of the Year Award in 2019. Phone: 03 983 5500 waterfordpress.co.nz Your Business, Your Industry, Your News. DO OUR READERS KNOW YOU EXIST? W ith a combined 11 years tertiary education connected with agricul- ture it seemed only sensible that airarapa-based Hamish and Rachel Ham- mond would decide to turn that learning into a farming business and career. “We learnt how to learn over the course of those years and we crafted our skills in writing and critical thinking,” says Hamish. Returning to the family dairy unit to build on the formal education has given the couple a good start to their farming journey. The farm borders thriving Greytown and has been in Hamish’s family for four genera- tions. The flat property has a blend of centre pivot and long lateral sprinkler irrigation with the majority in centre pivot. “We’re fortunate to have a good mix of highly fertile soils which we’re able to keep productive with water.” The 610 strong milking herd are kiwi-cross cows, bred initially from a Friesian base. The decision to cross breed the herd was made by Hamish’s father Stephen approximately 8 years ago and was driven by a desire to breed more efficient and fertile animals that could one day be suitable for once-a-day milking. This is the farm’s third season milking full-season once-a-day which Hamish says has been a very good decision. Historically, this family farm has been extremely focussed on maximising production in order to reduce debt. Over time and with hard work from Hamish’s parents and grandparents debt pres- sure has reduced and they can now focus on finding their most sustainable farm system. “We’ve tried to build on the hard work of earlier generations here and to reward that with concentrating on human and animal health. When we started on the farm we were on twice-a-day and felt like we were always chasing our tails.” Only three full time staff work on the farm, creating a very productive farm per labour unit. At times relief staff come on to give the small team a break especially during the spring. The farm rears its own young stock and the couple have leased a 61hectare beef finishing property which neighbours the dairy. By changing to once-a-day, there’s an inher- ent ability to work more flexibly, with more time away from the milking shed. Surprisingly, the decision to halve the milking frequency hasn’t significantly added to the time taken to milk at peak. “Now it will take us 3 1/2 hours to put the herd through, as opposed to 3 hours on twice-a-day.” Drying off begins around the end of April with calving scheduled to get underway around 25th July. August is a very hectic month on the farm to see the bulk of calving through. Hamish says the herd has experienced more metabolic problems due to their slightly “fatter” herd. “We attribute that to milking once-a-day, the cows never really go below a condition score 4.5, and some are even dried off above 5”. As their transition to once-a-day contin- ues the number of over fat cows will reduce through breeding more suitable replacement stock. In the meantime, the team have been combating metabolics by feeding predomi- nantly hay during the dry period, and using a greater number of metabolic remedies such as post-calving calcium boluses which help to reduce at risk cows going down with milk fever. Each year anywhere between 500–800kgs of milking supplement are fed per cow, including 300kgs barley grain, along with silage which is harvested from a run-off. The couple try to keep fit by running and tramping and are up at a ‘leisurely’ 5 am to bring the herd in for milking. “It’s important to have a focus on looking after yourself in farming as it can quite easily become all-encompassing. “There is pressure financially and new compliance regulations are having an impact on how we run the farm. For us, once-a-day milking has been a huge positive.” In 2019, the couple took out the coveted Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Share Farmers of the Year Award; an experience they gained a great deal from. Their long-term goals of either equity part- nership or 50:50 sharemilking are very much sitting behind their hard work and commit- ment to their farming business and life. T Sue Russell South Wairarapa Veterinary Services wish Papawai Dairies the very best for the future. We provide a full range of traditional veterinary services and treatments, along with herd health planning, herd fertility, and milk quality services. South Wairarapa Veterinary Services – Your premier animal health team Carterton Ph: 06 379 6767 | Featherston Ph: 06 308 9197 Martinborough Ph: 06 306 9311 | Masterton Ph: 06 377 0456 Member Electrical Contractors Association of NZ MASTER ELECTRICIANS 35 Jellicoe Street, Martinborough P: 06 3069 491 E: office@cans.co.nz Electricians, Milking & Pumping Specialists PROUD TO SUPPORT PAPAWAI DAIRIES • Electricians • Water pumps • Water treatment • Milking equipment • Heat pumps COTTER & STEVENS