| 9 ENVIRONMENT » Chris and Samara Wech Attained a self-sufficient farming system Contract Milker Ellesar Tabang (right) with his worker Herbert Gabia. Sue Russell When Rural South spoke again with Otautau, Southland-based dairy farmers Chris and Samara Wech. The enterprising couple have attained a selfsufficient farming system, thanks to having two runoff blocks close to the 136ha effective dairy unit. Supplying Open Country has been a positive decision says Chris. “We get paid more upfront than we did with Fonterra so we’re not getting hit with overdraft interest rates.” “The ag sector at the moment is in a good space and our herd is in very good health considering how the spring went this season. We’re milking about 385 cows at the moment, down from 430 calved in spring. We are only down 5% from last season (last years total ms 235,000ms) and this is pretty good considering everything that has gone on” says Chris. Pregnancy scanning this time around resulted in a 14% empty rate, something Chris isn’t surprised about considering the season they have had. Asked how the very wet spring impacted the farm - Chris describes the last Spring as a really tough time; and he’s still got a fair bit of scarring in the paddocks now. Currently he is thinking about aerating more area of the dairy platform, trying to give the grass a helping hand to fix the soil structure. “During the hard spring we had to make the hard call and stand the herd off for upto 10-12 hours a day on the pad; this was mainly to look after the pasture”. Putting the cows on to a 16 hour milking rotation also helped the situation under foot at that time. “We did a test for Johne’s disease end of last season and were surprised by how many were affected; so we did another one in October 2024 through herd test. It’s a chronic and contagious bacterial infection that effects the small intestines of ruminants like cattle, sheep and goats. When cows get stressed the disease comes out. It was a tough decision to cull every animal that tested positive, but we just had to do it. Our animal health in the herd overall is much better as there is not a lot of underlying issues. Working with Chris and Samara is a new Filipino Contract Milker - Ellesar and Jercy Tabang. Chris says he enjoys the temperament and work ethic that they bring on farm. Ellesar and Jercy employ a full time worker and also has a couple of relief milkers on hand. Chris and Samara have five children, three now have left school and forging their own careers with the younger two still at high school. Their youngest two boys, Jesse and Travis still help on farm with the necessary tractor work – keeping them very busy on the weekends. Jesse also relief milks for a couple round the road. The plan is to dry off at the end of May, however Chris is keeping an open-mind as to how the weather behaves. “We also intend to boost our regrassing percentage up to 50%. Currently we’re sitting at about 10%.” Like many farmers Chris has thoughts regarding the ‘unnecessary’ reporting and compliance costs that impact the bottom line. “It’s good to see some groups have pushed the deadline out some way in terms of when reports are due in.” He’s also concerned that there are fewer cows on farms, with pressure for farms to convert to forestry, taken up for roading or life-style blocks. “Environment Southland don’t want to put a line in the sand. It’s a challenging relationship and I just wish they had science-based reasons for their standards and regulations; and the regulations are not the same throughout the differrent areas in New Zealand. There seems to be more regulations in southland. Chris says he’s a firm believer that when Government ministers are appointed they need to have the life experiences and knowledge of the sector they are governing. ELEVATOR SCRAPER, BOBCAT & ATTACHMENTS, LANDSCAPING, TRENCHING AUGERS K J SUTHERLAND GRAVELLING & AGRICULTURAL CONTRACTOR 2475 OHAI-CLIFDEN H/WAY ORAWIA R.D2 OTAUTAU 9682 Ph 0274 367 934 GRADES OF CRUSHED & SCREENED GRAVELS, ALKATHENE LAYING, ROOTRAKING, FARM TRACKS, DAIRYLINES Complete Silage, Baling, Cultivation, Effluent, Spraying & Excavator Contracting Service Phone: 03 225 8488 Rabco Ag Ltd E-mail: admin@rabco.nz Web: www.rabbitt.co.nz “You cannot beat NZ Wool it is naturally grown from grass” Main West Coast Road, Yaldhurst, RD 6, Christchurch 7676, New Zealand Phone: +64 3 342 6223 Email: ywlwool@nzwool.com Web: www.nzwool.com “That would be a good start, to see some rational science-based thinking rather than the politic rhetoric. We are the best in the world for what we do in the agriculture section but our politicians don’t give us the recognition we deserves. In the terms of voting The Rural Sector have become the minority yet we are one of the biggest tax payers for the economy.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=