Business Rural North Spring 2021

| 63 • from page 64 “Our return to the farm was part of succession planning, but everyone knows farmers don’t really retire. Mum and dad took twenty hectares off the farm, which gives them time to tend to their calf rearing and their courgette growing operation.” James says converting the farm to a sheep milking operation was in part because it is a sunrise industry. “There’s a lot of opportunity for young people wanting to make a go of it, or if you have a smaller block like we have you can make a decent income. My parents had mainly Coopworth ewes. They were replaced with Zealandia, which are a mix of East Friesian and Lacaune, bred specifically as milking sheep.” For the first season James and Tracey milked through someone else’s shed to make sure they liked it – which they did. “We started building our own shed and while hit by COVID the shed was still completed just in time for lambing. This will be our second season milk- ing on our own farm, and third season overall. In season one we started off with 500 sheep, last year we milked 700 and this year will be about 800. Next year we hope to milk 1000 and ultimately reach 1200 on 60 hectares.” James says one of the benefits of milking sheep is that due to genetic gain, production can be increased very quickly, when compared to dairy cows. “Currently we peak at two-litres a sheep each day and work on 270 litres each sheep per year on average. We expect to go up 20 litres per ewe per year over the next four years. The genetic gain we can achieve is double what you can get from cows. Last year’s lambs that were a minimum of 42kgs were mated at nine months old and will be lambing in two weeks time. Lambs under 42kgs were car- ried over.” James and Tracey supply their sheep milk to Spring Sheep Milk Co, a decision they say was heavily based on the company’s long term market- ing plan. Reflecting on his future, James says he wants to do everything the dairy cow industry does but just do it better. “There’s also a very low carbon footprint from milking sheep and they’re a lovely animal to work with, a lovely nature, and easy to milk through the shed.” Sheep milking a ‘sunrise industry’ “Currently we peak at two- litres a sheep each day and work on 270 litres each sheep per year on average. We expect to go up 20 litres per ewe per year over the next four years.” Photos: Lambs feeding at the Wallace property. The milking shed build was interrupted by Covid but was completed just in time for lambing. RURAL PEOPLE » James & Tracey Wallace ADVERTISING IS GREAT FOR BUSINESS! Get new clients with regular print media Phone: 03 983 5500 Fax: 03 983 5552 waterfordpress.co.nz Proud to support James Wallace Rural Supplies Pukekohe Dairy Shed installations & upgrade work. Service & parts for all types of milking machines. Milking Machine Testing, Rubberware. Agents for Waikato Milking Systems. E-mail: admin@ruralsuppliespukekohe.co.nz 101 Manukau Road, Pukekohe. Tel: 09 238 8989