30 | ‘It’s been as tough as I can remember’ Wayne and Leeanne are passionate, long-standing breeders of top rated Holstein-Friesian stock. Russell Fredric RURAL PEOPLE » Wayne Taylor Just before Easter Waitara dairy farmer Wayne Taylor offered a succinct but revealing observation of the areas of Taranaki worst affected by this year’s drought. “They’ve been burnt to a cinder.” “South Taranaki, around the coast that way, Opunake and around towards Okato, she’s pretty extreme.” Fortunately, Cyclone Tam brought 50mm of rain to the Taylor’s farm during Easter, meaning Wayne was more optimistic about the remainder of the season. “It’s very beneficial rain and it’s very warm and humid. That’s certainly changing the landscape. In respect to the ones on the bottom of the coast, from what I’ve heard they got some rain, but I don’t think it was as much.” Wayne and his wife Leeanne are sharemilkers, milking 190 pedigree Holstein Friesian cows on their 68 hectare effective generational family farm which has a 12 hectare support block. “It’s probably been as tough as I can remember. We’ve been milking cows now coming up 40 years. It would be as dry as I’ve had to deal with.” Leanne checks the farm’s rain gauge daily and keeps records; there were indications in December of an emerging drought. “For us in the northern strip [of Taranaki] it probably started to bite in mid-January. We were starting to get a little concerned.” Fortuitously, early December Wayne purchased 50 tonnes of maize silage. “We got that because I was proactive early when we cut our main crop of silage and realised we didn’t quite have the feed that we’d normally carry through for the autumn. The opportunity to secure a contract for some maize and, heaven forbid, I’m pleased I did it.” Undoubtedly their cows were pleased as well. Wayne and Leeanne are passionate, long- standing breeders of top rated Holstein-Friesian stock. Wayne served on the board of Holstein Friesian New Zealand for 21 years until June last year and in August was awarded honorary life membership of the association. “I was very humbled. You take these jobs on, not for those recognitions that’s for sure, but I guess it was just a reflection of all those years of service that we’ve given.” Having purchased his first Holstein Friesian in 1985, Wayne reflects with some satisfaction on the considerable genetic gains since then. “There’s certainly been tremendous gains along the way for conformation, we are feeding cows a lot better than we used to, not just relying on grass. “We’ve got cows with udders that can handle bigger volumes of milk than what we used to put through them and in very recent times there’s been the advent of robotic milking as well.” Wayne notes pure-breds are the best option for growing bull beef as these grow faster than a cross breed, eliminating the need to be grown through two winters. “Over the years I’ve spoken to a good number of bull finishers and the issue they’re finding is that a When it comes to business advice, it’s important to nd a partner you can trust. At the Accounting Room we’re commited to helping Taranaki businesses to get ahead. We provide upfront and honest advice on a range of things you worry about. If you’re looking for the perfect business partner - Call us (06) 759 1591 theaccountingroom.co.nz The perfect rural partner can be hard to find www.westownhaulage.co.nz 06 753 6611 180 Cowling Rd | New Plymouth WESTOWN HAULAGE LTD Proud to support Wayne Taylor www.energyvets.co.nz enquiries@energyvets.co.nz ENERGY VETS TARANAKI LTD Inglewood Clinic (06) 756 7228 Waitara Clinic (06) 754 8791 lot of the bulls with cross-bred genetics take longer to finish. They don’t turn them out at 18 months old.” He is currently working with his artificial breeding company towards introducing homozygous polled genetics into his cow herd. “We are trying to breed the horns off cows and eliminate that around dehorning calves etcetera. There’s a fair bit of work going on within the industry working towards that. It certainly has been a major focus of the two major artificial breeding companies; trying to identify polled genetics within the New Zealand cow herd.”
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