| 19 Contractor buys dairy farm near Reefton The farm Sam and Hannah are on has a basic 22-aside herringbone shed but Sam says it works well enough. Sue Russell DAIRY PEOPLE » Sam Fenwick Proud to support Sam Fenwick Timaru: ww Cath Booth - Director w.solveca.co.nz GREG DALY R E A L E S T A T E L T D O ce 03 7626 463 gregdalyrealestate.co.nz Real Estate Agent REAA 2008 Proudly supporting the local community Five minutes from Reefton, in the Buller district of the South Island is a dairy farm owned and operated by Sam Fenwick, who purchased the property in June this year. Prior to this, Sam operated a contracting company near Timaru but when the opportunity came to sell up the gear and move off the machinery he realised this was what he wanted to do. The farm is home to 230 crossbred cows and extends over 100ha with a further 30ha leased just down the road, used for grazing. “We bought the farm with half the cows and and the other half we’re leasing off the vendor for two years. It just gave us the opportunity to take up the farm at this time,” Sam says. When Rural South spoke with Sam in September, calving was well underway and the experience had been very positive. Partner Hannah, works for World Wide Sires part-time. Sam says the plan over time is to go more straight Jersey. The decision to buy in the West Coast was a pragmatic one, given the cost to purchase land in Canterbury, where the couple originated from, was beyond reach. The farm is small to average for the district its in and surrounding properties are mostly dairying. The farm Sam and Hannah are on has a basic 22-aside herringbone shed but Sam says it works well enough for the current situation of the property. “While the farm is smaller than some, its ideal for us as we can run with no staff. The retiring vendor had steady production over the years so I’m just going to see how things go for the next few seasons before making any big changes.” Sam says he’s pleased with the condition of the herd who wintered well, acknowledging that winter was relatively mild compared with what it can deliver. New additions into the herd are 62 heifer replacements and the couple have sold a few bull calves. Sam acknowledges he has a way to go to understand all about the animal health side of running a dairy farm but says Hannah is pretty switched on in that regard so we complement each other, he’s pleased with how the herd is performing in these early days. “The main challenge we had had is that it’s been quite a wet spring. Still, we’re hoping to produce 400kgMS per cow for the season! We Run a basic 90% grass diet system with all stock wintered on platform or at lease block.” Looking back Sam says agricultural contracting was a very good business, however the end goal was always to go farming. His time in contracting began as soon as he left school at 16 years of age, working at the local John Deere service centre as a mechanic. Once qualified at 21 years of age, Sam went out on his own and the business soon grew. What started out as an after work hobby which turned into full time with 2 staff, 7 tractors specialisig in everything from baling & silage contracting to marketing feed. “We were also doing mechanical repairs on farm equipment. The business operated from Makikihi and covered from Waitaki to Timaru. They were good years but contracting is very demanding on your time and there’s a lot of gear to maintain well in order to make a success of it. My background as a mechanic certainly helped and I met some great people and worked hard to build equity for this next step.” Sam’s parents run a sheep and beef farm south of Timaru and Sam says they’ve helped the couple to get on to their first farm. The tough bank protocols with buying land these days are a battle for young people starting out. Hannah and Sam looked around at farms for sale in Canterbury, Marlborough and the West Coast for about a year before the one they now own caught their attention. “I think the timing for us shifting out of contracting into owning a farm was perfect and I’m really looking forward to seeing how it evolves in coming years.”
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