| 3 RURAL PEOPLE » Sonia Dillon Becoming a part of the solution Grazing and lifting beet on the Dillon farm. Inset: Sonia Dillon. Virginia Wright 15a Hokonui Drive, Gore PO Box 172, Gore 9740 Phone: 03 208 9240 Email: admin@ocr.co.nz www.ocr.co.nz Pleased to support Sonia & Mark Dillon Mike Millard | Nathan Heenan | Rose Johnston | Emma Hewiston | Sarah Collie Although Sonia Dillon has been a paying member of Federated Farmers since she began farming after university it wasn’t until the government started introducing its suite of environmental regulations that she began attending some of the Southland Federated Farmers’ Arable Section meetings. Always prepared to be part of the solution rather than sit back and complain, she answered the call to ll the position of chairperson early last year and has been involved in their work around those regulations and the proposed Three Waters Reforms ever since. One thing that hasn’t changed since she started is the sheer volume of work. “After a year I’m blown away by how much work some people do and how much there is to still do,” says Sonia. “We’re currently in the environmental court still trying to nd the balance between realistic expectations and protecting the environment, especially around cultivation of land buffers and setbacks, intensive winter grazing and what to do around wetlands. It’s a complex balancing act.” Back on their own farm the Dillons continue with their beet-harvest contracting and their relatively small sheep and beef operation, but their main activity is in mixed cropping. This year they’ve increased their cropping by 50 hectares to meet an increase in demand which Sonia puts down partly to the high milk payout, partly to the impact of both Covid and the war in the Ukraine. They process and sell 70% of the grain they grow, a mixture mostly of barley and wheat, directly to dairy farmers. Generally they’re making up blends to order according to the speci cations given by the farmer and their nutritionist. “Whatever recipe they are working on we put it together and deliver Phone: 03 202 5467 Email: bmengine@xtra.co.nz PO Box 140, 109 Riversdale-Waikaia Rd, Riversdale 9744 Brian Mahon - Director Cell: 027 436 5118 Carl Scully - After Hours Cell: 027 630 3164 it, whether it’s a simple 50/50 barley and DDG, or a way more complex mix of wheat, DDG and PK (Palm Kernel),” says Sonia. DDG is a maize by-product from methanol production imported from the States and it’s one of the components requested by some of the Dillons’ clients. “We’d much rather have New Zealand grown.” say Sonia. “They use it because it’s quite high in protein, so we’re getting into growing more beans in the hope that it might be the equivalent.” The Dillons’ research into crops they could grow which would mean they could avoid using imported products led them to fava beans. Although peas are also a viable option they’re trickier to grow and, according to the research, slightly lower in protein than the beans. “Fava beans are probably equally as high in protein if not a bit higher than the DDG so we’re hoping to shift some of the DDG out of our mix and put fava beans in,” says Sonia. “They grow pretty easily. The trickiest bit is harvesting them and then crushing them up again.” While others are using it already it’s new for the Dillons. The trial they did with one of their clients showed the cows production staying up, just as they’d hoped: so far so good. “Basically it’ll be on an equivalent price for protein as the DDG, but the bonus is that you know that it’s all from New Zealand, therefore none of the bio-security risks. Also we have real limitations on being sure of being able to get the imported products, so it will mean we know from the outset that we will be able to supply what we say we will rather than just crossing our ngers and hoping.” says Sonia. If cow production continues to stay up the fava bean protein option would seem to be a winner for the Dillons, for dairy farmers, and for New Zealand.
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