100 | Second time a winner for dairy farmers Milking at W J Farming is twice a day through a 60-bale rotary that includes Protrack and cell-count technology. Turnips are supplied for the once-a-day cows to help maintain condition. Rosa Watson Wakefield dairy farmers Warric and Rachel Johnson have successfully gone one better at this year’s dairy industry awards, picking up sharemilker of the year in the West Coast/Top of the South Island region. It follows their runner-up placing in the last year that they had hoped to improve on. “We are very happy with the result of our win if not a little overwhelmed,” Rachel told Rural South “The win means a lot to ourselves and our team as it was a big goal for us and our team played a huge part in helping us achieve it.” She said the process of entering was “eye opening”. “It makes you look harder at not only what you do but the reasoning behind it.” But the effort as all worth it. “It’s definitely beneficial to enter the awards, the prizes from the sponsors and very generous and the network and connections are invaluable. The couple, who have been working in the industry for 27 years, are contract milking for Phil and Jocelyn Riley, overseeing 1100 cows on their 375ha Tapawera farm where they have been for seven years, employing five full-time farm workers. Herd production is an impressive 515,000kgMS / year. Preparations for this year’s awards got well under way in good time with a lot fine tuning from last year, Rachel said. “We wanted to improve on last year and felt that we could after all that we had learnt through the connections we had made thanks to the dairy industry awards.” The couple don’t hesitate to invest in technology and have made improvements to their water use while expanding their irrigation with the use of soil meters. “We are now using Allflex collars on the cows which made mating a lot easier this year and enabled us to use all AI,” Rachel explained. The couple remain passionate about the industry. “We enjoy the climatic challenges of farming and have a passion for the animals and people we work with.” They hope to build on what they have already achieved, helped by the introduction of technology. “We are hoping to improve reproductive performance of the herd with the use of the collars.” The ultimate goal for the couple is farm ownership. ON FARM » WJ Farming “We will continue to grow our property portfolio until we are in a position to acquire farm ownership.” Milking at W J Farming is twice a day through a 60-bale rotary that includes Protrack and cell-count technology. Processing the herd through the shed takes about four hours and the regime is twice a day until the summer dry kicks in. Turnips are supplied for the once-a-day cows to help maintain condition. Warric is always available for the mornings milkings and is also responsible for maintaining the farm equipment and training the staff. They take pride in creating culture of support between individuals. “We a large farm and large crew, you need to have the culture right because everyone needs to pull together to get the job done.” The couple wouldn’t hesitate to encourage others to enter the awards. “I would recommend the dairy industry awards to anyone who aspires to understand their strengths and challenges and to get ahead in the sector, regardless of what they aspire to achieve.” Proudly supportingWJ Farming
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