NZ Dairy Autumn 2021

72 | nz dairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Lachie McLean Mentoring plan helps Lachie achieve final goal Waipu farmer Lachie McLean and Extension 350 Mentor Farmer Dave Robinson with the Jersey herd. Lachie with one of his cows wishing him all the best in his upcoming retirement. Richard Loader O n the 1 st of June this year, Lachie McLean will step back from active duty on his beloved Waipu farm, and enjoy the fruits of retirement after 50 years cupping the cows. When Lachie steps back, a sharemilker will take over the reins, enabling Lachie to enjoy other passions in his life including theatre, music, Waipu’s heritage and its community, gardening and more environmental planting around the riverbanks and steep sidelings of his farm. Lachie will also be able to stay living in the beautiful old homestead that his great-grandfather built in 1908; staying connected to the land that has always been his love and his life. “In 2008 we had a family reunion to celebrate 100 years of the homestead being built, and it was attended by 360 of my great-grandparent’s descendants. The land has kept our wider family connected. “You feel the presence of your forebears on the land. I’m not married and I don’t have children so I’m not sure what will happen to the farm, but for me it is important that the farm continues to be well loved and nurtured, regardless of who might own it in the future.” Born and raised on the family farm, Lachie had every intention of being a schoolteacher when he left school in 1971 but instead started farming with his father — a gap year that has lasted five decades without regrets. Lachie’s great grandfather, John McLean was one of the original 900 Nova Scotia settlers in the Waipu District, and was gifted 420 acres from his brothers on the 6 th of June 1871. “My great grandparents called this farm Bird- grove, and it’s still called Birdgrove. My grandfather started the Birdgrove pedigree jersey herd in 1924, the 22 nd registered jersey stud in New Zealand.” While Lachie still has a jersey herd, ideal of the river flat conditions, he stopped registering them when everything was computerised. “I love the farming lifestyle, the cows — my herd is very quiet — and I enjoy the environment and working amongst it all. The emotional value of the farm means more to me than the financial value.” Just thirty minutes south of Whangarei, on State Highway 1 at the foot of the Brynderwyn Hills, the farm now encompasses about 200 hectares of which 176 is effective. “We have a pine plantation along with pockets of native bush including kahikatea, totara, kauri, tara- rie, and rimu. The Ahuroa River runs right through the farm. It’s a very pretty farm with about half river flats and the rest rolling country.” In 2013 Lachie leased his cousin’s farm over the river and the following year purchased a neighbour- ing farm of 113 hectares, incurring some debt. “I had three farms and was then milking 380 cows out of a 17 -bale rotary shed designed for 120 cows.” With retirement in his mind, when Dairy NZ ap- proached Lachie in 2017 to see if he was interested in becoming part of the Extension 350 programme as a target farmer, he recognised a golden op- portunity. The three year programme is designed to mentor farmers to help them succeed, not just financially but also with a healthier environment and farming community. “My mother always called me a late developer. Normally, you would think the programme would be to encourage a young farmer, but I was very lucky. At the age of 65 I accepted the opportunity and was assigned a mentor to help me achieve my final goal of retirement, which I will achieve on the 1 st of June this year. I was guided and disciplined to undertake the projects to achieve my goal.” The journey involved milling 12 hectares of pine trees and with the profits Lachie used part of his farm as a subdivision for lifestyle blocks, enabling him to build a new 30 aside herringbone shed and retire debt, setting him on the path for his own retirement.” “The programme and mentoring has been hugely invaluable and I can’t thank the mentor and programme enough,” says Lachie, now just months away from realising his goal. “The emotional value of the farm means more to me than the financial value.” Gunson McLean Ltd CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS Servicing all types of farming business with: • Financial Reporting • Taxation • Succession & Estate Planning • Business Structures, Valuation & Financing Accounting Practice of the Year 2018 Gunson McLean are proud to support Lachlan McLean Vinery Ln, Whangarei & Edward St, Dargaville | 09 438 1001 | admin@gunsonmclean.co.nz KevinTrumper E L E C T R I C A L Phone Kevin on 027 493 4572 Specialising in Farm Installs & Maintenance/Repairs • Commercial • Residential • Precast • Asbestos Removal • Agricultural • Industrial • Steel Fabrication • Demolition www.barfoote.com info@barfoote.com Phone 09-438 3456