NZ Dairy Autumn 2021

76 | nz dairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Lawn Hayes: John Totty Family history runs deep in Staveley soil Photos: Hay sweeping at Lawn Hayes, the name given to the two neighbouring 45-acre blocks John’s great-grandfather, Charles Totty, purchased in Staveley in 1920. Old cow shed with Shorthorns the favoured cows in the early days of dairying. Picking up stones by hand in 1960. Richard Loader A t 31, having the opportunity to farm the Mid Canterbury land that has been in the Totty family for 101 years is very special to 4th generation John Totty, and shapes the way he farms. John took over the farm’s tiller in 2017, shortly after his father’s death following a farm related accident. “I’ve had a lot of family help to get into the farm, so you do farm slightly differently than if you were just in it for yourself; it’s not just profit based farm- ing,” says John. “My father had done a huge amount of plant- ing on the farm and there are beautiful tree lines everywhere. There are front paddocks that we don’t put the cows in because of the trees and there are things that I’ll do because it keeps the farm looking tidier.” This time last year John’s uncle held a cousins’ reunion with many relations telling John how proud they were that the farm was continuing in the family. “They all appreciate it so much which makes me appreciate it so much more. Right through the gen- erations people are still interested in Lawn Hayes and most of the Totty family see that is where it all started. So it’s very special to have the opportunity to be back here farming the land.” Though no one knows exactly where the name came from, Lawn Hayes was the name given to the two neighbouring 45-acre blocks John’s great- grandfather, Charles Totty, purchased in Staveley in 1920. By the time Charles bought his land it had been mostly cleared of dense native bush. With the dis- appearance of the sawmill in 1907, a creamery was established, which evolved into a cheese factory in 1916 that was finally closed in 1936. • to page 78 www.jacksonholmes.co.nz Office 03 303 0872 · Cultivation & Drilling · Forage Harvesting · Baling and Wrapping · Slurry & Muck Spreading · Manure & Compost Supply · Supplementary Feed · Mowing & Cartage rrspreading.co.nz 03 302 8650 info@rrspreading.co.nz • Pr ecision Nit r ogen Application • Lime & Super Sp r eading • Advanced GPS T echnology • Mapping Capability • V ariable Rate Sp r eading • Pr escription Sp r eading