22 | nzdairy Experience on hill Kelly Deeks “Dead flat is easy to manage because you can mow it, but the hills, once they are out of control you can lose the rest of the season. I’ve had years of experience managing hill farms and how to get the most out of a rolling to steep farm is my advantage.” Carlos and Bernice Delos Santos are looking forward to a smooth second season on their 50/50 sharemilking job at Hamurana, north of Rotorua, having ironed out all the kinks that impeded on their early calving in their first season. Carlos and Bernice are working their way towards farm ownership, having progressed through the industry from relief milker to their current 50/50 sharemilking position. They left their previous 50/50 position on a 600 cow farm at Rerewhakaaitu to scale up into this 1000 cow farm. “It has been a challenging season,” Carlos says. “It feels like winter and spring were long last year. Putting the weather aside, the farm wasn’t in a good state when we arrived so we were on the back foot from day dot trying to get it going. “We had bought some cows from Northland that were calving on July 1, we were trying to get to know the farm, the cows were adjusting to a new farm, and we had to put off some things we should have been doing in the winter and instead focus on calving. The farm owners have helped us out, getting a fencer to fix up the fences and a digger to fix up the races. It won’t be an issue next year. We’ll be able to focus on looking after the cows and preparing the whole farm for calving.” But Carlos knows there will still be challenges ahead – there always is when it comes to dairy farming. “Whether it’s a break-out of facial eczema or a low payout, there is always something.” Carlos was self-employed at age 23 and says DAIRY PEOPLE » Carlos & Bernice Delos Santos WE ARE MORE THAN JUST MILKING SPECIALISTS with 24/7 Service Feel free to call in, visit our shop and discuss any requirements you have in regards to your dairy shed. DeLaval Service and Support milking solutions Ph 07 348 3628 19 White Street, Rotorua www.abcmilkingsolutions.co.nz y y y y y y y Milking Machines Dairy Consumables Machine Tests Davey Supplier Trenching DeLaval InService (Preventative Maintenance) McConnel Backing Gates y y y y y Water Pumps & Fittings E uent Systems Bore Lifts Irrigation Services Reid & Harrison LY R PROUD SUPPO TING Carbernz Farming Limited Proudly supporting Carlos Dela Santos - Waerenga 027 789 4294 Mike@tnelectrical.co.nz now he’s a bit older, he is able to take a step back and think his way out of most situations. He takes strength from Bernice and from their genuine partnership. “My wife does a lot of work, whether it is on the farm or looking after our kids or looking after me. I couldn’t have done it without her. We have built this herd from the ground up right from the first 30 cows we bought, and we have only just sent the last one on the truck because she is 15 years old and unfortunately she has gone empty, and she’s not going to survive this big farm.” This big 560ha farm with 354ha dairy platform is a mixture of flat, easy rolling, and steep land. Carlos is something of a specialist when it comes to steep farms, having worked steep land for most of his farming career. One of his former employers told him to always go for the most difficult job, because that is where all the learning is. And his experience has stood him in good stead to manage hill pastures. “Dead flat is easy to manage because you can mow it, but the hills, once they are out of control you can lose the rest of the season. I’ve had years of experience managing hill farms and how to get the most out of a rolling to steep farm is my advantage. If you don’t have control over the grass quality, a steep farm is going to look like a dry stock farm, whereas our farm is still nice and green. “We have had a lot of rain, but if we didn’t graze the hills properly if would have a lot of brown top. Everything has been grazed properly, we put pressure on when we need to to graze the residual down.”
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