40 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Bryan & Kim Roach Part of the team – Chook Hohaia, Muzza Dysart and Bryan Roach. Bryan investigating flooding at Opunake Beach. ‘Happy staff, happy life’ Bryan’s mantra Russell Fredric It could be argued that Bryan Roach has ulterior motives for providing anything that makes milking easier for his dairy farm’s three staff. Bryan is married to Kim and their 54 bale rotary milking shed includes automatic cup removers, teat sprayers, Protrack in-bale for recording individual milk results and somatic cell count, milk metres, Protrack automatic drafting and even a backing gate that turns off automatically. “Absolutely anything to make the job easier for staff during milking,” Bryan says. A Taranaki District Councillor and Dairy Trust Taranaki trustee, Bryan likes to keep himself busy and having good staff frees up his time and allows him and Kim to “float in an out” of the farm as needed. Having milked cows since he was at primary school, Bryan concedes that milking can be monotonous,although for him it is good thinking time, and if the staff are not happy, he may end up in the milking shed. “Basically, happy staff, happy life.” Bryan tries to encourage his staff to engage in discussion and to suggest new ideas, and it was a staff member who suggested the automatic backing gate that turns off after 10 seconds so it does not distress the stock during milking. This season has been a dream run for the weather and grass production, especially due to unusually regular rainfall. “We’ve actually got spring grass, we really have, it has been growing all year, it is just one out of the bag this year. It’s amazing.” However, Taranaki farmers have been mindful of the plight of their peers in the North Island’s East Coast and sent several truckloads of feed and goods.” Issues with food supply related to the cyclone aside, Bryan has significant concerns about the safety of New Zealand’s food security. He cites the current egg shortage as an example of Government legislation that can create unintended consequences and impact food supply while also pushing up prices. The same could happen to the red meat and dairy sector as a result of regulations such as carbon and methane related taxes. “(Egg farmers) just can’t grow as many as they used to, and some egg farmers have gotten out completely. All of a sudden, we’ve got a shortage and the price just escalates. In addition to emissions taxes, an example is environmental regulations that could severely impact the viability of hill country farms due to the enormous amount of fencing and provision of water supply that would be needed, he says. “I think it really could happen to farming; if too many people get out of farming there’s going to be some lost jobs, dairy factories are going to have to close.” He is also concerned that New Zealand is not on a level playing field globally when it comes to emissions taxes. “It’s biased; the are picking on farmers, picking on cows they’re not seeing the whole picture, the not seeing the trees, the (carbon) offset, the riparian planting, the benefit that dairy farmers bring to the country as a whole just by the amount of overseas money that comes into New Zealand; the flow on effect is huge. “If you haven’t got that money coming into New Zealand, it’s going to become a very expensive country to live in. “I’m actually quite worried about the cost of living that’s escalated; it’s just the day to day stuff, the electricity, the food, the petrol; the bare necessities have just skyrocketed.” Mach 1 Yamaha: Proudly supporting Bryan Roach (06) 757 9747 sales@mach1yamaha.co.nz 106-116 Leach St, New Plymouth
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