| 13 nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Faull Farms Faull Farms span six generations Richard Loader Quietly nestled a few kilometres inland from the Tasman Sea and a 15-minute drive from New Plymouth the farm that proudly spans six generations now has a milking platform of 320 hectares of fertile volcanic ash soils. Home to 1150 Friesian and Friesian cross breeds, the farm is supported by five run-offs totaling 90 hectares, all within walking distance of the main farm, and providing winter grazing and crops to support the farm’s primarily grass-based operation. Production currently sits at 590,000kgMS, placing Faull Farm in the top dairy production per cow/hectare in New Zealand. Integral to the farm’s operation are 50/50 sharemilkers Brent and Amy Stephenson, who are supported by five staff. Fifth generation family member Gavin Faull, along with his wife Carol, and their three sons Matthew, Oliver and Edward, now own and lead management of Faull Farms, in consultation with Gavin’s four brothers Allan, Sir Richard, Bernard and Nigel. “My father started a small country grocery store on the corner of the farm,” says Gavin. “In those days you had grocery support businesses in every little village. I grew up with my four brothers in a small house attached to the shop and went to local primary and high schools. Two of my brothers became academics, one became an Arch Deacon, another entered retirement village management and I had the business head. Because the farm had been in our family for so many years and my father said we could never sell it my goal was to develop an economically and environmentally sustainable farming business that we could all take an active share in.” Gavin took the running of the farm over in the 1980s and led the farm’s expansion and the development of key infrastructure to support the farm’s goals of economic and environmental sustainability. Gavin’s goal of sustainability was also about the local community and allowing it to use the farm. “One of the things we have to look at is sustainability of people, which is what urbanisation has broken down immensely. Fifteen years ago we built a modern Dairymaster sixty-bail rotary shed. I called it the Supershed after I had built it due to its size and its cost. But it also has a conference room that seats one hundred people and can be set up like a viewing theatre with a glass wall that overlooks the whole milking operation. That is used by local organisations and the dairy company for education and training.” Schools as far away as Wellington use the farm in their curriculum and frequently visit the pristinely Matthew, Oliver, Gavin and Edward Faull (top). The ‘Supershed’ includes a conference room that seats 100 people. Our local family business is proud to supply our products and services to Faull Farms. Residential • Commercial • Rural www.robmason.co.nz Proud to Support Faull Farms WESTOWN AGRICULTURE 06 753 6611 Chris 027 220 9007 180 Cowling Rd | New Plymouth www.westownagriculture.co.nz “Ongoing research & development results in superior products & performance advantages including; more yield, faster milking, no slip and no teat end damage.” beautiful farm with 25 years of riparian fencing and planting, QEII blocks of native bush and a sophisticated effluent system. Visitors to the farm have extended to esteemed guests including prime ministers and other politicians, church groups and King Charles (then Prince Charles). “He was interested in our riparian planting, how we had planted our forests and trees and preserved existing trees. Eight years ago we won the Supreme Ballance Environmental award for Taranaki, so it does have a high profile.”
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