| 55 nzdairy Forward planning with an eye to retirement Karen Phelps DAIRY PEOPLE » Dev and Joy Thomas The couple also maintains runoff blocks of 42 and 15 hectares. Reporoa dairy farmer Joy Thomas and her husband Deveral have consolidated their farming operations by purchasing a smaller 77-hectare property directly across the road from their home farm with an eye to retirement. The couple has also sold their third farm at Ngakuru, just south of Rotorua, a 25-minute drive away, which milked 220 cows. The sharemilker from that property, Conner Steens, is stepping up to a newly created 50:50 sharemilking position on their home farm. “I’m really looking forward to seeing how he goes here. It’s exciting watching someone new coming through with new ideas and seeing if they can improve production,” says Joy. Joy and Deveral currently milk 420 predominantly Jersey cows on their home farm, operating once-a-day from August until the end of May, producing 140,000kg of milk solids annually. They will milk 210 cows on the new smaller farm. “I’ve milked the herd for so long so it’s been a bit hard to decide which cows to take and which to leave. I know them all and you get a bit of a tie to a herd,” explains Joy, reflecting on the emotional aspect of scaling down. The Scottish-born farmer, who arrived in New Zealand in 1989 for what was supposed to be a six-month working holiday, fell in love with the central North Island plateau and decided to make it her permanent home. Together with her Kiwi husband Deveral, she worked through the sharemilking system before they purchased their own farm, gradually expanding it to 140 hectares over the years. The new 77-hectare farm, which previously operated on a twice-daily milking schedule, will be converted to once-a-day milking to ease the workload. They have been milking on the farm already for a season and Joy has noticed challenges with the existing herd adapting to the new regimen. “The cows we bought on the farm don’t really suit our system but the Jersey herd we will take there for next year will suit the once a day and all grass system much better,” she says. With a 22-aside herringbone milking shed, the new property will follow the same System 1-2 farming approach used on their larger farm, utilising minimal supplementary feed. The couple also maintains runoff blocks of 42 and 15 hectares for winter grazing and calving, which will be shared with their incoming sharemilker. To streamline operations further, Joy is considering implementing cow collars for easier management. “We’ll keep the new farm as simple and easy as we can to get more freedom than I have had in past decades running the other farm,” says Joy. Having spent years as a representative of Federated Farmers’ Rotorua-Taupo branch, Joy deeply appreciates how the dairy industry supports rural communities like Reporoa, which is located 50km from Rotorua saying it has critical importance to the region’s sustainability. When they retire Joy is looking forward to resuming her hobby of off-road running events and Deveral will indulge his love of golf. INDUSTRIAL | COMMERCIAL | RESIDENTIAL | RURAL 24/7 BREAKDOWN SERVICE PH: 0274 954 615 ELECTRICAL S T E V E N H A Y “The cows we bought on the farm don’t really suit our system but the Jersey herd we will take there for next year will suit the once a day and all grass system much better.” Joy Thomas and her husband Deveral have consolidated their farming operations by purchasing a smaller 77-hectare property directly across the road from their home farm with an eye to retirement.
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