60 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Paul and Lesley Grey / Sarten and Avery First contract this season Kelly Deeks Taranaki dairy professionals Sarah Avery and Brandon Hitchcock have achieved their long-held goal of stepping into 50/50 sharemilking, taking on their first contract this season with North Taranaki farm owners Brett and Raewyn Sarten. The pair moved onto the 300-cow coastal property this season, marking a major step forward after several years progressing steadily through the industry. Sarah says the opportunity came at exactly the right time, and their performance in the 2024 Dairy Industry Awards helped strengthen their application. “We were managers on our last farm, and winning Dairy Manager of the Year for Taranaki definitely helped us secure this job,” she says. “Our previous farm owners Carl and Shey Kowalewski were really supportive too. They were stoked to see a young couple progressing and helped us get into a position where sharemilking was possible.” Their new herd is a mix of animals they already owned and cows purchased from Brett, who had a second property. “We brought our own cows over and bought about 200 more,” Sarah says. “We’ve ended up with a really good herd. There’s always room for improvement, but they suit the system here and the 300-cow size made the transition from management really smooth.” The coastal property is a shift from the inland conditions they were used to. “It’s a different type of ground. We dry out faster, and we calve a bit earlier, but it’s a really sunny farm which is nice,” Sarah says. “We’ve both mainly worked on wet farms, so this system is a bit of a learning journey for us.” The couple will be on the farm for three years with hopes to extend, using the time to consolidate their business, grow equity, and set up the next step. “Our long-term goal is farm ownership,” Sarah says. “We’d like to diversify into housing or dry stock support blocks—just slowly building towards that.” Rosa Watson For Atiamuri farmers Paul and Lesley Grey, it’s been one extreme weather event to another comparing last year to this season. The couple own 77ha dairy farm – 70.68ha effective - at Atiamuri in the central North Island and have established a Friesian dairy herd of around 200 cows. While farming through drought at the beginning of 2025, and as a result drying off early in May, this year has been dominated by rain events. In one event there was 170mls of rain fell on the property over 48 hours. “We haven’t had that very dry spell we had last season,” Paul tells NZ Dairy. “This time last year we were losing a lot of ground.” But things on the farm keep moving forward, Paul says. This year they are on track to produce 100,000kg milk solids, which is the highest yet. In February, they were 16 per cent up on last year’s milk solid production. “The season before we were eight per cent down on milk solids for February.” Another improvement has been 95 per cent of milk solids meeting the somatic cell count threshold required by the co-op. “That’s quite a big improvement. Normally it comes in around 80 per cent. We’re pretty stoked there. “There’s been quite a lot of things that have gone our way.” The operation buys in 150 tonne palm kernel and 150-tonne of maize each season, which works out at around 1.5 tonne per cow, which has remained consistent. The property also produces around 200 round bales of sileage each season. “The amount of feed hasn’t changed per cow.” There’s been noticeable improvement in the herd through accurate culling, he says. “Each year we get rid of cows that don’t necessarily perform very well. “The udders have improved. We’ve got rid of some of the poorer udder-ed cows.” Emptying rates continue to be a challenge - up 14 per cent from a couple of years ago, which they will be focussing on this year. The couple are looking at introducing cow collars to help provide data. “Not to rely on, but to see if we can reduce that empty rate.” It would also help save time on the farm for the couple. “For us, I’m hoping it will provide the leap between doing good and doing better. That’s probably going to be our net big development – more for what time we can save and whether it helps us farm the place better or achieve more.” It is always good to consider trying new things, he says. “We should really be balancing up what time we can save so we can have more time to ourselves. “We’re at the age where we need to look at making life a bit easier.” They hope to introduce these later this year in time for the start of AI in October after carrying out “due diligence”, he says. He says sexed semen was also contributing to an improved herd and is relatively cost-effective. “The improvement of the herd is going to be faster if we adopt a lot more sexed semen that we have in the past.” He says with the herd gradually improving each season, down the track they will look at nominating the better heifers for The Discovery Project - a collaborative initiative between Holstein Friesian NZ and LIC – and selling surplus in-calf heifers through sales. Day-to-day, the focus is on grass utilisation and steady production gains. The farm currently produces around 120,000kg MS, and the pair hope to lift that slightly while maintaining a simple system. “We’re really focused on grass management and keeping on top of growth,” Sarah says. The financial pathway into sharemilking was strategic and steady. Rather than taking on large debt all at once, the pair built equity over several seasons. “People think it’s tough to get into sharemilking, but there are ways to make it work,” Sarah says. “We bought young stock and sent them out grazing as well as leasing R2 heifers to Carl and Shey. We built numbers gradually and by the time we moved here, we only needed to buy about 200 cows, and we already had equity to take to the bank.” They prefer good, strong Friesian cows with the flexibility to mate them to a range of beef breeds to ensure all calves can enter the supply chain. Both Sarah and Brandon are quickly settling into the North Taranaki community, drawing on local knowledge as they prepared for their first summer on the coast. Brandon’s AB run has helped connect them with farmers who have long histories on the land. Looking back, Sarah says entering the Dairy Industry Awards was invaluable. “It opened so many doors. Meeting like-minded people and talking to others at similar stages in their careers was huge. And it definitely helped us take this next step into sharemilking.” “Now that we’re here, we’re ready for the challenge—and excited for what’s ahead.” • Round Baling Hay & Silage • Loader Wagon Pit Silage • Cul�va�on & Drilling • Hedge Mulching • Supplement Sales PH: 0279421366 Worthingtonagriculture@gmail.com Servicing Central Taranaki WORTHINGTON AGRICULTURE Embracing technology Preferred Logo Format Raewyn and Brett Sarten.
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