| 61 nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Tania Riddington / Warric and Rachel Johnson Improving the farm 7th season at Tapawera Sue Russell Karen Phelps Marlborough and Northern Canterbury dairy farmers, Tania Riddington and Tim Murdoch lead busy lives as they further their farming business aspirations. In 2022, they bought a 199ha dairy unit in Linkwater. Their farm is on the Queen Charlotte Drive, the direct route between Havelock to the west and Picton to the east. The couple also continue to lease a farm in Culverden, on the Amuri Plains, where a contract milker takes care of 480 cows. “We actually took over operation of the Linkwater farm in the 23/24 season. The first season of owning the farm in Linkwater a Contract Milker was put on. Now that we have attained farm ownership, which was our primary goal, the main focus has been development and improvement of the farm. We’re also focussing on farm performance, concentrating on re-grassing, fencing and irrigation, all with the aim of increasing grass growth per hectare,” says Tania. When they first arrived, the milking platform was reduced to 122 ha; turning the further away land into a support block for wintering and rearing youngstock. Having a self-contained farming operation was always part of the goal. The resulting improvements and walking has increased production by over 500 MS per ha in two years. Herd improvement has always been the focus and their efforts have resulted in their herd achieving the top 3% BW nationally and in the top 1% for Production Worth. As a result, they are involved in breeding programs run by LIC and CRV. “The Linkwater farm is home to 360 cows and for half the current season, the couple have engaged two staff. This has eased the tie to the farm Warric and Rachel Johnson are in their seventh season sharemilking for Phil and Jocelyn Riley on a 442ha effective farm at Tapawera, some 45 minutes west from Nelson. They enjoy farming in the district, known for its Hops growing, however Warric says, experiencing two, one-hundred year floods in the start of July and September brought its fair share of challenges. “The floods destroyed a lot of our fences and we couldn’t irrigate, however thankfully now most of the farm has recovered. We have two rivers on this farm as well as one on each run-off, so when major rain happens, it has an impact, but these two events were very significant,” says Warric. The farm makes all its own supplements on the run-offs and young stock are reared on them as well, so these spaces are an important part of the overall farm management system. Last year also saw the couple win the Share Farmer of the Year competition at the West Coast/ Top of the North Island Dairy Industry Awards, held in Murchison early April. In the process they won five merit awards covering people management, farm hygiene, innovation, animal wellbeing, pasture management and overall business performance. That event was a really positive experience for the Johnson’s and it meant they went on to represent their region in the national dairy industry awards held in May in Tauranga, taking out third place and receiving two merit award. Asked about the benefits that flow from entering these events Warric says he feels the main one would be in focusing in on deciding and documenting goals, and clarifying further the vision for their farming business. “This is our second time in the event and the judges feedback certainly helped us. You put yourself up for their scrutiny and feedback but having the right attitude to receiving this is really important. We definitely saw their input as a positive for us.” It’s a busy farm, usually milking around 1100 kiwi-cross cows and the couple employ five staff. This season has also brought another challenge somewhat, enabling a better work/life balance with their two busy boys, Harrison 8 and 7 year old Willis. Their aspiration toward farm ownership was only honed further when Tania and Tim entered the 2020 Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Industry Awards, in the Sharefarmer category, achieving runner-up. This experience gave them the opportunity to work on their business. “It was great for us. You get so used to working physically in the business that you don’t map out what you want to eventually achieve and ground the pathway to achieve this,” Tim says. One of our goals was to buy a 300 – 400 cow dairy farm within five years, we achieved that in two.” The cows have adapted well to life in the Marlborough Sounds, enjoying a wonderful view out toward the water. It’s home to a fairly old herringbone shed that performs well. There’s irrigation across 75% of the milking platform and with the focus on re-grassing the farm is positioned to produce a very good cover for the herd to enjoy. The herd is described as a Fri/Fx cross herd with the odd jersey. Tania says where they’re placed now in terms of condition and performance is pleasing. She’s passionate about breeding with the aim of improving her quality. There is also a focussing on growing young stock really well. The milking herd is predominantly grassed fed with supplements such as palm kernel and fodder beet crop is used to cover feed deficits . Allflex collars manage heat detection through the 10 week mating length. The herd is nominated with the top cows going to bulls to breed replacements. SGL straws are used on cows we don’t want to breed from and towards the end of mating to tighten calving spread. We improve traits in progeny through careful bull selection.” Genomic testing is performed on all young stock in their first year. We rear surplus heifer calves so are selective on what we keep going into the herd. We also AI our heifers. Asked about future plans, Tim and Tania say they’re quite settled where they are. On the Culverden farm the contract milker is in his third season and doing very well. “This is a time of focussing on sustainable incremental improvement across both farms and to consolidate our farming business situation. We’re certainly enjoying farming at Linkwater.” in the form of staph mastitis which Warric says has taken some time trying to beat. Mastitis thrives in wet conditions and is very contagious. “It’s also fairly immune to antibiotics and so far we’ve had 35 confirmed cases, so we’re keeping a close eye on ensuring the milking shed is kept spotless and very well maintained and just managing each animal as best we can. Cows known to have mastitis we’ve culled.” The plan for drying off is around 31st May, dropping down to once a day milking when warranted. One new farm worker has joined the team this season, and, Warric says, is going well. “We’ve put a lot of time into ensuring our team are supported with very good farm management tools and systems. The team operate on a 7-2, 7-2, 7-3 roster with A B and C activities. It means everyone gets the same range of duties and I’m pleased to say our staff hours averaged 1800 over the year.” When one of the main bridges was taken out in a storm 6 months, it meant a considerable increase in the amount of time travelling between blocks, so Warric and Rachel are hoping to have another bridge built, however this is dependent on when Council schedule this work. Rachel’s role as head calf rearer is an integral part of the business and a source of pride, when judges commented on the quality of care in their young stock. She’s also very committed to her involvement in the Dairy Industry Trainees awards this year, helping organize the event and support those who enter to have the most positive experience possible. Longer term plans are to eventually buy a farm, however the Johnson’s are approaching this goal in measured well-planned steps. “That’s where we’d like to be, but at this stage we’re focusing very much on getting the best possible outcomes for this farm we enjoy working on. These past few years have been very good in supporting achievement of our long-term goals.” Livestock stock@amuritransport.co.nz Freight freight@amuritransport.co.nz Fertiliser fert@amuritransport.co.nz Bulk bulk@amuritransport.co.nz CONTACT OUR TEAM (03) 315 3033 admin@amuritransport.co.nz Servicing the North Canterbury region ENABLING BETTER BUSINESS 0800 888 055 diprosemiller.co.nz WE ARE A CHARTERED ACCOUNTING FIRM WHODOESN’T JUST TICK BOXES, WE LOOK OUTSIDE THEM. TRANSPORT LIMITED • Stock Feed - PKE, Cereal grains, baleage, hay • Lime / Fertiliser • General Freight for a competitive quote! Contact Guy 027 297 7455 Proudly Supporting Warric and Rachel Johnson
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=