22 | nzdairy DIARY PEOPLE » Carpe Diem Dairies Virginia Wright When Nick Bertram came back from his four-year OE he had enough money saved from his various jobs harvesting, milking and working with sheep and beef, to buy a boat which he named Carpe Diem. He loved the meaning, ‘seize the day’, and when he sold the boat a few years later to get into contract milking he kept the name and set up Carpe Diem Dairies. He met and married his wife Rose during his rst-year contract milking, and now, nine years later, he’s going into his sixth season as a 50/50 sharemilker on a farm in Woodville and they have four young boys. Rose is a primary-school teacher by trade, now working for the Tararua branch of REAP (Rural Education Achievement Program), and their lives were already busy when earlier this year absentee farm owners Barry and Carol McNeil took the opportunity presented when the neighbouring property came up as Nick explains. “In July just gone the McNeils bought another 50 hectares, and together we’re leasing another 100 hectares so we’ve gone from 200 to 350 hectares. We run the whole business as a self-contained unit which helps nancially and with biosecurity. We’d already started calving when this opportunity came up so I raced up to the Waikato and bought another 150 odd cows so we’re doing 600 cows this year.” Until a few months ago they were share-milking 440 cows doing between 190,000 and 205,000 milk solids. Nick selected 150 cows he liked the look of, “not too late calvers in good condition, low cell count and a tidy looking udder,” from the 300 strong herd on the farm that had just been sold. “I knew the average milk-production gures were compatible with my herd here which was big for me. I’ve spent a lot of years improving the herd we’ve got so I wanted like-for-like.” A four year plan for cow numbers and milk production starts with the ‘more realistic’ gure of 400kg per cow, allowing for the bigger herd, the extra-walking to the cowshed, and the time to make the improvements they envisage for the new block. “As we keep improving hopefully we’ll go up to 700 cows and 300,000 plus kgs of milk solids in a couple of years time. Ramped up from 200 to 350 hectares Well done Nick and Rose on all the hard work and success! (06) 323 5997 www.advancedaccounting.co.nz Farm Materials • Building Materials Electrics • Stock Feed • Water Tanks Culverts • Hardware Proud to support Carpe Diem Dairies We now stock Rural Direct products ~ more than just fencing ~ Phone Ross 06 374 8193 or email ross@turtons.co.nz • Silage • Hay • Maize • Direct Drilling • Balage • General Cartage • Cultivation Proud to support Carpe Diem Dairies AFFCO is proud to support Carpe Diem Dairies My ideal cow is a 450kg Kiwi-Cross cow that does 450kgs of milk solids,” says Nick. The new block includes an 18-a-side cowshed to be refurbished and used in addition to their current 37-a-side and the Bertrams are pleased at the prospects opening up for their staff. Nick’s 2IC Leon McDonald has been with them for ve years and will move up to be farm manager of the new block, meaning others can then move up accordingly. At Carpe Diem they believe in exposing kids to farming whether their own or the staffs. “I’ve just always felt it’s quite important and we do it in a safe manner,” says Nick. “We have to let everyone know where the kids are going to be, and they have to be a certain height (heads above the kick bar) before they’re allowed in the cowshed. The wee ones are allowed in the tractor cab but there’s a kids’ seat in there with a belt, that sort of thing. A lot of the big farms these days just have an outright ban on kids but we need future farmers too so it’s good for kids to get some exposure.” Unlike many dairy farmers the Bertrams plan to build their own house before they focus on owning their own farm. They already own six hectares and lease a further six where Nick runs a calf-rearing operation and where they plan to build, with the calves paying for the house separate to the sharemilking side of the business.” My wife and I both come from urban backgrounds and our goal’s always been to build the house rst while the kids are still young and they can really enjoy it. So that means a lot to us,” says Nick. “I’m on the local re brigade, Rose has got a job here, the kids are at school here and we just love it. It’s been awesome that we can stay here and still grow our business and just settle.” A four year plan for cow numbers and milk production starts with the ‘more realistic’ gure of 400kg per cow.
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