52 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Holdem Farm Paula and Steve and Holdem. • from page 50 “Early results show that it’s reducing the amount of nitrogen coming out in the cows’ urine, and there’s also a positive effect on the total pasture yield.” To get the resource consent from council, knowing the requirements, the Holdems put together a farm management plan that reduced their cow numbers from 750 cows to 550 by 2032, on their 308 hectare, 275 effective, property. “Even with that possible scenario this property stacked up nancially much better than any other property we were looking at,” says Steve. He thinks that’s in part because of the area’s welldeserved reputation for being cold and wet. At 500 metres above sea level they get over 2 metres of rain a year, but the ip-side as far as the Holdems are concerned is that they’re summer safe, which is one of the reasons they bought. “It’s cold, wet winters but if you manage your way through that it’s awesome for growing grass and milking cows up here,” says Steve. From the beginning they were looking to beat the numbers they had to give both the council and the bank, which meant they were looking for any technology that might help them beat the nitrogen targets, including using IDA cow collars to provide information about their animals, and low N sires as a longer term strategy for nitrogen reduction. Using the Overseer program to assess a farm’s nutrient loss is a council requirement, but not one that Steve has an issue with. “We’re audited every year against the numbers we put in for our consent but we control the inputs. We have a target gure we have to aim for but how we get there is up to us.” explains Steve. “Some might choose to lower their stocking rate, others to do more wintering off, or put on a feed pad and stand cows off more.” For the Holdems getting safely through winter means they make good use of stand-off pads to protect the soil and they’ve also recently leased a 70 hectare runoff to winter off 200 cows and all their young stock. Those are just two of the many steps they’ve taken which fed into their recent winning of two Bay of Plenty 2022 Ballance Farm Environmental Awards. Other measures include taking care of the basics by introducing laneways, removing weed species, and refencing to keep the stock from the waterways; then moving on to fence off the ephemeral ow paths as well, those you can see only when it has rained. They’re early adopters and having seen the early reports about ‘ecotain’, a type of plantain currently being researched by Dairy NZ, have introduced it into their system. “Early results show that it’s reducing the amount of nitrogen coming out in the cows’ urine, and there’s also a positive effect on the total pasture yield. It’s slowing the transition from ammonia to nitrate in the soil which allows more time for the pasture to take the nitrogen up, and there’s no sign of it tainting the milk,” explains Steve. As far as Steve’s concerned working with the catchment regulations is part and parcel of farming today and it’s better to adapt than to ght it. “Once upon a time we had to use a horse and cart, and today we have tractors. It’s just a natural progression as farming evolves.” He’s right behind, and grateful for, the work being done on behalf of the 24 dairy farms in the catchment by both the Rotorua Primary Producers Collective and Federated Farmers. But as far as he’s concerned there comes a point. “Where it’s your farm and you just have to learn the rules, stay positive, and use the tools to do what you can to manage them.’ The Holdems are happy with their production of 300,000 kgs of milk solids, around 420 kilos a cow. By combining ecotain into the pasture swarth and adopting other tools as they arrive they’re steadily meeting their nitrogen targets well ahead of schedule, and expect that they will continue to achieve the same production level beyond 2032. Whether they will have to reduce their cow numbers remains to be seen. But for them stewardship sits alongside sustainability in importance, and that includes their staff. “Our staff mean a lot to us and generally they stay a long time. It’s all about housing, making sure they’re comfortable, and getting plenty of time off. We couldn’t do it without them,” says Steve. It’s no doubt that combination of positive attitude and hard graft, feeding into their stewardship and sustainability goals, that then feeds into the gures that con rm to the Holdem family that they made the right choice to farm right where they are, high up on the Mamaku Plateau. BNZ is proud to support Holdem Farm Get in touch to see how we can support your business banking needs. Call us on 0800 273 916
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