26 | nzdairy Into the sixth season at Lamorna Farm The Crawford family has worked diligently toward achieving their goals. Sue Russell Jared and Sara Crawford have worked diligently toward achieving their ultimate goal for their farming business Paramount Dairies. This is their sixth season at Lamorna Farm, part of the network of dairy farms owned by Farmright since 2022. It’s a beautiful property which has been very well looked after since converting to dairying 20 years ago. Drone shots, of the impressive 524ha flat South-Canterbury farm, formerly owned by Dave Ellis, display well-established hedges, large-scale infrastructure, including a 100bale rotary, several houses and well-maintained roading and farm races. “This farm is highly regarded within the region and Jared says it is a testament to the foresight of its former owners.” Home to a herd of 2000 (Friesian / Friesian X) cows, the rotary shed is one of the largest in the country, through which, this season, 950,000kg/MS is expected to be produced. “Last year was our best year so far, just shy of 1million kg’s but this season we’re reducing stocking numbers, given the cost of buying in feed to give the herd on the shoulders. We’ll be peak milking 1950 cows.” Working with Jared on the day to day operation is a team of 8 full time staff members. He’s just recently taken on a young kiwi man, who presented as keen and wanting to make a go of it. “Large teams can be challenging, especially with many different personalities and cultures. It’s been really satisfying for me to see the progress of many of our workers who come from overseas, bringing their families with them, to settle in this country and make a career from dairying.” Through the winter months, the herd has been off-farm at a wintering block, and when NZ Dairy spoke with Jared in July, many of the staff were occupied with feeding out duties occupying up to six hours each day. The calving window of 10 weeks seems to come earlier and earlier each year Jared reflects, with this year calving due to start on 23th July and over by the end of September. Larmorna Farm is supported with four extensive centre pivot irrigators and just last year fixed grid irrigation was installed, and K-line irrigators removed. Prior to taking up the sharemilking role at Lamorna Jared had a couple of years in Ashburton, milking 1800 cows, so he’s used to this scale of operation and what it involves. Jared says he and Sara are really enjoying this phase in their farming journey and plan to be on the property at least for the next 5 years. Lamorna farm is situated at Orari, in between Ashburton and Timaru. Most of the local farming activity is dairying or cropping. Running such a large operation calls for a great team, good structures and communication in place and Jared says he’s very happy with the staff’s performance. DAIRY PEOPLE » Jared Crawford and Paramount Dairies While not attending to farm duties, Jared is also involved in Federated Farmers, as its South Canterbury Sharemilkers representative on the Board. “I went to Federated Farmers’ AGM last week in Wellington and really enjoyed the experience.” Jared thinks organisations such as Federated Farmers hold a vital role to play in encouraging new blood into farming. “I think the biggest thing is to encourage people to get involved in the organisation. The connections you make with others in the industry are so valuable. We need a strong voice representing farmers and the issues they are facing.” One of the key concerns Jared says, for farmers in his district, is the inconsistency in immigration policy. Long-term consistent approaches to enabling keen workers from overseas to gain visas to stay here are important. “We need to be able to rely year on year in being able to bring these workers into the country. For all your building requirements Specialising in: NEWHOMES • FARMBUILDINGS RENOVATIONS • CONCRETEWORK TR STACK BUILDINGLTD Terrence Stack - 021 024 93312 A/H. 03 307 0157 | E. terrencestack@gmail.com New Zealand Certi ed Builders Association CB LICENSED BUILDING PRACTITIONERS Building confidence They contribute hugely to our industry, have a great work ethic, and want to stay and make a go of farming long-term, so we need the policy that allows this to happen.” Back in 2014, Jared and Sara entered the dairy industry awards an Won the Southland/Otago manager of the year, then took on the Sharemilker competition in 2017, coming runner-up, an experience he says they gained so much from. “You get to meet a lot of top people and see how others are growing their farming businesses. I would recommend it to anyone keen to progress.” phone: 0800 499 024 web: farmelectric.co.nz Waters Services: Pump Installations & Servicing, Repairs & Fix Grid Sprinkler Systems Electrical Services: Pump Automation & Remote Control, Dairy Shed Automation and Servicing Refrigeration Services: Milk Snap Chiller Units Installations & Servicing
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=