54 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Maitha Holdings / Maui Milk and Southern Cross Dairy Top class milkers Huge demand for it Karen Phelps Richard Loader Uruguayan-born dairy farmers Alvaro Luzardo and Ximena Puig are in the process of deciding the next step in their dairy careers as they are near the end of their four-year 50/50 sharemilking contract on Geoff Arends’ and Ester Romp’s 164-hectare Eketahuna property. “We are very happy where we are and so an option is to take a second sharemilking job. We have built a good relationship with the farm owners for four years and they are keen for us to stay. We could also go to a bigger farm so we will see what options come up,” says Alvaro, the 2024 Wairarapa/Hawke’s Bay Region Share Farmer of the Year winner. The couple have had a rapid journey from backpacking to successful dairy farmers. Alvaro arrived in New Zealand in 2013 as a young agronomy graduate to understand Kiwi farming practices, initially planning just a brief working holiday. When he met an Argentinian sharemilker who explained New Zealand’s structured career pathways it opened Alvaro’s eyes to the possibilities. Now he and Ximena are targeting farm ownership. “Now we want to grow our 50:50 sharemilking business to grow our equity to be in a better position to buy a farm,” explains Alvaro. “The timeline for this is around five to ten years. But we are very flexible as you never know what opportunities might come up.” Their business Maitha Holdings is performing strongly with last season’s production reaching 175,000 kilograms of milk solids from their Greg Hamill, CEO of Maui Milk , says he was drawn to the role nearly four years ago because of the exciting challenges presented,working with a company with large aspirations, in their pioneering phase., Maui Milk was originally established in 2014, a joint venture between Shanghai-based Super Organic Dairy and Maori farming trust Waituhi Kuratau to produce and market super top quality sheep milk, mainly in the form of milk powder, to China, where there’s a seemingly insatiable appetite for the highly nutritious food. When a sizeable period of growth was beginning to be experienced, a change in shareholding saw all elements of the business formed under ‘Maui Food Group Ltd’. “We’ve been tremendously excited by the possibilities to export large quantities of our sheep milk powder though we’re also looking at add-value sheep milk-based food products,” Greg says. The reason why China itself has evolved into a ready market for our sheep milk is that its population traditionally have an intolerance to lactose. Sheep milk, produced from New Zealand’s own registered breed of dairy sheep, called Southern Cross Dairy Sheep, naturally carries only A2 protein, a specific type of betacasein protein found in milk, a protein naturally present in human breast milk. “When you drink sheep milk from our Southern Cross Dairy Sheep, it has a lot more protein and is like drinking a vanilla smoothie, compared to cows milk, is the best way to describe it,” Greg says. Maui Milk is the first sheep milk company in New Zealand to also become fully licensed to AsureQuality’s AQ Assured™ Transparency Programme for their bulk whole and skim sheep milk powders. While all product currently finds a home offshore, Greg says strategically the company wants to find ways to present to local consumers the benefits of consuming sheep milk products. Currently 11 farms supply milk for processing. All carry Southern Cross genetics, however the Currently 11 farms supply milk for processing. 480-cow herd. However Alvaro sees potential for further improvement through small yet important feed management changes. “I believe there is room for another 5,000-10,000 kilograms of milk solids more through refining our supplement strategy. I like to take targets year by year because unrealistic targets can bring frustration. If we could jump to 180,000kgMS this year I would be happy,” says Alvaro. There have been feed changes underway including wintering more cows at home. “We are planning to use the money we are saving on grazing off farm to buy better quality feed during lactation,” explains Alvaro. Feed timing is also a focus with the couple adjusting their approach to summer feeding. “Sometimes in the summer, when we get a bit dry and feed grass silage, the result hasn’t been much increase in production. So now we want to see if we substitute this for palm kernel at that time if we can hold production better,” says Alvaro. Staff retention has been another success story with the same team working alongside the couple for three consecutive seasons. “We always try to give them opportunities to step up and learn more. The more they improve the more our business also improves,” explains Alvaro. Ximena, a qualified architect who works remotely as well as taking on calf-rearing duties, brings complementary skills to the partnership and the couple work as a tight team. “We want to be part of the future of this country’s dairy industry,” says Alvaro, “owning land, growing our family and promoting ethical and responsible farming practices.” power-house of genetic research and development of the breed is based at Waikino Station, on the shores of Lake Taupo. This farm is home to 1300 milking ewes, and is where continued genetic gain is researched and achieved by our genetics team, Two more farms are soon to join the group and collectively approximately 3 million litres of milk is produced annually. “Waikino has two ewe barns and the sheep are grazed outside. A 64 bale rotary, imported from France, produces the milk The good work undertaken by the research team has resulted in a uniquely New Zealand suited dairy sheep, where unlike sheep milk producers overseas, the sheep enjoy pastoral conditions, rather than being housed and fed in barns. “We know that the view consumers overseas hold of animals enjoying plentiful natural grazing conditions, is a marketing strength. They are discerning and want to know that the sheep from which the milk is produced enjoy the best quality of life.” And there are clear environmental benefits that come from producing milk from sheep rather than cows, as Greg explains. “Environmental benefits flow from the fact that dairy sheep produce far less nitrogen leaching, improve soil health and require less feed. They utilize pasture efficiently and can work in well sharing pasture with other animals.” Another growth step has been taken when, back in April Maui Milk signed a memorandum of understanding to engage in a strategic partnership with Mengniu Group, established in 1999 and headquartered in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous region. “This is very significant for Maui Milk as it opens the door to China’s massive consumer market. It means we’ll be in the best position to scale faster and align with resources that will boost production across Asia. The benefits to our sheep milk producers is very exciting and full of potential.” With this new growth opportunity confirmed, the future for Maui Food Group seems poised to grow from strength to strength, bringing significant economic benefits to these shores. Specialising in livestock cartage & general freight transport in the lower North Island region 61 Short Road, Pahiatua, New Zealand, 4982 brandfmurdoch@xtra.co.nz PH. 06 376 7181 Campbell 027 477 8030 | Brian 0274 778036 FOR ALL GROUND SPREADING, CROPPING RE-GRASSING AND DIRECT DRILLING Ph 06 376 6668 Mob 027 218 5951 Mainland Engineering proudly supports Maui Milk and Southern Cross Dairy Sheep
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