12 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Greg and Gail Mitchell Two support farms allow more options Karen Phelps Hawke’s Bay dairy farmers Greg and Gail Mitchell are building greater control over their farming business with the recent purchase of two support farms. “We’re trying to reduce bobby calves and be self-contained so each dairy farm will have its own support block giving us better biosecurity and putting us in full control of all our stock,” explains Greg. “With beef prices increasing it also gives us another income stream.” The couple, who own two dairy farms at Patoka, have built a successful dairy business over the past 20 years progressing from sharemilking to owning farms milking more than 2400 cows. Their 460-hectare High Road farm milks 1550 cows and Kaweka Farm, about 10 kilometres away, covers around 300 hectares and milks 850 cows. Production across the two dairy farms has been just over one million kilograms of milk solids. Mangaone Downs, a 230ha dry stock farm, was purchased in 2023 and provides support for Kaweka Farm. It is used for dairy grazing, wintering cows and rearing surplus calves, taking beef calves through to finishing. Earlier this year in March the couple took over Te Wairere, a 311ha dry stock property at Puketitiri, which supports the High Road farm. It is being used for calves and heifers from High Road as well as rearing beef cattle. The Mitchells expect to rear just over 1000 calves this year, including dairy replacements and beef calves, and plan to finish between 300 and 400 beef cattle. The purchase of Mangaone Downs has also provided an opportunity to improve the property’s infrastructure and was modelled on a dairy farm layout. “We have completely re-watered, re-fenced and re-raced it so we can run it more like a dairy farm with easy stock management,” says Greg. “The improved layout means stock can be moved more efficiently with races running between paddocks and leading to the cattle yards.” Around 20,000 native trees have been planted on the property for erosion control, with some areas also retired. Part of the work was funded by The couple has a contract milker on each dairy farm with Greg and Gail taking on an operations management role. Quentin Hunter - 027 201 7706 Agricultural spraying Experienced and reliable Use of Tabula for proof of placement Registered Chemical Applicator Hawke’s Bay Regional Council following Cyclone Gabrielle with the Mitchells funding the remainder. They say that Te Wairere was already a well-farmed property when they purchased it, having previously
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