58 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Wairere Farm When I’m milking I can look out the cow shed and see Wairere Falls.’ Karen Phelps Any farmer knows that farming is not easy. For dairy farmer Vaughan Clarke this has seen him rebuilding after the loss of a farm, a marriage and the financial security that came with years of farming. “It hasn’t been plain sailing and it has been a real struggle to get back on my feet,” says Vaughan. “I’m so grateful to people who have supported and understood me, both helping me to borrow the finance I needed and my previous Open Country Dairy rep who helped me get this current sharemilking job, stock agents, vets. They’ve all been alongside me.” Vaughan is 50:50 sharemilking on a 70ha farm near Matamata, milking about 200 cows. It is a long way from where his farming journey began but he sees this as the foundation for a new future. Vaughan grew up on his parents’ dairy and pig farm at Taupiri and developed an interest in breeding as a child, buying his first cow in 1985 while still at primary school. After leaving school he sharemilked for his father for about 12 years. “It was brilliant,” says Vaughan. “I used all the pig effluent for fertiliser from their pig farm next door so we grew a lot of grass. It was a low-input system and went really well.” When the family farm was sold Vaughan spent three years sharemilking at Otorohanga before becoming an equity partner in a system five, high-input operation at Mamaku, running about 600 cows. He spent 12 years there, buying out the other equity partners along the way. The 2008 recession changed those plans. Vaughan sold up and bought a smaller farm near Morrinsville and at the same time ran a number of sharemilking and contract milking jobs. Four years ago, following the breakdown of his marriage, he sold the farm and his entire herd. Driving trucks helped keep him financially afloat and he continues to do casual work. “It’s a brilliant family-owned business and it gets me off farm,” says Vaughan. Returning to farming has not been easy. Accessing finance to establish another herd was difficult but Vaughan was determined to make it happen. He put together a herd at about $1250 a head and those cows have now doubled in value. His current herd is predominantly Holstein, with some Jerseys and crosses, as he works towards rebuilding the purebred Holstein herd he had previously. Some of the genetics have come from cows he was forced to sell. Around 15 to 20 head were passed in at the sale, allowing Vaughan to buy them The foundation for a whole new future Incorporating since 2022 62 Firth St Matamata 3400 Phone 07 888 4405 Email office@milknwaterservices.co.nz Website www.milknwaterservices.co.nz Proudly Supporting our Community • Trenching • Bore lifting • Water Systems • Filtration • Tools • Engineering supplies • Milking machines • Trailer hire • Dairy essentials Kintail Transport Specialised livestock transport KenWalker 027 887 5050 ken@kintailtransport.co.nz . . back at the passed-in price. He also had embryos in storage, providing another way to rebuild his genetics. Indicative of the good genetics, one cow he sold, Glenalla Unix Maple, has just won the New Zealand Dairy Event. Her daughter, also sold, Fantastic Crush Marley was the 2026 Manawatu Overall Semex Champion. “They were special and my children’s calf club calves so it’s nice to see them doing well.” His focus is now on quality rather than simply numbers. Last year he bought two outstanding yearlings, one from Busybrook Holsteins in the South Island and another from Lawwal Holsteins. The Busybrook Holsteins heifer is a daughter of Footloose, a former World Champion, and the other traces back to a cow whose grandmother sold for a world-record US$1.9 million in the United States. Vaughan’s Fantastic Holsteins stud currently has about 65 registered animals. With more embryo calves and yearlings coming through, Vaughan believes the future is looking bright. And there is another reason for optimism. Vaughan is due to remarry next year. “100 per cent the future is looking positive. When I’m milking I can look out the cow shed and see Wairere Falls and I’m enjoying breeding nice cows again.”
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