NZ Dairy Summer 2020

12 | nz dairy Cambridge (07) 823 1203 | Carterton (06) 379 6560 | hello@herbertmorton.co.nz | www.herbertmorton.co.nz Herbert Morton would like to congratulate Nic & Rob on their longstanding farming achievement. It has been a great business partnership for us working alongside them to help structure and advise them regarding their business affairs. A TRUE BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP BUSINESS ADVISORY · SPECIALIST INDUSTRIES · SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS · COMPLIANCE Our team offer a wide range of expertise and experience in the world of business, taxation, and wealth creation. DAIRY PEOPLE » Bassett Farms A new grain silo is lifted into place on the Bassett family farm. Focus on Virginia Wright R ob Bassett, together with his wife Nicola, are the fourth generation of Bassetts to run the family farm spread over two blocks in Matarawa in the Wairarapa. The 100 hectare milk- ing platform on the banks of the Waiohine River, and the 129 hectare run-off block five kilometres up the road on the lower slopes of the Tararua ranges, arguably combine to give them the best of both worlds. “They’re completely different soils,” says Rob. “The milking platform’s a naturally drained swamp which means it has a wetness limitation during the winter and spring; whereas the run off is on a stony terrace so it’s free draining and we won’t have any problems with the pugging legislation that’s coming in.” While the capacity of the two blocks to handle the increasing demands of climate and environ- mental pressures can be put down to luck, in the 23 years that Rob’s been running the farm a lot of thought has gone into how to make the most of its natural assets. When 21-year-old Rob came back home after finishing his Bachelor of Agriculture degree, fol- lowed by several months spent working on dairy units in the US and the UK, he was given the responsibility of running the farm. “My father could see that the farm was ready for a new generation, an injection of new blood. I was very fortunate because he was always there as a sounding board but he always said ‘you’re running it now, you’re the one who makes the calls.’” That first year they had the wettest spring they’d ever encountered. “It was in the days when my father was an all-grass farmer,” says Rob, “so he had no supplements on hand and it was a real baptism of fire. We were walking the cows the five kilometres up to the run-off during the day to try and find feed for them. We both said to each other we’re never doing this again.” They sat down together to work out what the pri- orities were to improve the farm: they were to sort out their drainage; to resolve their spring wetness problem with a feedpad and start growing sileage as soon as possible – and to make a start on an intensive regressing programme which has now evolved into a 10 year rotation As Rob explains: “When I came home the genetic side of grass research being done at the university meant huge changes were just starting to hit the farming community.” Making the most of the commercial results of that research the farm went from being a pure grass farm not doing any regrassing to growing high sugar-content tetraploid ryegrasses. “They’re much more efficient growing, and an energy-dense grass,” explains Rob. “We break the grass cycle up with a turnip crop so we always have 10% of the farm in turnips over summer.”