NZ Dairy Summer 2020

14 | nz dairy ALL AGRICULTURAL SERVICES AVAILABLE Contact Shane P: 06 379 5504 • M: 027 453 3505 E: grayscontractingltd@yahoo.co.nz With 2 full time forage harvesting operations we can o er unsurpassed quality and service from the complete job to any part of it. Proud to support Bassett Farms The largest range of side by sides in Wairarapa We service and repair all makes and models of ATV's, Side by Sides and Bikes. www.sargentmotorcycles.nz Proud to support Bassett Farms DAIRY PEOPLE » Bassett Farms Future proofing farm for future generations quite quickly their debt has always been under control and the focus now is on fine-tuning the farming operations. They’re juggling stocking rates as they work towards farming the most efficient cows possible, and ideally reducing the stocking rate while keeping the same output. It’s all part of Rob’s philosophy of being efficient, productive, and creating a sustain- able future for generations to come. “The two main features of a farm you can’t change are soils and location. We are very for- tunate that both of these are top shelf. We have worked to improve the infrastructure to a quality that is in keeping with the farm,” says Rob. Rob’s father Don, now 86, is still out on the farm every day doing odd jobs and helping out where he can and Rob and Nicola have two children, 12-year- old Campbell and 10-year-old Lachie. “They’ve both got a real interest in the farm,” says Rob,“Campbell’s into livestock and the genetic side of the operation and Lachie’s really the ma- chinery man which gives us a nice balance.” Having said that, Rob explains that he and Nicola have no intention of pushing the kids into some- thing they don’t want to do. “Even though I’m the fourth generation on the farm, the kids can always do whatever they want to in the future. The beauty of having a dairy-farm is we can put a sharemilker or a contract-milker in quite easily so they’ll always have an asset here without necessarily having to be hands on themselves. We look forward to watching the fifth generation enjoy the farm in whatever way that may be.” • from page 12 Installing an underpass at Rob and Nicola Bassett’s Wairarapa farm. The couple has just come off a two-year intensive development phase.