16 | nzdairy Stud’s Legacy Day sale honours Dad Virginia Wright DAIRY PEOPLE » Arjun Singh The Lawwal Holstein stud and the 250 hectare farm in Gordonton where it can be found are the product of five generations of work and agricultural know-how that began with the arrival in New Zealand of Arjun Singh’s great-great grandfather from his small village, Bahrowal in Punjab, India. When Arjun and his father Aman established the stud four years ago they came up with the name Lawwal as a way of recognizing Law Rd where they live today while at the same time paying their respects to the forebears who brought them here. “We owe a lot to our ancestors and those early generations who came and worked hard for very little to start off with. We’re a bigger family now but we’re a close bunch, my uncles farm across the road and down the road and we see each other all the time,” says Arjun. He’s only 24 but when Arjun Singh had to take a step up on the family farm last year following his father’s unexpected death he rose to the occasion. It’s clearly a family affair: his grandfather Karamjit still works on the farm which has doubled in size since he and his wife Mindo Kaur (Mindy) moved onto its then 116 hectares from a smaller farm down the road in 1989. Arjun’s mother Daljit rears all the calves and his sisters Anjena and Amreeta help out on the farm whenever they can spare the time from their studies. They have six staff including Herman Maartens the manager who also does all their maintenance and has been with them for 15 years. Arjun’s father Aman was behind the purchase of the additional hectares in 2012 which also meant an increase in their herd number, but the extra land and cows were just the beginning. In 2017 their 1000 Holstein-Fresian cows moved into a purpose built Free Stall barn. Arjun Singh (middle) surrounded by family. Photo by Dean Malcolm. “Dad wanted to grow the business and with the seasons getting more extreme with wet winters and really dry summers it was getting quite hard for the cows with the hot temperatures and we were also struggling to grow enough feed in the summer,” explains Arjun. They were looking for a sustainable system that would future-proof the farm but most importantly for the Singh’s they had an eye to cow-comfort. To this end the 245 metre long barn has alleyways and crossroads covered in rubber matting while in the stalls the rubber is covered in a foam mattress. After four years of fine-tuning their high inputhigh output system the Free Stall barn is starting to pay off economically as well as meeting their other requirements; with records showing a clear reduction in animal health issues. “We’re only our fourth season in but we’ve got very few lame cows, the cows are content so we’ve got good body condition scores, our in-calf rates are a lot better, the cows are producing a lot more milk and we have very little mastitis,” says Arjun. On April 22nd next year the farm is holding a special on-farm sale of 50 to 60 of their top animals in honour of Aman, and as a way of giving back to the community, with 10% of each sale going to two charities they hold dear, the Heart Foundation and Rural Support Trust. This “Legacy Day” sale is the first sale of their stud’s genetics. “They’ll be the best we’ve got,” says Arjun. “We’ve still got members from each of the cow family’s to breed on, but we want to show how important Dad was to us and to the farm. “We’re including a “Pick of the Barn” which means they can pick any animal they want from the whole herd. It’ll be showcasing some great technology for the future but we also just want to promote balanced living and a healthy lifestyle for farmers. It’ll be in the school holidays so we hope people will come for a big family day-out which we’ll dedicate to Dad.” Servicing the Waikato since 1932 Milking Machines | Water Pumps | Effluent Systems hutchies.co.nz 12 Canada Street, Morrinsville 0800 HUTCHIES 57 Great South Rd, Taupiri 0800 488 244 Office: 07-824-3565 Darren: 0274-849-496 Johnathan: 0272-219-804 Email: info@grainandfood.co.nz Web: www.grainandfood.co.nz AGRICULTURAL / HARVESTING / DRAINAGE & CARTAGE CONTRACTORS Big Enough to Tackle any Job; Small Enough to Care How It’s Done! Proudly supporting Arjun Singh 07 8888 158 (ext 225) | 027 702 5462 glen@wtcl.co.nz GLEN CLOTHIER PUKEKOHE Cnr Manukau and Kitchener Roads, Pukekohe 2120 Main Phone: 09 239 1035 HUNTLY Cnr State Highway 1 & Spiers Road, Huntly 3700 Main Phone: 07 828 9745 www.rogergillagriculture.co.nz Proudly supporting ARJUN SINGH LAWWAL FARMS
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