14 | nzdairy Developing farms Virginia Wright Farmers themselves, Rogan and Michelle Borrie like to see land used to its full potential and have an eye for a farm that could bene t from some development. They’re the fth generation to live on the Borrie family farm in the Waitaki Plains. Formerly a sheep, beef and cropping farm, it’s now a 248 hectare irrigated run-off for their dairy farms, and one of a number of farms they own thanks to years spent developing and adding value to farms both dry and dairy. In 2003 Rogan and Michelle started their farming journey with the purchase of a 450 cow dairy farm. To help fund it they also lower order sharemilked a 650 dairy farm. In 2005, recognizing the potential of the North Otago Irrigation1 scheme, they bought a 130 hectare dry farm which they spent the next couple of years converting to dairy, complete with irrigation. In 2007 Rogan’s parents Peter and Adrienne sold them the home farm. Having himself taken over the farm at a young age Peter believes a farmer’s best decisions are made before he’s 50 and wanted Rogan to have the same opportunity he’d had. Rogan and Michelle sold the newly converted dairy farm to fund the purchase of the home farm. Around the same time they purchased and developed another farm with Rogan’s parents, recognizing an opportunity to add value that has proven sound time and again since. “I enjoy developing farms. Just setting them up so that they’re easily run really. We’ve bought and sold a lot of farms over the years. We’ve got our own earthworks gear and other equipment so we can do all the work ourselves to add value and sell them on,” explains Rogan. Fencing, earthworks, agricultural work, baleage, environmental planting are all done in-house. Having a solid team of staff who know their job and work well together makes their work a lot easier. DAIRY PEOPLE » Rogan & Michelle Borrie Partners: Doug Harvie, Craig Wyatt, Brett Challis, Robyn Friedrich and Tom Saul. Software solutions, including Xero, Figured and Focus Harvie GreenWyatt is here to help you maintain and grow your agri business. Our rural business accounting, business and planning disciplines. MAKE THE MOST FROM YOUR LAND. Our team of agronomists combine proven science, business thinking and an understanding of the nuances of South Island soil and conditions to help you achieve higher yields and enhanced livestock performance. Our solutions focus on your commercial objectives and consider your unique land and environmental circumstances. We grow extraordinary outcomes. Get in touch to find out how we could help you make the most from your land. catalystag.co.nz Proudly in support of Rogan Borrie. Rogan and Michelle Borrie. “We have an outstanding team of individuals who work as a collective extremely well, and none of this would have been able to happen without them. For this we are extremely privileged,” says Michelle. Making a farm easy to run generally involves putting tracks through the farm allowing easy access to all the paddocks and any re-fencing that entails; replacing older stock water pipes with something bigger, along with the water troughs when needed; and upgradingcattleyards and accommodation as and when required. The Borries typically install or upgrade the irrigation on the farms, usually drawing water from the Waitaki River. “The lower Waitaki Irrigation Scheme brings good price-effective water which is 100% reliable. The Waitaki River’s probably the best river in the country to irrigate out of and with the Meridian Dams up above us always letting go water, we’ve never not been able to irrigate,” says Rogan. Having the river running alongside it was one of the reasons behind the purchase of a 900 hectare sheep and beef farm in Kaura Hill, inland from Maheno a few years ago. They put four pivots on its bottom end and a four kilometre track down the middle, refenced it, renewed the cattle yards and did up the houses. “It’s a really nice farm now. I’ve always liked sheep and beef, and it’s good to have eggs in a different basket,” says Rogan. These days the home farm runoff winters up to 1400 dairy cows, 500 bulls and is used in summer to make silage. Aware of the increasing pressure environmentally they’re seeking to future proof their farms. “We’re putting in a silage bunker and we’re building a big loa ng pad at the moment on one farm so we can trial wintering our cows on a pad. A couple of years ago we put in a purpose-built calfrearing shed on another where we’re trialing more automation,” says Rogan. With one farm just sold and another about to be signed up it doesn’t look like the Borries will be slowing down their future-proo ng or the development of farms in and around the Waitaki Plains any time soon.
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