30 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Joy Thomas Dairying holding rural communities together Reporoa farmer Joy Thomas says the dairy industry is keeping the community spirit alive and thriving in rural communities. Hugh de Lacy Being Scottish-born has given Reporoa dairy farmer Joy Thomas a special appreciation of the importance of the dairy industry to holding local communities together. Joy came to New Zealand from Scotland in 1989 on what was supposed to be a six-months farmworking holiday with friends, only to decide that the central North Island plateau was a great place to start her career in the dairying industry. She worked her way through the sharemilking system in her own right before entering a 50/50 position with Deveral Waters, her Kiwi husband. Within six months the couple had bought their own farm, and over the years have accumulated more land, increasing the size of the farm to 140ha. Giving up the sharemilking job in 2008, and moving to their own property allowed the couple to take over Deveral’s parents’ Jersey herd, and they now milk 420 predominantly Jersey cows. “Being one of the wetter properties in the Reporoa area makes it suited to the lighter Jersey breed, and we run the farm as an OAD System two operation,” Joy says. The Waters milk once a day from August 1 until the end of May, producing 140,000kg/ms. “Living 50km from the nearest city, Rotorua, has made me particularly appreciative of the way a small and relatively isolated community can coalesce around a little village, in this case Reporoa with its group of local businesses and amenities, including a Fonterra processing plant,” Joy says. Producing milk powder and ethanol, Fonterra’s Reporoa plant, which the Waters supply, had a cloud hanging over its continued existence for some years, making the local community fearful of the impact of its possible closing. “But Fonterra thankfully decided there was a better future for the plant and, instead of shutting it down, revamped it,” Joy says. “That means that the dairy industry with all the working families in the area are supporting workers in all facets of the industry who can keep the community spirit alive and thriving. “Reporoa is proud of the many amenities it can offer, like golf, bowls, squash and rugby clubs, all of which are run by local volunteers. “There are many local businesses who employ staff from Rotorua and Taupo that service the local farmers, a trucking company, engineering and contracting businesses. “If the area was to lose dairying, there would be huge economic and environmental consequences for the village. “Instead it continues to provide the surrounding farmers and their workers with the services – including a couple of primary schools and a college – that they need to continue functioning as a community,” Joy says. Joy spent some years as a representative of Federated Farmers’ Rotorua-Taupo branch where she learned the social dynamics of a dairying-based rural society. It’s made her highly defensive of the dairying industry’s contribution to the local, regional and national economies, and the need to maintain them against a growing antagonism from urbanites to supposed “dirty dairying.” “I’m especially concerned about talk of having the national dairy herd cut by 15 per cent to reduce nitrate levels,” Joy says. “It’s arguable whether that sort of policy would do much for the country’s nitrate levels or its output of greenhouse gases, because cows would probably be replaced with gas-emitting sheep since pastoral farming is what this land does best. “There are big scienti c efforts going into curbing pastoral greenhouse gas emissions by such means as selective breeding, pasture renewal and pasture and animal supplements. “These will be far more effective in both the short and long terms than simply shutting down a great swathe of dairying’s productive capacity. “I’ve also got concerns about the Government’s Three Waters proposals to consolidate the country’s entire fresh, grey and black water services and facilities into just four large regional authorities. “I don’t like the idea of taking ownership of the local infrastructure away from local bodies and vesting it in big centralised and remote authorities,” Joy says. “If the area was to lose dairying, there would be huge economic and environmental consequences for the village. Instead it continues to provide the surrounding farmers and their workers with the services – including a couple of primary schools and a college – that they need to continue functioning as a community.” www.reptec.co.nz instagram.com/reptecltd/ facebook.com/reptecreporoa Agricultural Engineering Specialists Manufacturing - Repairs - Servicing - Parts & more. 220 REPOROA RD, REPOROA | 07 333 8170 FARM SOURCE REPOROA Birch Road, RD , Reporoa | Weekdays: . am . pm | Saturday: . am . pm DAIRY FARM SUPPLIES, YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP
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