50 | nzdairy Chaminda ‘Chum’ Wijesooriya and family. Anne Boswell New Zealand’s most determined contract milkers has taken another step towards reaching his dairy farming dream – and that of his employers’, too. Chaminda or ‘Chum’ Wijesooriya has been contract-milking for Cameron, Duncan and Andrea Stuart (Woodleigh Farm Trust) near Masterton for the past three seasons. In that time, he has helped the farm reach recordbreaking production figures and expansion faster than anticipated. Chum grew up in Sri Lanka, where he helped his grandfather run the family farm of eight cows. He moved to New Zealand in 2013 and worked his way up the dairy farming ladder, moving to his current contract milking role in the 2022/23 season. He and wife Thilanka have two daughters. In the 2022/23 season, the 650-strong Woodleigh herd had its best season to date under Chum’s management, achieving 300,000kgMS - almost 30,000kgMS more than their record. In the 2023/24 season they added 50 cows to the herd and Chum drove the herd to produce 320,000kgMS, 6% above their target. Chum says as the farm had become “nice and tidy, and high performance”, the Woodleigh team decided further investment was on the cards. The herd was subsequently increased to 750 cows, which are on track to producing 340,000kgMS, an increase of 14% from the past two seasons. In order to sustain this increase, another 50ha was leased to bring the total milking platform to 250ha. And to ensure extra feed was available to feed the larger herd, the farm underwent a major irrigation overhaul, with 60% of the farm now under pivot. “The farm was running two pivot irrigation with water consent,” Chum says. “Then we got another brand new pivot last season to cover nearly 80ha. We got water for this pivot from the run-off. Bay Irrigation has done a massive job for us.” This season, permanent staff numbers remained at three, with the addition of a calf rearer for the first time this season. “I usually handle all the young stock, including the calves, but with the birth of my second daughter in August I decided I couldn’t do everything this year,” Chum says. Another goal Chum has set for himself is to see the entire herd surpass the national average for BW/PW. “We are striving to reach this goal by using sexed semen on the highest BW/PW cows and keeping more replacements with higher genetic merit,” Chum says. “We are close to the national BW/PW average now, but I am sure after this season we will reach more than 95% high genetic cows.” Another step torwards dairy farming dream Chum notes that the farm team is an integral part of the success of the business. “This season has been great, especially compared to last season, which was very tough,” he says. DAIRY PEOPLE » Wijesooriya and Stuart Services · Driveways · Septic tanks · Farm excavations - drainage, tracks, metaling · House sites · Metal/Lime cartage · Drainage And More.... EXPERIENCED EARTHMOVING AND CARTAGE OPERATOR Contact us, We can handle any job large or small Proudly supporting Wijesooriya and Stuart ORDISH & STEVENS “This season, we have only had four cow deaths from 750 cows, which I think is admirable. Credit goes to my team – they have done a massive job making sure the season has run smoothly.” Chum and Thilanka are well on their way to achieving their dream of becoming sharemilkers. They are rightfully proud of how far they have come and were celebrated by placing third in the 2024 Hawke’s Bay / Wairarapa Share Farmer of the Year. Chaminda has helped the farm reach record-breaking production figures and expansion faster than anticipated.
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