NZ Dairy Winter 2021

50 | nz dairy DAIRY AWARDS » Aran & Sharleen Sealey Publicity around Russell Fredric E ntering then winning the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards 2021 Bay of Plenty Share Farmer of the Year Award has been a reward- ing eye opener for Aran and Sharleen Sealey. The Sealey’s are 50% equity partners on Shar- leen’s parents, Eric and Margaret Smeith’s farm at Galatea near Murupara which has a population of about 1,800. The couple won $9,550 and four merit awards in the awards and say the win and the publicity around it has been “pretty cool for our community”. “It was quite a big surprise,” Sharleen says. “We were delighted with the amount of support we had from the local community. It was a last minute decision to enter but it’s been really great for us to grown in understanding and really dig deep into our business and what we’re doing.” The entry process amounts to a self audit over many aspects of the business and was helpful for Aran and Sharleen to gain a better understanding of their roles. Sharleen is the third generation on the farm which peak milks 422 jersey cows on a 136 hec- tare platform on a total of 160 hectares. Her grandfather purchased the original farm as a 60ha block in 1951 and her parents have run the farm since 1983. After contracting milking for four years, the Aran and Sharleen took on the equity partnership, which excludes the land, in 2019 with the goal of having ownership of the assets within three years then working towards purchasing the land. The farm comprises three main blocks, an ir- rigated dry block and a 20ha run-off nearby, while a 20ha support block enables cut and carry feed through most of the year as well as wintering stock on. The farm grows its own maize which fills any feed deficts when needed, as well as a mix of drought-tolerant lucerne, chicory and plaintain. Aran and Sharleen like the jerseys for their tem- perament, efficiency and for the milk they produce as a percentage of their body weight in addition to them being well-suited to where they farm. “How they are producing and that milk fat is a real benefit to us and they’re better for the environ- ment.” Recently qualifying for and being part of LIC’s sire proving scheme will fast-track genetic im- provement in their herd. Each year LIC identifies about 1700 male calves from highly productive cow families with the poten- tial to join the scheme and uses DNA tests to select about 200 with the most desirable genetic traits. “A lot of it’s traits other than production such as udder shape, temperament and hoofs.” Aran and Sharleen are pleased with the result of the past season with the 160,000kgMS 8% up on the previous season on the back of farm working expenses of $4.38kgMS and profit per hectare of $2949 against the regional benchmark of $1840. Cows are milked twice-a-day until January. “It’s better on our cows, it just helps to manage that work-life balance in a time of the year that we are spending more time with the children.” “We were delighted with the amount of support we had from the local community. It was a last minute decision to enter but it’s been really great for us to grown in understanding and really dig deep into our business and what we’re doing.” Bulk cartage of stockfood (PKE), Fertilizer Supply of all grades of roading aggregates from our Galatea Quarry Machinery hire: Excavator • Truck • Grader • Bulldozer • Roller Dave 027 497 1842 Brad 027 589 1622 Photos: Bay of Plenty Sharemilkers of the Year Sharleen and Aran Sealey milk 422 Jersey cows at Galatea. Sharleen with son Haven.