NZ Dairy Winter 2021

72 | nz dairy Family fun key ingredient for couple Kelly Deeks DAIRY PEOPLE » Clay & Joy Paton A fter seven seasons of dairy farming, Clay Pa- ton has been hitting all the career progression milestones and now has his sights on a future sharemilking role. Working on farms in the Tasman region since 2015, Clay progressed from farm assistant in Wakefield, to 2IC on Brent Riley’s 186ha Dovedale farm, where in 2017 he was named National Dairy Trainee of the Year. By 2018 Clay shifted to a management position at Collingwood on a 220ha farm also owned by Brent Riley. After two seasons of management, Clay pro- gressed to contract milking, and is now beginning his third season. Clay has been buying 40 of Brent’s heifers for the past two seasons and now has 80 of his own cows in the herd of 640, with another 40 due to come on next season. This season Clay has also started contract milk- ing on Brent’s 56ha, 200 cow home farm block right next door to the ‘top farm’. “That gives us some flexibility with the boundary, some flexibility with milking frequency, and some flexibility with growing crops,” he says. “The bottom farm is river flats and really good growing ground, while the top farm is heavy pakihi soil that holds the water really well, whether you want it to or not. “We can grow more crop on the bottom farm where we can yield 20% more than the top farm, and milk fewer cows down there in the middle of the year.” The flexibilities with stock the second farm has brought means Clay can run all the young stock on the bottom farm and consequently have very few instances of down cows, lame cows, or mastitis on the one farm. Clay has always been focused on his career goals, and was recognised as such at the Dairy Industry Awards back in 2017. He grew up on orchards, but didn’t discover his passion for the land until he was at Lincoln University, studying Landscape Architecture. Realising he was on the wrong path, he shifted his attention to the agricul- tural sector. Clay and his wife Joy have three young children, and providing a healthy and fun lifestyle for his fam- ily is another key ingredient in his love for farm life. “To be able to come home for breakfast and lunches with the family, take the kids out on the farm for different tasks that we’re doing, that’s pretty special.” Clay says operating the farm in an economical, environmental, and aesthetic way is important to his approach to farming. As a young farmer looking towards future farm ownership, he is well aware of the issues the industry will be facing in years to come. “As a contract milker I’m not directly feeling the same environmental and system pressures as farm owners, but by the time we get to farm ownership, Clay Paton, son Roman (3) and daughter Isla (6) help with treatment of a down cow. Clay and Joy Paton are starting their third season contract milking on the 220ha Collingwood farm owned by Brent Riley. Family time makes farming ‘pretty special.” “I can understand the frustrations of people who have been milking cows for a long time, but I will always advance the fact we need to make sure we stay competitive in how we produce our milk and how we try to sell it.” Proud to support Brent Riley and Clay Paton and for the young guys coming in to the industry, I feel it will be the status quo. “I can understand the frustrations of people who have been milking cows for a long time, but I will always advance the fact we need to make sure we stay competitive in how we produce our milk and how we try to sell it.”