NZ Dairy Winter 2021

80 | nz dairy New beginnings Richard Loader DAIRY PEOPLE » Howard Family: Lanseair Farm H eralding the start of the Howard family’s 61 st season on their Whakatane dairy farm, Lan- seair, is the arrival of the fifth generation, Hailee Amelia, born on the 29 th of May 2021. For parents, Benjamin and Renee, it is a season of exciting firsts. Hailee is the couple’s first child, and this will be Benjamin’s first year back on the farm permanently since leaving school almost ten years ago. Both passionate about farming, Benjamin and Renee’s journey together started in 2012 when they met at Massey University while completing Agricultural Science degrees. After attaining his degree, Benjamin worked on Andrew Hoggard’s dairy farm in Feilding before accepting a job with Renee’s father servicing cowsheds and water pumps. In 2020 the couple made the decision to return to Whakatane, entering into equity partnership with Benjamin’s parents John and Leanne in the family farm. Renee worked full time on the farm, while Ben- jamin worked part time and maintained a job as a milking machine technician, a job that he gave up May this year to start the new chapter in his life. “It’s a weird thing knowing that I don’t have to leave again. Every time I came home during the Uni holidays to work on the farm, I always had to go back to Uni. I’ve settled down on the farm now, I’m home.” Home is the 94-hectare dairy farm originally bought by Benjamin’s great-grandparents back in 1961. Back then, the farm was a recent dairy farm conversion and quite a lot of capital development work was needed in respect to fencing, subdivi- sion and drainage of the lower ground, and the planting of shelterbelts and hedges. Over the last sixty-one years, the farm has progressed through the generations, each adding Photos: Three generations – Benjamin and Renee, baby Hailee, Michael Howard, Leanne and John Howard. The Lanseair herd grazing on chicory. to the farm’s development particularly in respect to greater levels of subdivision to achieve better feed utilisation. With a real sense of the inter-generational connection on the family farm, Benjamin says he has a strong appreciation for the hard work the preceding generations have injected to make the farm what it is today. “It’s definitely more than just a sense of farm ownership. It’s a privilege to be on the farm that is part of our family history. “At the end of Uni Mum and dad did talk about whether that was the right time to buy a bigger farm that would support all of us. The conclusion was a definite no, out of the question. “This is our family farm and we aren’t going to give it up just like that. There are other ways of making the farm work. It comes down to development and that is why we bought the extra run-off.” The farm is supported by two run-off blocks totaling 44-hectares just a few minutes down the road and primarily used for young stock and some beef calves. One of the blocks was purchased the mid- dle of last year and has opened opportunities to increase the herd size. “We currently have 246 cows but we’re looking to increase that to 270 over the next few years,” says Benjamin. “Last year, with the additional run-off, we didn’t buy any supplements at all. We had a couple of paddocks of maize and some paddocks of pasture, which we turned into hay and balage, and we still had plenty of feed.” While the Howard’s farm is flat, it is a farm on two levels, split down the middle with a three- metre rise half way along. “Half the farm is on peat soil which means it’s really good over summer and doesn’t dry out too much. The top half of the farm is sandy loam/ volcanic ash. Proud to supply Lanseair Farm Ph. 07 307 1141 Freephone 0800 362 872 E. focus@focusca.co.nz , F u T • Succession planning • Asset protection solutions • New business set up • Strategic planning solutions • arming solutions • Budgeting & cashflow solutions • Annual acco nts, GS T ax Your trusted business advisors