48 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Bjerring Family Farm Farm history includes Russell Fredric Their property in Golden Valley, Waihi which is north of Tauranga, was recognised as a Century Farm at the New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards. 25 Willoughby Street, PO Box 11, PAEROA | 6 Rosemont Rd, WAIHI PHONE 07 862 8643 | EMAIL kevin@lynchandpartners.co.nz Lynch & Partners are pleased to be associated with the success of Bjerring Family Farm Keeping a good balance between work and family has always been important to Wayne and Christine Bjerring, but 102 years ago it was more of a matter of sheer survival for their ancestors. Their property in Golden Valley, Waihi which is north of Tauranga, was recognised as a Century Farm at the New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards held in Lawrence, Central Otago in May. The couple took over the now 115 hectare, 87 hectare effective farm from Wayne’s father, Karl, in1988. Karl’s grandfather, Kristen, emigrated from Denmark in 1922 as a widower with nine children to start a new life, after his brother Otto emigrated in 1912 and purchased 1000 acres in Golden Valley in 1921. Kristen subsequently purchased 186 acres from Otto which was covered in fern and manuka and started farming with two cows and 14 horses. The family slept in an old cottage that had been used for storing manure on a neighbour’s farm. The cottage no water or electricity, sacking for windows and doors and they slept on straw-filled mattresses. Twelve months later Kristen had the cottage moved onto his farm with a bullock team and over time renovated it into a comfortable homestead. By 1928 the herd had grown to 45 Shorthorns milked by hand. During the 1930’s Kristen struggled to keep up payments on the farm, so he diversified with a market garden and established a tree nursery specialising in natives and eucalypts, selling the trees throughout the district while still milking the cows. After returning from World War Two, Karl purchased the farm from his father’s estate, but had to start again because it had become run down and covered in blackberry. He added 50 acres and built up the Shorthorn herd to 160 cows and reared 80 calves each season. The current homestead was built after the homestead was burnt to the ground in 1956. After purchasing Golden Valley Farm in 1988 Wayne and Christine added a neighbouring farm in 1992 taking the property to its present 115 hectares. Of this, 87 hectares is effective and supports 240 cows milking once a day. They have five children aged from 29 to 36. One of their sons, Joshua managed the farm from 2011 to 2017 and had a passion for breeding Shorthorns. Today eldest son, Hamish and his wife Suzanne, who bought a herd in 2020, are 50/50 sharemilkers on the farm, making them the fourth generation and their children the fifth to live there. Although it is quite a traditional operation, Wayne and Christine have taken a proactive approach in keeping ahead of any areas of compliance they could see looming, including environmental regulations and building a new lined effluent pond in 2017. “Ahead of time we had already fenced off and planted our streams, but also got a bit of funding when it was available to do a bit more.” Hamish and Suzanne have been milking oncea day-for nine years. Having seen it operating successfully and with production not much lower than what was achieved twice a day with their own herd, Wayne and Christine say they could have done the same. “It’s a great lifestyle, we should have done it 30 years ago.” Now semi-retired and with a crop of 15 grandchildren, they are still involved in the farm, but on reflection, wonder how they were ever able to run it full-time. “One thing that we put in place is that we said no matter how tough things might get, we would always pay off principal, we’d always put fert on, and always have our two week camping holiday at Coromandel with our family, but need 4 sites instead of one, and we’ve managed to pretty much mostly stuck to that.” “I think it’s paid off all round.”
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