74 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Shane & Margaret Helms Shane and Margaret Helms’ 140-hectare dairy farm sits on Salisbury Road just out of the rural settlement of Midhirst. Providing a pathway Shane Helms’ parents were 50/50 sharemilkers and so he has a strong affinity with the sharemilking system as a pathway for young motivated people to get ahead, and just maybe build up the equity needed to milk their cows on their own piece of land. “So that’s why we opted for a herd owning sharemilker versus a contract milker on our dairy farm. Realistically though, in Taranaki a 320-cow farm like ours is more likely to be your second sharemilking job. You typically start on a 200-cow farm maybe, and work your way up. Our present sharemilkers have bought their own farm now and will be leaving in a few days to take that next step. I’m pretty proud that they have got there, and that our farming system is profitable enough that they could take that next step.” Shane and Margaret Helms’ 140-hectare dairy farm sits on Salisbury Road just out of the rural settlement of Midhirst, between Inglewood and Stratford. The 116-hectare dairy platform is made up of flat to rolling country, with the back of the farm too steep to milk but ideal for dry stock. There are also some areas of regenerating native bush that have been fenced off. The Helms’ live on an 80-hectare farm 30 minutes drivetime north of the dairy farm, in Lepperton, and use that property to run the young stock, winter some dairy cows and make silage for export to the dairy platform. “We’ve lived there for twenty-seven years,” says Shane. “We started with thirteen hectares, and as neighbouring blocks have come up we’ve progressively purchased them to provide more scale. Eight seasons ago Margaret and I decided to buy the dairy unit as an investment. We didn’t like rental properties and were scared of putting money into shares, but we just believe in New Zealand agriculture and this seemed a very good option. Richard Loader “We’re continually trying to improve the farm infrastructure. Our goal is to build a new hay/calf shed, increase the concrete races we already have here and increase our amenity trees and riparian planting.” I have a passion for farming and especially efficient farming systems such as we have in New Zealand.” The farm policy is to milk twice a day throughout the bulk of the season, with calving commencing the 1st of August. The farm had been operating a 25-bale rotary shed that was taking between three to four hours morning and night to milk the 320 cows — that is a lot of time out of the farm day, by anyone’s book. “We were never going to be able to attract and retain good sharemilkers when they had to spend that long in the shed. When we were interviewing people some of them just saw the cow shed and walked out, saying nah, the job is not for us. The two sharemilkers we did have complained about the shed, and so we did something about it.” Biting the bullet, with construction being interrupted due to the first Covid lockdown, Shane had Quintin Oakes Builders built a new 40-aside Don Chapman herringbone shed, which has now been in operation for three seasons, making the job much more pleasant for man and animal and saving hours of milking time over a seven-day period. A three-pond effluent system built into a gully, discharging to a stream via a constructed drain was no longer able to operate because of the placement of the new shed. Surrendering the old consent, Shane moved to land-based effluent application, using a travelling irrigator, and utilising the existing ponds for emergency storage when the farm was too wet to apply effluent. “Last year I built a 750 cubic metre concrete effluent storage tank to replace the three ponds and provide the storage needed when we can’t spread the effluent directly onto the farm. Two of the old ponds are being turned into a wetland, with one of them being restored to pasture. We’re continually trying to improve the farm infrastructure. Our goal is to build a new hay/calf shed, increase the concrete races we already have here and increase our amenity trees and riparian planting.” 39 Cut eld St, Inglewood 94 Broadway, Stratford 0800 662 6455 www.moamilking.co.nz Proud to support Shane & Margaret Helms
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