| 35 nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Blair and Kendra Holdt Converting to full Friesian pays off Sue Russell Just five minutes south of New Plymouth, Blair and Kendra Holdt and their three young children, enjoy their dairying lifestyle. This is their sixth season on the 135ha farm at Omata, where their herd of 350 spring-claving fully Friesian cows, can handle the challenging geography of steep hills and long walks with little problem. “The breed is definitely performing well on our conditions. We started with Friesian cross but have over the years slowly converted to full Friesian and that’s paid off in terms of animal condition and milk production,” says Blair. And with three busy farm children, Harry (7), Noah (5) and Tommy (2), there’s always plenty happening on and off the farm. Kendra and Blair both come from Taranaki farming families though from different parts of the region they’re proud to call home. Blair says he was always drawn to the black and white breed. “I like the way they look and if it is done right they’re the best converters of feed into milk. They’re strong dependable animals and great to work with.” Prior to being on the farm, owned by the Morris family, Blair and Kendra were lower-order sharemilking for Kendra’s parents in South Taranaki. The farm operates to a System 5 with a small amount fed through the cowshed and the bulk – maize and grass silage, delivered on to the feed pad. The couple are monitoring carefully the size of their cows and intend to breed some of the girls back to producing smaller stature calves. “We have some that are really getting too big. We use Semex North-American genetics. Semex have done a massive job of bringing in animals that are suitable to New Zealand’s conditions,” says Kendra, who works part-time for the breeding company. Up until recently a small proportion of the herd were autumn calving, but the decision to revert to all cows calving in spring is something the couple feel is right at this time. “We sold our autumn calves on BidR and we’re pleased to be back to only spring calving. It is easier to find staff when you’re herd is all spring calving and we also found it was not very good for the fertility of the herd, carrying over empties as we did,” says Kendra. Blair says the farm is in a good situation, with an upgrade to the effluent system going in over winter. The 34 bale rotary, though very basic, serves its purpose well. Asked about longer term plans, Kendra says they would love to take their herd on to a flat farm in Taranaki, though these are few and far between. Joining Kendra and Blair soon will be a new team member, a former manager on a goat farm. “It will be great to have someone else who can drive the machinery.” Another decision, to scale back to a system 4 ½ feels like the right thing to do, driven in part by the cost of feed and a desire to be more self-sufficient and grow more of their feed. A new lease block of 35ha will assist this development. The vision is that in about five years, with the mortgage paid off, the Holdt’s will be in a position to look seriously at buying their first farm. “With interest rates and everything at the moment, we just need to knuckle down and pay off debt as a priority before taking that next big step,” Kendra says. Both Kendra and Blair say they have been pleasantly surprised at how well the herd has performed on the farm, which only has 35% flat to it. Another positive is that they have got to know a lot of people in the Holstein Breeding association. “There are a lot of really good people, people who are willing to help,” says Kendra. Farmers working for farmers These services include: • Cropping • Harvesting • Fertiliser Application • Hedges • Transport of stock/general cartage • Digger work 700 Barrett road, New Plymouth, New Zealand holdtharvesting@gmail.com +64 27 786 7348 CALL NOW: PROUD TO SUPPORT KENAIR FARMING Reflecting back on the milking season, both agree its been a good one, with ideal weather. When New Zealand Dairy spoke with Blair and Blair, Tommy (5 months), Harrison (5), Kendra and Noah (3) Holdt. Kendra, late April, the herd was still milking twice a day, with the intention to dry off toward the end of May. 027 554 5008 Taranaki based stock and farm feed freight. Suppliers of quality straw, hay and silage. proud to be involved with Blair & Kendra Holt’s yard upgrades
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