4 | nzdairy DAIRY AWARDS » Alan da Veiga NZ grass greener for Brazilian native Russell Fredric For Brazilian born Alan da Veiga the grass has turned out to be much greener on the other side, both literally and figuratively. A contract milker who emigrated from Brazil 10 years ago, Alan scooped $10,000 in prizes, plus six merit awards at the Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Industry Awards Share Farmer of the Year regional event held in Ashburton on March 23. He employs his brothers Alex and David in the business, and today they all see their dreams as being progressively fulfilled through the opportunities the industry is providing. Together, they work on a Dairy Holdings 260 hectare, 1000-cow farm at Leeston, absolutely love what they do and are highly motivated to learn and grow and aim to eventually purchase their own dairy farms. Before taking on his present role, Alan managed a dairy farm in Hororata for two years and was a sniper in the Brazilian army before emigrating to New Zealand as a non-English speaker at that time. “I always felt in my heart that I would have to find somewhere better to live; to find opportunity actually.” The Dairy Holdings business model means he can raise extra replacements then lease them back to help to start his own herd which is a real privilege, Alan says. He is justifiably proud of his award and his achievements. “It makes me look back at all the work that I have done for the last few years and be proud of myself and the people that I work with and the people that I helped as well during this journey.” As of June 1 this year, Alan will have a herd of 150 cows which he has accumulated during the past four seasons. He is planning to rear 120 heifer calves in the coming seasons to lease to Dairy Holdings with the goal of becoming at least a lower order sharemilker with 500 cows in two years. He is aiming in 2028/29 to be a 100% herd-owner sharemilker. “It’s like a dream coming true because I started here managing this farm for six months and then I worked my way up to contract milker, and in my first season I bought 50 cows and the same first season I raised 30 heifer calves.” Alan believes it is quite unique to be able to lease the cows back to Dairy Holdings, a New Zealand majority owned and operated company with 100% of its farming assets in the South Island. The irrigated farm runs a simple fully grassbased system. Despite the dry summer, it has been the best season across all metrics, including animal, human and pasture since Alan has been on it. He attributes much of this success to the skills and responsiveness of his four staff and the diligent New Zealand Certified Builders Association CB Construction LTD - New Builds - Additions - Alterations - Farm Buildings Pleased to be associated with Alan da Veiga 0274150471 ivan@imc.net.nz E: john@ruralcoach.co.nz | sarah@ruralcoach.co.nz | chris@ruralcoach.co.nz • Business Planning • Farm Team culture and development • Leadership Development • Succession Planning Proudly Supporting Alan da Veiga www.ruralcoach.co.nz Alan daVeiga FERTILISER SPREADING | FARM MAPPING GPS TRACKING | VARIABLE RATE SPREADING LIVESTOCK CARTAGE | DAILY FREIGHT CONCRETE SUPPLIES | GRAIN CARTAGE SHINGLE SUPPLIES | FERTILISER SUPPLIES Leeston: 03 3248 070 | Dunsandel: 03 3254 039 reception@ellesmere.co.nz management of the irrigation. “If you look after the grass then the grass will look after you and then the cows will look after you. We treat the grass very well and then everything else will flow through.” This season’s production is expected to be 300,000 kilograms of milk solids which will be 10,000kgMS higher than last season. The herd is a mix of Friesian, Jersey and Kiwicross. Alan is aiming to have high breeding worth cows and is pleased with their increasing fertility, with the empty rate decreasing from 12% to 8% along with a six week in-calf rate of 73%. Brazilian born Alan da Veiga with the silverware after winning the Share Farmer of the Year in the Canterbury/North Otago Dairy Industry Awards.
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