| 91 nzdairy NZ CENTURY FARM & STATION AWARDS » Bellefield Farms Award celebration a family affair Russell Fredric www.energyvets.co.nz enquiries@energyvets.co.nz ENERGY VETS TARANAKI LTD Inglewood Clinic (06) 756 7228 Waitara Clinic (06) 754 8791 39 Cutfield St, Inglewood 94 Broadway, Stratford 0800 662 6455 www.moamilking.co.nz Proud to support Bellefield Farms Proud to partner with Belle eld Farms Fred and Wendy Marshall along with members of their family were among the 260 people who attended this year’s Century Farms New Zealand awards in Lawrence on May 18. Those present represented 40 families who were acknowledged for the significant achievement of their family being on the same farm for 100 years or more. Married for nearly 64 years, Fred and Wendy had four children and were just three years shy of qualifying for the family’s sesquicentennial (150 years). “Wendy said we might as well do [the award recognition] while we’ve got a chance because we might not get there [to the sesquicentennial], Fred says. Fred and Wendy were joined at the awards by their three living daughters, Dale, Janine and Robyn, grandson Jake and his partner Michaela. Despite their age and Fred’s poor eyesight, the couple are still active on their234 hectare, 420 cow Inglewood farm which has a support block and is 50% sharemilked by their married daughter Dale. Dale and husband Paul, a plumber, and their children live on the farm in the original homestead. The family’s New Zealand history started with Alfred Marshall purchasing a 231 acre bush block, now known as Bellefield, nearInglewoodin 1877. Originally from Liverpool, England, Alfred ventured to New Zealand alongside prominent Taranaki settler Colonel Robert Trimble,landing in Lyttleton in 1875. After rolling up his sleeves to begin clearing the bush, in 1881 Alfred was joined by his newly-wed wife Mary. Living conditions were tough and the work long and dangerous, however the couple were able to raise six children comprising two girls and four boys. Dairy became the main farming activity, with a few Shorthorn cows producing milk that was churned by hand into butter and sold in Inglewood. With the building of the Maketawa Dairy Factory Cooperative nearby, overtime whole milk was instead taken to the factory by horse and dray with the skim milk returned to the farm to feed the pigs. Three of their children, Roger, the youngest who was Fred’s father, Wilfred and Clara worked on the farm with Wilfred gradually taking over as their parents grew older. Alfred died aged 80 after being hit by a train at a railway crossing at the farm entrance in 1935. Roger married Gladys Burgess in 1930 and their children, Mollie, Les,and Fredjoined their father working on the farm. Another sibling, Victor, was killed in 1963 aged 19, by a drunk driver. Mollie leftafter marrying in 1959, leaving Les and Fred to continue and to eventually take over Bellefield. This 30 year partnership ended when Fred and Wendy, who married in 1960, purchased Les’ share in 1984. Neighbouring land was subsequently added which enabled the cow numbers to be increased from 180 to the herd of 420 milked today. Today, the farm runs on a low input grass-based system with the cows milked in a 50 bale rotary shed which has in-shed feeding and “all the gadgets”, a far cry from the three hours it took to milk just 100 cows in a walk-through shed when Fred’s father was still alive. Fred feels very lucky to have had the opportunity Robyn with grandson Jake and Dale. to live on the farm all his life and to have been able to see some of his family, including grandchildren growing up on the farm. “I really enjoy it and Wendy is all the same because she’s interested in farming and gardening. That’s her hobby.
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