68 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Hudson and Brown Tony Hudson and partner Rachel Jones are 50/50 sharemilking on Michelle and Duncan Brown’s farm. Jerseys provide the best of both worlds Virginia Wright Tony Hudson and partner Rachel Jones are in their second season 50/50 sharemilking on Michelle and Duncan Brown’s farm in Kumeroa, a small settlement between Pahiatua and Dannevirke in the Tararua area. They normally milk 200 Friesian-Jersey X on 80 hectares effective of mostly flat land with a few hilly paddocks thrown in. When they took the position they bought the 150 cows that were there to which they added the 20 they already owned, and they bought more over time to make up the numbers. “I like Friesians because they’ve got more stamina than Jerseys; they’re more resilient in bad weather which helps in the wetter times of the year especially up here where it gets a bit cooler than where we were in the Manawatu,” says Tony. “Having that bigger framed body as well, and they’re good with calving,” adds Rachel. “And the market for selling their bull calves is a lot higher with the Friesians than the Jerseys because they grow faster and bigger which is what the beef farmers like,” finishes Tony Put that together with the higher stats for milk litres and protein percentage, and adding in the relatively high butter fat percentage from the Jersey, and it’s the best of both worlds. For now they’re averaging 380 kg of milk solids per cow, but they’re working on significantly increasing that. “We’re introducing some sex semen into our AI this season, using 20 straws to improve our genetic gains in the herd and increase our heifer rate as we build up good sound cows producing at a higher rate,” says Rachel. They select their Friesian straws from international sires, working with CRV as they have done for many years, and expect to increase their milk solids to between 400kgs and 415kgs per cow within five seasons, largely thanks to those genetic gains. “We went from 70,000kgs for the herd last year to 72,000 kgs this year and we’re aiming to get to 80,000kgs” says Tony. This year Tony and Rachel were runners up in the Hawkes Bay/East Coast Sharemilkers of the Year awards, a competition they went into for the experience. “We hadn’t really considered the competition side so coming away with some awards was a bonus,” says Rachel. They won the Federated Farmers Leadership Award as well as the Dairy NZ People and Culture Award which was for their work running an eight-week calf club programme for the local school which one of the four children they have between them still attends. It was a hit among the children and opened their eyes to possibilities they might not have otherwise considered. Awards aside, the gain from entering the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards was even more than they’d imagined including meeting new people and being exposed to new ideas that might help them improve the way they farm. Using sex semen is a good example, along with their decision to use All-Flex collars which they’re in the process of introducing. Whatever they do their goal is clear. “We’re working towards farm ownership or equity partnership of some sort as a goal for the future. They select their Friesian straws from international sires. SPARROW CONTRACTING 027 833 1083 matt@sparrowcontracting.co.nz Combining hard work, experience & cutting edge technology to provide cost-e ective, professional rural excavation & earthwork services. We’d love to be debt free which isn’t going to happen if we buy into a farm, but the key is we plan to fully own the herd by that five-year mark,” says Tony. With their clear-eyed approach to what they’re doing and willingness to adopt new methods to improve their bottom line there’s every chance they’ll achieve that and more.
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