| Agriculture and Agribusiness Leaders Delegation to Australia/New Zealand
The Honorable Bob Kintigh, delegation leader
October 25 – November 8, 1998
Wednesday, October 28, 1998
Auckland, New Zealand
A gray overcast sky greeted us as we traveled from Auckland to Hamilton (New Zealand’s fourth largest city) to meet our tour escort, Brian Harvey. Brian is a private farm consultant.
He told us that Hamilton is in the heart of Waikato pasture land. We all were quite taken with the beautiful green rolling hillsides divided in neat sectors by hedgerows, as we traveled through the area.
Our first farm visit was near the town of Te Awamutu, nicknamed Rosetown, because of the rose gardens there.
We visited the farm owned by a young man, Mark Barr, and his wife. Along with one employee, they milk 850 Jerseys and Holsteins and pasture them on their 200 ha (hectare) farm.
They milk twice a day in the 50-stall rotary parlor. One complete revolution takes about 6 minutes. The herd produces right now 19 liters milk per cow per day. This works out to 1.7 kg of milk solids per cow per day. His milk is trucked to the local co-operative, a facility which is part of the New Zealand Dairy Co-operative based in Hamilton.
Mark receives 21 cents per liter for his milk, but 3 cents of that goes for hauling. The co-operative is quite strict on milk quality and imposes stiff penalties on farmers who do not meet their standards, according to Mark.
The herd gets the bulk of their diet by grazing on rye grass-clover pastures. The pastures are divided into 4 ha paddocks. Cows graze for half a day in each paddock before being moved to the next. A complete rotation is 16 - 30 days, depending on paddock growth. Supplemental maize silage is fed on the ground to the herd when grass growth is limited by the season.
Mark is a factory milk supplier, meaning the entire herd is dried off for two months during winter, the months of May and June. He aims for a 6-week calving period, starting in August. Cows are bred, beginning 60 days after calving, by artificial insemination.
He raises his own replacement heifers. They are fed fresh cow milk for 6 weeks and are then turned out on grass. Heifers are bred at 15 months of age, to calve at 2 years of age.
Bull calves are sold at 4 days to local calf rearers, with most of the bulls ending up as hamburger eventually.
Mark does most of his own veterinary care, recalling to us that he had the vet out only two times this year so far for difficult calvings. By and large, his herd has few health problems. Heifers are drenched for roundworms.
His yearly culling rate is only 10 %. His herd is on production testing once a month and he receives reports to assist him in managing the herd.
His farm is operated as a sole proprietorship. He mentioned he bought some additional land a while back and paid as much as $15,000 NZ per ha. In the area, the best ground can go for up to $25,000 NZ per ha. His financing is done through a bank. The banks typically finance up to 50%, or perhaps a bit more, depending on the farmer’s track record, said Mark.
He commented that currently the dairy economy is down, due primarily to the depressed Asian market.
After thanking Mark for his time, we proceeded to the next farm visit, a Thorobred horse-breeding farm called The Oaks, outside Cambridge. Our tour escort, Brian Harvey informed us that it was purchased this year for a reported $6 million NZ for the 200 acre property. Terry Jarvis, a founding shareholder in the sky satellite pay television company, is the new owner.
We were immediately impressed with the exquisitely manicured grounds as we drove up. The general manager, Rick Williams, met us at the office. He said the Waikato area is known as “the Kentucky of New Zealand.” This renown is achieved due to the soils being conducive to grass growth and also the favorable climate.
The Oaks chief aim is to breed horses to sell. Their goal is to be at the top 10% of sales. Last year top price paid was $1.6 million NZ (for a horse from another stud farm). The Oaks tries to fetch an average of $100,000 NZ per yearling, selling 30 per year.
Rick commented that the horse market, for Thorobreds of their caliber, is international in scope. For example, top stallions are shuttled via special horse transport planes to the Northern Hemisphere during the breeding season. No artificial insemination is allowed in Thorobreds.
The Oaks is home to 38 broodmares with internationally recognized pedigrees. They are currently standing three stallions at stud, with stud fees ranging from $6,000 – 20,000 NZ, live foal guarantee. The $20,000 fee is the 2nd or 3rd highest stud fee commanded in New Zealand, as Rick pointed out.
The Oaks is especially proud of their 4-year old stallion, Entrepreneur. He commands the $20,000 fee and he is the best book of mares of any stallion in New Zealand, cited Rick proudly. Entrepreneur is insured for $30 million NZ.
During his first breeding season he covered 130 mares. He can service four mares a day. A good breeding stallion can breed up to 20 years of age.
We were able to view all three stallions; Entrepreneur, Manntari, and Yachtic, as they were led out in front of us. What beautiful animals they were!
It was very evident that all the horses at The Oaks are well cared for. The veterinarian comes every morning at 10am. The mares foal outside and 80 % of the time have no problem doing so. Six to seven employees, including Rick, are at The Oaks. A husband and wife team keep the grounds precisely manicured.
Following a brief stop at Green’s Garden Center in Hamilton, we returned to our hotel room.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeanne DeHaan
October 28, 1998
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