Saturday, March 30, 2024

Opening doors

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Almost 20 years after Northland dairy farmers Bruce and Julie Paton won the New Zealand Sharemilker of the Year title the couple say, looking back, the award and the competition experience were the sparks that propelled them forward.
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Back then in 1996 they were just three years into their dairying careers and were sharemilking 240 cows on 85ha owned by Bruce’s parents.

Now they milk 2000 cows across three properties and run a 660ha support block, 450ha of which they own with the remainder leased.

Bruce says winning the regional and then national title gave them a lot of assurance that the plan they’d set and pathway they were on were the right ones.

“We were quarter of the way down the track with the plan we had at the time and the win and the feedback gave us the confidence to carry on – we really felt then we were heading in the right direction,” he says.

But the competition experience also taught them just how important it is to have solid goals with comprehensive plans on how those goals will be achieved.

“That was the other really big thing we got out of that whole experience. We saw just how important having goals and detailed plans was and how powerful they are in propelling you where you want to go,” Bruce says.

Rubbing shoulders with other contestants and the networking that followed the award win cemented that for them.

It opened doors and meant they got to interact with people they may not have otherwise, exposing them to new ideas and a wider group of like-minded, forward-thinking people.

Bruce says a significant point in their progression came with a shift to split calving.

It enabled them to make the most of Northland’s pasture growth curve and climate, grow their cow numbers and put milk in the vat to lift returns.

“It reduced our demand over summer when feed can be tight and then allowed us to make the most of the winter growth we get.”

Initially they leased land to grow their business adding an 80ha, 180-cow farm at Kamo, 40 minutes away from the 50:50 sharemilking job on the family farm.

They employed a lower-order sharemilker at Kamo so they could run both operations.

Bruce says leasing was a good option to lift returns and it wasn’t long before they bought their first farm at Dargaville.

“But once we had assets we weren’t afraid to sell them either if it meant we could get something better or keep moving towards our goals.”

The sale of the Dargaville farm allowed them to purchase a neighbouring property to the home farm. They later bought on another boundary and increased the original family holding to 400ha.

They built a new rotary platform there and then bought out Bruce’s parents.

Cows have also been sold if the timing and money was right.

They now have a 300ha equity partnership property at Tapora where they milk 1000 cows and lease a 90ha, 250-cow farm at One Tree Point.

To support the dairy enterprise they bought 450ha at Kaiwaka last year and lease an adjoining 210ha.

Ironically the beef cattle they run there have pulled more than their fair share of the weight in terms of returns.

While they have managers on the properties at the moment, at various stages over the past 19 years they’ve helped good young staff progress through the industry via sharemilking and on to farm ownership.

They’ve set up equity partnerships to help employees move on.

“We’ve got some great young people in this industry and it’s fantastic to be able to work with them so they have some security and they can get on their feet. Why wouldn’t you – they’re good young people.”

Over the years Bruce and Julie have continued to involve themselves in competitions as a way to network further and learn more.

They were runners-up to the national title in the Westpac Fonterra Dairy Excellence Awards Farm Business of the Year in 2003, having won the regional award for Northland.

As part of that competition they travelled with the other regional finalists to Brazil and Chile to learn about Fonterra’s business there and visit local farms.

They also won the PGG Wrightson Land and Life award in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards in 2013 and have been very active in their community on school boards and groups.

They commend anyone starting out or further into their career to be proactive and sign up for competitions such as the NZ Dairy Industry Awards – the benefits are ongoing.

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