For sale at $26.65/kg MS, the farm is described by Claude Shepherd from Barfoot and Thompson as a grass-based milk factory that is the jewel of the north.
The alluvial flood plain that spreads out from Awanui has been a latecomer to dairying, but its soils once drained are achieving high production results. This system 3 dairy farm milks 730 cows for a best production of 292,803kg MS and last season 288,000kg MS. This season the farm is targeting 290,000kg MS.
Dave and Heather Gray bought the original 122ha dairy unit nine years ago and produced 65,000kg MS in their first season.
Since then they’ve added five neighbouring beef blocks that have been incorporated into the milking platform. The properties have been drained, tracked and stocked at 3.2 cows/ha compared with the region’s 2.2 cows/ha and pasture has been a priority.
“I’ve got eight years of pasture records from platemetering,” Dave says. Pasture is predominantly an Italian ryegrass, clover and chicory mix along with kikuyu, and an extensive regrassing programme covers 10% of the farm each year. The farm has peaked at 18.2 tonnes of drymatter and is averaging about 16t, while pasture harvested last year was calculated at 13.1t. On top of that, cows get about 700kg of palm kernel each to fill the gaps in the season.
“We do a 40-day round on the chicory in summer. It’s in its third season and hanging on well and has proved really worthwhile providing high-energy feed in summer. You could irrigate, but I think there’s better ways to cope with dry in the Far North.
“Past experience showed it wasn’t profitable in the clay soils; we were swapping summer grass for winter-spring grass which wasn’t a good swap. Now we use the chicory, with palm kernel to fill the gaps which has been worthwhile.”
The farm is made up of heavy clay soils through to light, sandy peat soils which provides a balance through the year and the Grays have a strategy in place to suit the weather at different times of the year.
“They’re highly productive flats and as good as you get in Northland – and I would say better. Most of the farms around here use maize, but I like the palm kernel because it’s simple.”
Overall, it’s a simple system they follow with five full-time staff employed, plus a relief milker.
They can be housed in the three homes, with two on the farm and one in nearby Awanui, or a fourth house on the 34ha runoff which can be bought separately for $650,000. This has been used as the calf block and is mostly flat with light, sandy peat soils.
Another 16ha adjoining the farm is leased for $2000 a year and grazed as part of the milking platform. It is relatively undeveloped, with 12ha effective, but adds about 500kg MS a hectare, or 6000kg MS total, to production.
On all this, they milk 730 Jersey cows, with heifers commencing calving from June 23 and the main herd from July 1. This past winter all the cows were wintered on the farm, while in the past about 100 cows were wintered off for six weeks.
The farm is entirely flat with 130 paddocks serviced from wide, smooth races, with high-quality water extracted from two bores and reticulated around the farm by high pressure via 50mm main lines and some 40mm lines. The races lead to the modern 40-aside herringbone dairy with Protrack drafting fitted.
“We extended the existing cow shed and built a new yard, redid the effluent and put in new water lines and a lot of roading.”
The effluent is collected in a large sump where it can be pumped to three storage ponds with three months’ storage and irrigated on to 70ha of the farm. As well as a new effluent system, the farm now has a purpose-built seven-bay calf-rearing and storage shed measuring 12m by 36m, a large six-bay steel-span shed with concrete floor, and more sheds and infrastructure to support the farm.
And then there’s the location.
“One of the features of the place is having the east and west coast so close. As a crow flies, it’s only about three miles to the west coast and the start of Ninety Mile Beach, and about five minutes to the east where you have Rangaunu Bay and then Doubtless Bay.
The farm can be viewed online at www.barfoot.co.nz/559498.
For further information contact Shepherd on 09 407 9321 or 0274 410 436.
