Most people pegged Hamish and Katie Flett as brave or crazy last season when they took on a sharemilking job each and lived apart for a year.
Katie shifted with their three young daughters to Rotoorangi to take on a 50% herd-owning contract milking 570 cows, while Hamish remained on their 22% 680-cow contract at Arohena.
The business decision helped the couple jump the ladder quickly into owning a large herd and they are now in a position to grow their business again next season, despite the low payout.
“We took a big risk and it was daunting and scary, but it paid off,” Katie says.
It was a 30-minute drive between the farms and Hamish drove across two days a week. It was a difficult situation, but the arrangement did have the benefit of Katie being able to tell her husband to go back to his own farm when he tried telling her how to run hers. She finished the season with the farm production record of 247,000kg milksolids (MS).
‘There are a lot of people who could not farm without palm kernel and that’s dangerous.’
This season they let go of the Arohena job and increased their herd to 680 cows, targeting 290,000kg MS.
The couple is always pushing the limits to get to the next level and they think Canterbury is an exciting platform, with its large-scale, syndicate-owned dairy farms with excellent infrastructure and irrigation.
“It’s in line with our ethos, Hamish says. “We work in very well with corporate syndicates and someone giving us targets to work to.
“We’re good at working out what the farm owner wants and going the extra mile to make them happy.”
The couple are working towards farm ownership and believe there are opportunities in Canterbury to grow their equity quickly.
They see what some friends are achieving there and believe the area offers better growth and progression opportunities for young contract milkers and sharemilkers.
They would ideally love to stick with the herd-ownership model and milk 1000-plus cows, but know they have to be flexible.
It’s about securing a job and working hard to achieve targets for the farm owner while growing their own business.
The sharemilking pathway is still there, but you have to make it an attractive offer to the farm owner, Hamish, who is currently Waikato Federated Farmers’ sharemilker chairman, says.
“You’ve got to be a bit creative and move away from the term 50:50. The farm owner has a 10-1 investment and it’s not really relevant.
“The industry has changed and we’ve got to change with it otherwise sharemilking will die.”
Hamish and Katie Flett – always pushing the limits. Photo: Sarah Brook.
“When it comes to our contracts, we don’t sweat the small stuff. For us all we have is our reputation, that’s our vehicle for moving forward in the industry.”
The couple have worked in mid-Canterbury before, when Hamish was second in charge on a 1300-cow operation and Katie reared 2500 calves.
After two years they moved back to the Waikato in 2007-08 season to manage a 1400-cow farm operation. It was an intensive farm producing more than 2000kg MS/ha and they learnt a lot about attention to detail.
In 2009-10 they moved to a System 2 farm in Northland to work as 25% sharemilkers for Katie’s uncle in the Bay of Islands before taking on the Arohena job.
The farms have ranged from System 1 to System 5 operations and the pair is confident they can deliver any outcome a farm owner wants, no matter what the farm set-up is.
“We’ve experienced droughts, floods and even snow. Those tough times are what shape you and give you mental toughness, to cope with any experience.”
Going through those hard times and experiencing different farming systems develops you into a better farmer, Hamish says.
There are many aspects to farming which can’t be controlled, including the weather and milk price, and people have to be resilient. That only comes with time and experience, which is why young people shouldn’t be too quick to rush into positions of responsibility until they’ve had a few seasons under their belt, he says.
‘We’re good at working out what the farm owner wants and going the extra mile to make them happy.’
This year is a prime example. With a low milk price forecast already causing financial pressure, if there is another drought there will be a lot of added stress and important decisions to make. Making the best decision comes from experience.
“We are really praying we don’t get a really dry summer again this season. If there is, it will put the screws on a lot of people.”
Sharemilkers and farm owners need to work together this year and have a break-even figure in mind heading into summer. Have a discussion with the farm owner now and have a plan, he says.
Good communication with the farm owner and forward planning has to be as important as the daily farm work.
“If it does get hard, everyone is in it together. As a sharemilker you might think the farm owner has plenty of money, but you don’t know their situation. Talk to them.”
The focus should always be on the bottom line rather than production.
When they came to the farm they increased the stocking rate to 3.5 cows/ha. The production per cow dropped, but the production went up per hectare.
They work hard to maximise pasture intake and only use supplement as a top up.
“Grass is always king in NZ, that’s our advantage over the rest of the world and we can’t lose focus of that.
“I see a generation of young guys who are not focused enough on their pasture. There are a lot of people who could not farm without palm kernel and that’s dangerous.”
Knowing the weather forecast and how much grass there is ahead of the cows is important for reducing feed costs this year.
“We always want consistency of feed and milk production by maintaining our covers at a certain level.”
In spring they were producing 2kg MS/cow on just grass and 1.5kg palm kernel/cow/day at a cost of 55 cents/cow/day.
They have set a budget to spend on palm kernel for the season. They spent a lot of money between January and May last year and fed up to 680t of palm kernel to keep the cows milking and cash in on the high payout. But this year they will have to reduce their palm kernel costs by up to half.
“We will only use palm kernel as long as it’s cost effective to do so,” Hamish says.
The couple were runners up the Waikato dairy industry awards in 2012 and featured in the Dairy Exporter, July 2012, p120.
Key points
50:50 sharemilkers: Hamish and Katie Flett
Location: Rotoorangi, Waikato
Area: 190ha
Cows: 680 Friesian crossbreds
Breeding Worth: 108/42
Production Worth: 123/53
Farm dairy: 40-aside herringbone
2013-14 production: 247,000kg milksolids (MS) from 570 cows
2014-15 target production: 290,000kg MS from 680 cows, 1500kgMS/ha
Stocking rate: 3.5 cows/ha
Supplements: 1.5kg palm kernel/cow/day at $0.55/cow/day, 600 tonnes palm kernel, 250t maize
Crops: 5ha chicory
Farm working expenses: $2.23/kg MS
Grass grown: 9t DM
