Dairy farmers Stu and Kim Muir have spent a lot of time restoring waterways on the northern banks of the Waikato River.
And now they’re inviting guests to a purpose-built eco-cottage on a high point of their farm at Aka Aka to soak up not only the views and environment but also a taste of rural life surprisingly close to Auckland.
Stu’s family have farmed here for five generations, since they drove stock from East Cape to Auckland. His father broke with tradition to run sheep and beef then reverted back to dairying. Growing up Stu went whitebaiting with his grandfather, scooping the plentiful catch into kerosene tins. He went to Otago University to complete a Bachelor of Arts in New Zealand history.
“I was more into music then,” he says.
“But deep down it was on the radar to come back to the farm.”
He spent three years travelling in Asia and Africa before making up his mind dairying was what he wanted to do. He worked for wages in a sole-charge position on a town supply farm at Mangere before his parents’ sharemilker left and he was able to return to Aka Aka.
In the 1997-98 season the 126ha farm was running 280 cows and Stu learned quickly from local farmers and vets. He and Kim, who is originally from Gisborne, were able to buy a neighbouring property of 48ha then leased a 200ha block at the Awhitu Peninsula to run young stock and beef cattle. After buying the farm from his parents the next move, 10 years ago, was to build a 7000 m2 concrete feedpad to be able to keep all stock onfarm. With the addition of a Redpath covering last season it now plays more of a part as a calving area.
“Production per-cow and per-hectare grew exponentially while we were able to reduce staff numbers,” Stu says.
“It’s the best thing we’ve ever done as it makes calving so easy.”
A lot of work has been done draining the swampy flats and contouring paddocks before a crop of maize goes in. While 20-25ha of maize, grown on 10% of the farm, has been made into silage for the past seven years they’ve planted the equivalent area in a mix of chicory and plantain.
“We watched Massey University trial work and tried a mix of the two with two clovers,” Stu says.
“But we found that in the dry years the clovers didn’t provide enough feed.”
They now use a straight chicory-plantain mix and have slowed their pasture renovation plans to match the lower payout.
“We’ve stopped focusing on production and have dropped 10% of cows this year so we’re back to 460,” Stu says.
Their replacement rate has dropped from up to 20% to 8-10% with culling mainly on somatic cell counts and foot issues. There’s just a 3% empty rate in their heifers and one empty that was culled was an impressive 17 years old.
They use a combination of CRV Ambreed and LIC semen but at last year’s mating moved from nominated sires to bull-of-the-day. Calving has been brought forward by 10 days to start on August 1 with gypsum dusted on the springers’ feed putting an end to milk fever issues.
“We’ve really nailed it in the last two years,” Stu says.
Lameness can be an issue in the spring until the bulls go out, because of the spread-out nature of the farm.
Half the herd calves in the first two weeks of calving, with 80% calving in the first month. The six-week in-calf rate is 90%.
Kim is in charge of calf-rearing, feeding the calves four litres of milk each day in the shed they’re moved to from the feedpad, then getting them out on to grass as soon as possible.
After realising they were trying to do too much on the farm, they now send all young stock away to local grazier John Craig.
“That was one of the biggest turnarounds,” Stu says.
“He does an exceptional job.”
They’re regularly weighed which mean they’re quiet to handle and also come back to the farm at their cow weight, which means they can easily be confused for two or three-year-olds.
In 2008 the 34-aside herringbone was replaced with a 54-bail rotary, complete with in-dairy feeding, automatic cup removers and teat spraying as well as weighing and drafting. Previously three staff were needed at milking, a strain when this took up to four hours twice a day, particularly at calving and milking. Now it’s a one-person job with Stu and 2IC, James Doidge, each only needing to milk once a day for less than one and a half hours.
They used to move to 16-hour milkings once milkflows dropped to an average of 1.5kg milksolids per cow, aware of the long distances they were walking from some paddocks on the farm and summer heat stress. But now they find starting milking at 7am and again at 5pm gets around the problem.
“I like milking early because I’ve then got the rest of the day to do other work,” Stu says.
Palm kernel and dried distillers grain was fed in the dairy but in the coming season that’s being replaced by locally sourced potato waste added to maize and grass silage.
“I look at it in the same way as the wintering pad,” he says.
“It’s a tool to be used when it’s needed.”
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And he also points to recent DairyNZ research showing taking meal feeding out of the dairy increases its efficiency because cows get off the platform earlier. But in-dairy or high supplement feeding is most profitable at higher stocking rates utilising grass first.
“We are in the top 25% profit according to DairyBase, but we want to be in the top 10%,” he says.
The 60ha effluent area was increased with the new dairy being built with the rest of the farm getting regular dressings of chicken manure from a local farm. New pasture will receive double with regular soil tests making sure fertility levels are kept up.
Stu’s always been particularly interested in the environment on the farm and was worried when he saw water quality and whitebait catches dropping.
“There’s no point complaining,” he says.
“You’ve got to do something.”
His answer was to build on the work his father had started with the aim of returning marginal areas to their natural state but to make sure good dairying land was 100% productive. With Waikato River Authority funding they’ve opened up seven kilometres of stream on the farm which was used as a waka route from the north. But three kilometres had become un-navigable with willows and weeds such as privet and pampas blocking the channel.
They’ve also created tidal ponds and wetlands with up to 40,000 native seedlings planted, mainly flax, kowhai and hebes. Some exotics also thrive, such as elders.
“You’ve got to choose your enemies,” Stu says.
“And they help shade the native seedlings in the short term.”
Birdlife has increased, especially kereru, tui and bitterns along with Californian quail, thanks to the new vegetation and also because Stu traps stoats, weasels and rats.
“The possums are pretty much under control,” he says.
School groups often visit in winter to do the planting as well as experience daily life on a dairy farm, with numbers growing steadily. Markers placed along the riverbanks show them if they return just how high the seedlings they planted have grown.
“It helps improve the rural-urban divide and shows students that there are lots of opportunities for bright young people,” he says.
Stu’s also involved with Waikato River island restoration programmes and children Hazel and Sandy do their bit by helping net koi carp which have slowed river flow. A neighbour has let Stu do some planting on his property and he’s also been helping the National Institute and Water Atmospheric Science (NIWA) to stop the growth of alligator weed along the river and develop fish-friendly floodgates.
A fenced-off hill area on the farm is being used to calculate how run-off increases when pine trees are removed under a World Wildlife Fund trial.
A recent venture for the Muirs has been building Te Papa Eco Cottage on a high point of the farm, from recycled materials. The foundations were where Stu’s grandfather used to have a hut with some of the timber coming from an old garage on the farm. The large deck gives visitors a beautiful view of streams winding their way through newly planted bush areas. There are activities available like mountain-biking tracks to explore and at the end of the day an outdoor bath to relax in while enjoying a spectacular sunset. A mix of overseas and local visitors have been drawn here with bookings coming in the day after the listing first appeared on Airbnb.
“It’s something positive we can do,” Stu says.
He’s also just completed the Fonterra Governance Programme.
“I’m not good at saying no and I like to be busy.”
Social life shouldn’t come second
Dairy farming needs to look at shortening farm workers’ hours so they can enjoy a social life, Stu Muir says.
“Then farm owners would get to see the people they employ enjoying themselves.”
He’s very aware of the problems that can come with young people working long hours, particularly at busy times of the year onfarm such as during calving. They will leave the industry after a couple of seasons because they’re burned out and have had little or no social life.
He makes a point of asking workers applying for a position on his farm if they surf, whitebait or enjoy duck shooting as all these activities are just a short distance away.
And then he shortens their hours so they can enjoy all the area has to offer.
“DairyNZ needs to do something,” he says.
“We need to have the discussion.”
Farm facts
Location: Aka Aka, southwest of Pukekohe
Owners: Stu and Kim Muir
Staff: 2IC, James Doidge
Area: 200ha, 140 effective
Herd: 460 Kiwicross, Breeding Worth 112/40, Production Worth, 125/49, recorded ancestry, 83%
Production: 2013-14 210,000kg milksolids (MS), 2014-15, 201,000kg MS, target 2015-16, 186,000kg MS
Dairy: 54-bail, fully automated rotary
Supplements: 2016-17, 2kg/cow/day of potato waste and maize silage along with grass silage.
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