The Auckland-Hauraki Farm Manager of the Year has been first five-eight in a number of teams since winning a rugby scholarship from his parents’ drystock farm at Pukekawa to St Kentigen’s College in Auckland. He played in Nelson for the Makos in the ITM Cup then for the Eastwood Club in Sydney.
“But now I’ve swapped my footy boots for gumboots,” the 30-year-old says.
He and wife Louise, a hairdresser and make-up artist in a pharmacy, decided they wanted to return home to start a family in 2011.
They’re now parents to Cooper, four, and Emerson, 14 months. While drystock farming exerted a pull on them they were quick to see that dairying offered more of a pathway to farm ownership with stepping stones along the way and plenty of support.
Jim worked on a 380-cow farm at Ngatea as 2IC for 18 months where he started Level 3 Primary ITO courses, completing one by correspondence. Then he was chosen for the Farming to Succeed programme, gaining a lot from the experience of visiting a number of farms over the course of a week.
Next he spent two seasons managing 250 cows at Mangatangi where he moved on to Level 4 Primary ITO studies as well as starting his National Diploma of Agribusiness Management. Now he’s contract milking 425 cows on 160ha at Miranda for Russell and Ces Evans, who also finish 100 bulls a year.
The calving date for the Friesian-Friesian cross herd is July 23 with a consistent 12-14% empty rate. Bulls were pulled out three weeks earlier this year because of the no-inductions rule coming into force next season.
A DairyNZ System 3 is run, using pasture first before adding in supplements. Maize silage is made on 6-8ha of a 40ha runoff at nearby Waitakaruru where young stock are grazed.
Grass silage will also be made from any surplus pasture with about 90 tonnes of palm kernel bought in to feed out on an uncovered feedpad before afternoon milking.
With a mild winter the herd had to be stood off only four times. Preparations were made for the possibility of summer drought with short-maturing maize planted. A pasture renovation programme meant 7.5ha of chicory was sown which will move up to 12ha next year after being used with turnips in the past.
Chicken manure is applied as well as gypsum used instead of lime this year to add sulphur to the soil. Maintenance fertiliser won’t be going on because of the low payout and since the farm’s marine clays hold on to nutrients well.
The older 40-bail rotary dairy has automatic cup removers and teat spraying, making milking a one-person operation. Jim’s farm assistant is also his nephew Matheson Taylor, who is in his first year dairying.
The goal for the 2015-16 season is to improve production to 1000kg milksolids (MS)/ha through increasing the stocking rate, improving pasture and making certain it’s better utilised before supplements are fed out.
Production hit 120,000kg MS last season and 140,000kg MS was the target for the current one.
“We’ve hit a speed bump with the dry season but we’ll go close to that,” he says.
Jim’s immediate aim is to move to a 50:50 sharemilking position in the 2016-17 season.
“I want to broaden my horizons. We’ll try to stay in the North Island because it’s more aligned to the way we want to farm.”
This winter he plans to give something back to rugby, helping coach the local under-19 rugby team.
Second was Paeroa farm manager Eion O’Mahony, and third was Michael McCormick, a contract milker at Tuakau.
