They carried on a family legacy in winning the Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa Sharemilker/Equity Farmer of the Year title.
Tony’s parents, Louis and Barbara Kuriger, won the 1987 Taranaki Sharemilker of the Year competition, while his sister, Rachel Short, formed a winning combination with husband Kenneth in that region’s competition last year.
Tony and Zoe are in their third year of a 21% variable-order sharemilking contract on a 284ha property just out of Woodville in Tararua District. Milking 740 cows through a 60-bail rotary dairy, the couple also have a 25% equity holding in the farm business.
Not your typical dairy farmers, Tony has a Bachelor of Science with Honours majoring in chemistry while Zoe has a Bachelor of Science with a postgraduate diploma in genetics.
Both qualifications are put to good use in the farming operation. The knowledge of chemistry has come in handy in helping to mitigate the farm’s environmental impact. The farm bounds the Manawatu River and is easily observed from State Highway 2 – responsibilities the Kurigers and the other farm owners take seriously.
They have managed to develop a farming system which nutrient budgeting software Overseer models as leaching just 17kg N/ha, including support land. Instrumental in achieving this are the two HerdHomes on the farm.
The pasture-based diet is topped up with maize silage. Minimal nitrogen fertiliser is used. The nutrient budget is based on an annual figure of 135kg N/ha but the past two years have averaged less than half of that.
Each cow is individually allocated a bull depending on that cow’s specific traits. They are aiming for a mid-weight cow – smaller Friesian or larger-framed Jersey – with a sound udder and high level of natural fertility.
The Kurigers also had a good run in the merit awards for the competition, collecting five in total. Their determination to mitigate the farm’s environmental impact was recognised with the Meridian Energy Farm Environment Award.
As well as reducing the farm’s Overseer nitrogen leaching value, they have put up several kilometres of fencing to exclude waterways, continued a riparian planting strategy, retired some areas of the platform completely, and rejuvenated wetlands.
Dannevirke sharemilkers Blair and Naomi Castles were second and also took out the LIC Recording and Productivity Award. Third place went to Pirinoa-based sharemilkers Glen and Trish Rankin, who also won the DairyNZ Human Resources Award and the Ecolab Farm Dairy Hygiene Award. The Federated Farmers Leadership Award went to Bernie and April Cox of Carterton.
