Taranaki farmer Hayden Goble has had the benefit of good luck and good timing when it has come to taking major steps in his dairy career. When he was ready to go sharemilking the global financial (GFC) crisis meant he picked up a herd of cows for a great price.
And last year when he was ready to go into an equity partnership he got a good payout his first year, which helped immensely.
He also acknowledges the good luck he has had having the assistance of his parents Kevin and Dianne who have provided him with the opportunity in the first place.
Hayden grew up on the farm located at Okato near New Plymouth and went to Telford Polytechnic after leaving school and completed a diploma in agribusiness. He returned to the farm working as a herd manager before going on his OE.
Hayden returned during the GFC and managed the farm for another year before going 50:50 sharemilking for five years on a farm owned by his grandparents Barry and Janet.
From there he and wife Bridget moved to Morrinsville due to Bridget’s career as a doctor. Hayden managed a 480-cow farm there for two years before returning to begin the equity partnership with his parents.
The 190ha effective/220ha total farm milks a herd of 575 friesian and friesian cross cows through a 50 bail rotary shed with automatic cup removers and teat sprayer. Although the move to an equity partnership has been a big jump it’s been a good move, says Hayden.
Stock has been lowered from the heydays when the family milked 650 cows on the farm, which Hayden says has resulted in more production per cow.
The farm average is 300,000 kilograms of milk solids and the target this year is similar. Theaim has been to achieve the same milk solids with the smaller herd number.
To do this Hayden places a great focus on nutrition. The farm has a feed pad and it’s about getting the right food into the cows at the right time.
Around two tonnes of supplement, mostly maize, is fed to each cow per season. They grow around 10ha of maize on farm and 20ha on run off blocks – a 13ha block and a 17ha lease block.
The family is looking at options for winter milking and is weighing up the pros and cons. Hayden is also focusing on tightening up the calving pattern and this year achieved a 10-week calving and did a 9 week mating.
Empty rates this year were 13% and a 70% six-week in-calf rate. He is hoping to improve these figures to 10% and 75-80%. A mating course he completed through the local vets was a huge help.
“It has helped me to identify what to focus on at certain times of the year and to identify areas for improvement,” he says.
The overall aim is to create an extremely efficient system with the right staff and good processes in place for every aspect of the operation. The farm employs two full-time and one part time staff member.
Dianne does accounts and rears farms while Kevin helps out when he can but he is busy focusing on another farm he and Dianne own at Waverley, which is run by contract milkers.
Hayden hopes to increase his equity in the farm to 50% in 7-10 years. He says after growing up on the farm it has been a privilege to now have some ownership of it.
“It’s always been a well-run farm because my parents have done such a good job so it’s challenging to get it to perform better. But it’s good to be able to put my own spin on things.”
This article was brought to you in association with the following businesses…
- CLAAS Harvest Centre
- Puniho Engineering & Contracting
- GoodingAg
