Ryan Burton does not anticipate having any difficulty attracting the right staff to the family dairy farm – Kopuatai on the Hauraki Plains – when he steps into contract milking this June.
The 180 hectare farm, with a 55 hectare run-off down the road, is running well as a result of money well spent on the whole farm operation.
It recently started using a milk prediction tool – GrainCorp’s TrackerTM – to provide more accurate estimation of milk fl ow and this innovation has been working very well.
Substantial reinvestment has also been made in farm infrastructure. Follo wing last year’s storms and floods, new drainage culverts were installed.
Tired old fence posts have also been renewed and new gateways put in place. As well, a new mole plough has been purchased, along with a new tractor purchased from local dealer Whyteline, and new farmbikes.
“Having the right attitude is pretty essential,” Ryan says. “You’ve also got to be prepared to pay more if you want to attract the right people who will be really motivated.”
While Ryan is young to be taking on a contract milking role, the 27-year-old has plenty of agricultural industry experience and has worked on- and off-farm for many years.
As well as working for agricultural contractors and driving stock trucks, he drove tankers for Fonterra for five years and has completed AgITO training (levels three and four).
“In between contracting, I’ve done calving on the farm as well. I’ve been relief milking since I was ten years old.
Everyone makes mistakes but you’re looking to learn more on the farm with very new season.” Since mid-2017, he’s been working as 2IC at Kopuatai, which has a mix of clay and peat soils.
The property has a 43-a-side herringbone shed, milking 570 cows, a mostly Kiwi cross herd. While this is a System 3 farm with in-shed feeders, Ryan observes that they grow as much grass as they possibly can.
“We grow sixteen hectares of chicory each year as a summer crop but it comes back into grass in April as part of our re-grassing programme.”
Currently, Ryan and his brother Alex, an electrician, are growing their equity share to join their father’s investment in the family farm. “It was always my goal to get a share in the farm and I’m achieving that now,” says Ryan.
Ryan Burton has taken a leaf out of Marco Polo’s book, having visited 32 countries in the past three years, including Egypt. The 27 year-old is building up his shareholding in the family farm at Kopuaiti, on the Hauraki Plains, currently milking 570 cows through a 47-a-side herringbone shed.
“Over the next 10 to 15 years, I will be working towards reaching 40 to 50 per cent ownership.” While working as a tanker driver, Ryan used his holidays to travel extensively.
Having visited 32 countries in three years, he can say he’s well and truly ‘ticked that box’ and is ready to commit all his time and expertise to contract milking.
Animal care will be a key priority throughout the coming year. Soaring temperatures saw the farm switch to once-a-day milking just before Christmas.
Normally that would not happen until the end of January. “We didn’t know if we were going to get rain – we could have been looking down the barrel of a drought.
“We have had some rain so the country is looking green but everything is still tinder dry. Maybe we could have stayed on twice-a-day a bit longer, but as it is we can carry on milking for longer and the cows are in good condition. They haven’t lost weight – it has been the right call.”
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Changing of the guard at Kopuaiti
