The Rural Voice, 1993-03, Page 36Travel
Dairying in New Zealand familiar yet different
Jamie Paterson is a typical New
Zealand dairy farmer. Jamie Paterson
is a typical New Zealand dairy farmer
and in many respects similar to his
Canadian counterparts.
He gets up at 5:30 a.m. each
morning, seven days a week, to milk
the cows that provide himself, wife
Chris and young sons Cameron and
Alan with a living. As the sun is
creeping up over the horizon he herds
the Holstein Fresians into the paved
yard, and flips switches that bring the
vacuum milking system, water pumps
and sounds of the local radio station
to life.
The first set of milkers suck
themselves firmly into position after
being placed by a sure pair of hands
between a set of shifting back legs.
But as one glances down the row of
cows waiting their turn to be milked,
the differences between Paterson's
morning chores and that of a dairy
farmer in southwestern Ontario
become apparent.
Waiting for Paterson are 174 more
cows that he will milk, clean the
equipment, and wash down the yards
and milk shed, all within three hours.
The same job will be repeated, alone,
in two hours that evening, two and a
half hours if I am allowed to help.
Time is saved by eliminating the
washing of udders, a procedure
common in Canada to stimulate cows
to let down their milk and remove
dirt. Farmers and veterinarians here
agree there has been no increase and
in fact a decrease in mastitis as a
result of this practise; having cows on
grass year round helps keep them
cleaner, of course.
And while he looks around from
the floor of the milking pit in the 18-
a -side herringbone parlour, Paterson
is able to gaze directly onto the green
grass his cows are eager to return to,
the view unobstructed by barn walls
as he smoothly shifts milkers back
and forth from one side of the pit to
the other. Milking sheds in New
Zealand are little more than tin roofs
over the milking equipment with the
only enclosed section containing the
huge bulk tanks necessary to handle
all the milk the country's
32 THE RURAL VOICE
approximately 15,000 dairy farmers
produce.
A strong feeling of optimism is
currently running through the New
Zealand dairy industry as farmgate
prices for milk have steadily
increased while the money received
for other major farm commodities,
by Bob Reid
like lamb and kiwi fruit, has
plummeted. Producers are paid 20
cents per litre monthly by the milk
processing companies responsible for
handling their milk. This represents
80 per cent of the overall price with a
final payment received in August at
the end of the dairy season.
Dairy farmers here get a break
from milking cows during a winter
shutdown period in June and July.
The entire herd is dried off during the
months of least grass growth and
calved in August when the cycle
begins again.
"It is a good thing to have," said
Paterson, 39, of
the welcome
break. The
majority of
farmers take the
opportunity to
get away from
the farm, many
on overseas
trips as Kiwis
are known as
world
travellers.
"I used to
think I was
indispensable
(to the farm),"
he continued,
adding "if you
are indispensible he system is too
complicated."
The few dairy farmers who don't
receive a holiday are those supplying
milk for domestic use on a year-
round basis. Referred to as "town
supply" this milk receives a premium
of around 25 per cent because of the
extra feed costs in the New Zealand
winter season occurring during the
same months as summer in Canada.
Because New Zealand has only a
small population of three million, 95
per cent of the milk produced goes
for export, mostly to the United
Kingdom with southeast Asia its
fastest growing market. This is
mainly in the form of powdered milk
and butter.
Canadian farmers would gladly
exchange their winter feed bills for
those incurred by Paterson on his 164
acre farm in the Central Plateau
region of the North Island, one of the
premier dairying regions. He needs
25 bales per cow to see them through
the winter months in a feeding
program he referred to as "controlled
starvation." In an average year no
grain is fed although the past two
winters have been unusually harsh
prompting increased interest in corn
silage as a winter feed replacement.
It seldom drops below freezing
during the winter on the property
Paterson purchased five years ago
after 11 years as a share milker.
Share milking is the usual way
young aspiring
farmers here get
into the business.
They enter a three-
year agreement
with a farm owner
who will provide
land, buildings and
fertilize the grass
while the share
milker provides the
cows and labour,
with the milk
cheque and returns
from calf sales
divided equally.
"People move
through the system
quicker here,"
suggested Paterson of the dairy
industry. Share milking allows
farmers to retire earlier from milking
cows yet remain involved. Few farm
owners milk beyond their 50th
birthday.
Paterson, who immigrated from
Scotland in 1974, is currently looking
for a larger farm that would be more
suitable for attracting a share milker.
The entire herd
is dried of
during the
winter
shutdown
period in June
and July