Year in Review: Ātiamuri dairy farmers start from scratch with Holstein Friesian herd

The Country

30 Dec, 2024 04:00 PM5 mins to read

Ātiamuri dairy farmers Paul and Lesley Grey.

The Country looks back at some of the biggest and best stories of the past 12 months, including readers' favourites, news events and those yarns that gave us a glimpse into rural lives and livelihoods across the country.

Originally published August 20 in Coast & Country News.

Ātiamuri dairy farmers Paul and Lesley Grey never gave up their dream of owning their own farm - and in 2020, that dream came true.

“Our kids are all grown-up so it wasn’t a matter of buying a farm to stay farming, it was a matter of finding a farm we liked,” Paul said.

That ideal farm was Sue Pembridge’s 77ha farm in Ātiamuri.

The couple sharemilked in Mangakino before selling their large herd in 2015.

They settled in Tokoroa for a short stint of townie life while they searched for their ideal farm. Five years later the milk price recovered and there was an opportunity to buy Sue’s farm.

The re-establishment of the Greys’ herd began in 2020. They purchased a herd of 200 Holstein Friesian cows, with a few crossbreds.

Over four seasons they have averaged 91,000kgMS per year, around 460-470kgMS per cow. This season they are on track for a record-breaking total of 95,000-97,000kgMS.

Paul’s passion for breeding pedigree Holstein Friesians started when his father took a liking to the breed and established the Maranui stud in the 1970s.

He initially joined Holstein Friesian NZ as an associate member in 1977 and vividly recalls the first pedigree cow he bought, Longlands Atlas Karen, bred by Phil Jones.

When they bought the Ātiamuri farm, Paul considered trying something new and looked into purchasing a Jersey herd.

But his deep love of Holstein Friesians took hold and they purchased a Holstein Friesian herd.

Although the farm is primarily a pasture-based system, the Greys have a feed pad, feeding about 150 tonnes of palm kennel and 150 tonnes of maize, as well as a bit of DDG (dried distiller grains).

“The Holstein Friesian cow does take more to feed than other breeds, but she will go a lot further,” Paul said.

Paul and Lesley do about seven weeks of artificial insemination (AI) to kick off mating.

Paul is a firm believer the extra week is worth it when you consider the price paid for a 10-day Controlled Internal Drug Release (CIDR) programme.

“We start calving around July 15 and still have AI calves coming through ‘til the end of September, but that doesn’t bother me,” he said.

“I find this way I use less CIDRs, and I never have trouble selling the extra heifer calves because they’re Holstein Friesian.”

For the first season on the Ātiamuri farm, Paul went with Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) for semen.

“I needed something simple for the first season on this farm with my limited contacts,” he said.

Since then they have slowly transitioned to CRV, with the most recent mating entirely to CRV semen.

“Back when we had our bigger herd, we did nominate with CRV, but I am excited to get more adventurous and broaden our horizons.

“This is an advantage of having a smaller herd; I can be more precise, and less about numbers.”

Udders, temperament and fertility are the traits Paul said they mate for in their herd.

“Fertility is especially important. It’s heartbreaking when you can’t get a good cow in calf.

“While we are building up this herd, my priority is to focus on improving the udders throughout the herd, and I always make sure I’m picking the bulls with the better fertility trait.

“I also consider good feet, legs, and stature; I also don’t want them too big.”

As this is only the Grey’s second season with their own stock coming through, it is too soon to tell which sires are performing well.

“My initial focus was simply to get cows in calf, but I look forward to fine-tuning my selections for replacements over the coming seasons,” Paul said.

Raised around Holstein Friesians, Paul loved their looks, but over the years has come to appreciate more about the breed.

“When I was 14, I probably didn’t understand the benefits of a Holstein Friesian - they just looked a bigger and better cow.

“But the reason I have stuck with Holstein Friesians is because, for not much more money when you buy a herd, you’ve got a cow that has a better residual value when her milking season is finished; you’ve got more options for calves; and at our age, we don’t need to milk as many to produce what we do.”

Although Paul has been milking cows since he was 13 years old, he is not prepared to slow down - yet.

“We started off with a timeframe of five years,” he said.

“We are now four seasons in with one more season to go, and then we will re-evaluate what we do.

“The personal goal would be to get these cows up to 600kgMS per cow - that would be an achievement I’d be proud of - but one that could take a few more years. We’d have to build something with a bit more engine room with around 550-600kg liveweight, which can’t be achieved with the standard LIC or CRV genetics.”

Both Paul and Lesley feel the work they’ve put into the farm and their herd is just starting to come to fruition.

Paul is incredibly enthusiastic about what he does and loves to milk cows.

“I’d personally like to milk cows ‘til I’m 69,” he said.

“I work on the theory that retirement sounds all good and dandy, but it’s actually pretty damn boring, too.”