Sheepish over brighter future in dairying

Years ago, John Butterworth swore he'd never pick up milking cups and headed into sheep and beef farming.
Touted as a potential lead shepherd on a Landcorp farm, the 23-year-old threw in the sheep and beef farming towel and, this season, is a 50/50 sharemilker, milking his own herd of 500 cows on his parents' 175-hectare Mamaku dairy farm. He also tends his father's deer farm on the property.
Mr Butterworth grew up on the Mamaku farm, heading off to Taratahi College as a 17-year-old and completing an agriculture ITO diploma in business management. Three years ago, he was working as head shepherd on Landcorp's Mangamingi Station, near Reporoa, making him one of the country's youngest head shepherds. At the time, he was managing a 3700-hectare station.
He had graduated from Taratahi with top honours for stockmanship and management and walked away with the Wrightson's Cup for wire work.
When he completed an Ag-Ito course at Waiariki in 2007, Mr Butterworth was chosen for the Outward Bound programme. His goal has always been farm ownership and he believes he can reach that dream by picking up the milking cups. "There are more opportunities in the dairy industry to get ahead," he said. "I have my own business now. It's hard to get ahead in the sheep industry. I like being my own boss."
He can see the advantages of taking up a position on his parents' farm.
"I grew up on this farm ... I see heaps of potential for this farm," he said. Although he made it to the top of his game as head shepherd, he couldn't see any way to get higher up the ladder as a drystock farmer.
"At 23, I couldn't see myself owning a sheep farm. Now I can see farm ownership is a great possibility. The opportunities are there. Yes, I have a huge debt but I can see myself getting ahead every day."
Today, Mr Butterworth has one full-time farm hand and one full-time milker working for him. His partner, 21-year-old Alida, also works alongside him on the farm.
He plans to take on another sharemilking position on another farm nearby next season, which he will either put a manager on or will run while continuing with his parents' farm.
He laughs when you remind him of his vow to never pick up milking cups when he headed into drystock farming as a teenager. "Oh, how the times can change. You have to move with the times though or get left behind."
The young man has also watched many of his friends change their direction from shepherding to sharemilking.
"Several of my mates have made the change, too. They realised there was a different way to get ahead and made the switch. There aren't many chances for them to buy their own farms in sheep farming," he said. "There aren't the shared equity deals you can find in the dairy industry."
As for buying his parents' farm, he doesn't think that will ever be a possibility. "I don't think mum would ever let the farm go."
Federated Farmers has been concerned about the "desperate state" of the New Zealand sheep meat sector. Eighteen months ago, Meat and Fibre section chairman Bruce Wills expressed concern at the collapse in lamb numbers with a 15 per cent drop in lambing than in the previous spring. At the time, a lot was being said about 40,000 New Zealanders leaving for Australia, yet an average of "nine lambs a minute" were being lost from the agriculture industry.
In 1982, there were 70 million sheep in New Zealand. Today, there are fewer than half that number.
Sheep farmers had been receiving worsening returns for decades, said Mr Wills, who added that farmers needed to become creative. "To see us through this short-term challenge and on to a stronger and better industry, we must look to the creativity, determination and sheer hard work that New Zealand farmers are known for," he said.
This year, Mr Wills welcomed the release of the Wool Industry Taskforce report for restoring profitability to the wool industry.
"The future of wool is really the future of the $3.4 billion New Zealand sheep industry."
The report focuses on commercial solutions.
"It's all about getting wool and the New Zealand sheep industry back on its own four feet," he said.