Western Southland dairy farmers move to Bay of Plenty to grow gold kiwifruit

Dairy farmers Owen and Cathy Copinga are bidding farewell to dairy farming in Western Southland. Photo / Shawn McAvinue

When Owen and Cathy Copinga departed their dairy farm and Holstein Friesian stud in Western Southland for the final time on Wednesday, they closed a chapter more than two decades in the making. The couple talked to Shawn McAvinue from Southern Rural Life, about knowing it was the right time to move on to grow gold kiwifruit in the Bay of Plenty.

Owen and Cathy Copinga will close a chapter of 21 years of dairy farming in Western Southland as they depart for a new life in the Bay of Plenty.

The couple had held a dispersal sale earlier this month and had a full clearance of the 150 cattle on offer - a mix of cows and calves with elite genetics, Owen said.

The average price for the cattle was more than $3000.

He was excited to now see those genetics perform in herds across New Zealand.

A decision to move north was first mooted about two years ago.

“The time was right to take the next step,” Copinga said.

Cathy said both of their mothers died in the past two years and it spurred them to reflect on their achievements and the future.

“We thought, we’ve gone this far and why are we carrying on?”

None of their three daughters were interested in taking over the farm, she said.

Also, a couple of years ago, her husband had four stents put in his heart.

“We thought it was time to reset our goals and start a new life.”

Another reason for the decision to sell the farm was two “highly competent” staff moved on and it was hard to replace them.

“We’ve always enjoyed farming and we’ve reached an age we’ve realised we can’t continue where we are at, so it’s time to move on,” she said.

Owen and Cathy Copinga have been dairy farming in Western Southland for 21 years. Photo / Shawn McAvinue

They have bought a 60-ha block to develop in Te Puke, including establishing a block of gold kiwifruit.

Owen said his son-in-law and daughter, who lived across the gully from their new property, were heavily involved in the kiwifruit industry.

“This opportunity came up and it fitted in with our next step.”

Being closer to their two granddaughters was also “hugely important”, Copinga said.

Dairy farming was in his blood; his father was a “peasant” dairy farmer in the Netherlands and emigrated to New Zealand in the 1950s.

Owen and Cathy entered the dairy industry after leaving university in 1985 and deciding they did not want office jobs.

They worked for Copinga’s parents in central North Island, who helped them buy their first cows.

They went sharemilking and then bought their first farm in the district.

In 2002, they moved to Isla Bank in Western Southland and converted a 210-ha sheep farm to a dairy farm and called it Rivendell.

Now the farm was about 440ha including lease blocks. The farm was self-contained, all of the feed was grown on-farm and all of the cattle were wintered in a barn.

“That was the ideal we always aimed for,” he said.

Cathy agreed.

“We have high standards and grazing out never seemed to work very well - the stock wouldn’t do as well as we could do them here.”

Dairy farmers in Southland faced fewer environmental challenges than their North Island counterparts, such as droughts, poor quality soil, grass grub and flies and animal health challenges such as eczema, she said.

Owen said environmental challenges made it difficult for a farmer to achieve the genetic potential of an animal.

Southland had allowed them to meet all their goals for farming and their herd, he said.

“It’s an ideal environment for cows and you grow quality grass.”

Holstein Friesian had always been their breed of choice.

Their stud Rivendell Holstein Friesians was formed in the mid-1980s.

The name of the stud was a nod to them being fans of the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, Cathy said.

“Rivendell is where the elf kingdom is,” she said.

“Paradise, basically,” Owen said.

One of the bulls they bred, Rivendell MFU Scotch, won the 2022 Mahoe Trophy, a Holstein Friesian New Zealand (HFNZ) award.

The trophy was awarded to the breeder of the New Zealand-bred Holstein Friesian bull with the highest aggregate points for breeding worth, protein and fat breeding values and type traits.

Scotch was selected as part of the 2018 HFNZ Genetic Leaders team and marketed by CRV as a daughter-proven sire.

They had won several industry awards and had always aimed to breed a bull for the artificial breeding industry, he said.

“We’ve pretty much ticked all the boxes that we’ve always wanted to do.”

They had never had any long-term intention to leave Southland, which they had considered their home since arriving 21 years ago, Copinga said.

“Southland is a fantastic place to live - there’s no doubt about it - we’ve made some wonderful friends here.”

Despite leaving the industry, he would remain the treasurer of HFNZ.

“I enjoy governance, it’s an important role.”

The ownership of their dairy farm, Rivendell, changed hands on Thursday.

Neil and Sue Hollingworth, of Roslyn Bush near Invercargill, had bought the farm and would run a herd of their own Jerseys and the remaining Holstein Friesian herd, Copinga said.

“It’s really nice that a family has purchased the farm.”