Almost half of Smit's herd calves in the autumn, starting in early March and finishing by ANZAC Day.
The remainder of the herd begins calving in late July.
"As a young 50/50 sharemilker who's just starting out, it's been a big advantage for me not having to cull all of my empty cows each year," he said.
Pete Smit's herd produced almost 130,000 kilograms of milksolids (kgMS) in the 2019-20 season. Photo / Supplied
Smit bought the Holstein Friesian herd off his brother Floyd in 2018.
"Most of the cows were descendants of pedigree animals from my parents' Hibi Holsteins herd," he said.
"There's a strong influence of genetics from Waipiri Holsteins in there as well."
With the milk payout forecast to drop from last season's estimated $7.15 per kgMS to as low as $5.90 per kgMS this season, Smit has his eye on his budgets.
"Extra supplement is only bought in at the right price," he said.
"My focus for the next couple of seasons is on debt reduction and trying to manage my business's cashflow in these uncertain times."
Smit hopes to progress to a larger 50/50 sharemilking position within the next five to 10 years.
"Long term I'd like to own a dairy farm, but that's likely to be through an equity partnership," he said.
Pete Smit sharemilks on a 68-hectare farm at Ohaupo. Photo / Supplied
Smit is passionate about Holstein Friesians and breeding high-producing dairy cows.
He does his own artificial insemination and this season will do all AI and use no bulls for the first time.
"My in-calf results have been quite good recently, so I decided to back myself and do away with having bulls as a back-up," he said.
"I use a mix of New Zealand and overseas genetics over the herd."
"I focus on trying to breed animals with lots of capacity, good management traits and high components," he said.
Pete Smit is in his third season as a herd-owning sharemilker. Photo / Supplied
Smit enjoys assessing the structural traits of dairy animals entered in livestock shows and has been an associate judge for several years.
He was recently awarded the coveted Frank Pfister Trophy for being the highest-scoring youth member at a Holstein Friesian NZ judging school.
"It was a bit of a shock. I thought I did well on the day, most of my placings were in line with the over judges," he said.
"But judging dairy cattle is quite subjective, there is often no right or wrong answer."
The result has seen Smit graduate to the senior judges' list, meaning he will be able to judge on his own at A&P Shows this summer.
It offers an amazing opportunity to grow his skills, but with no staff, Pete will need the support of his family if he is called up to the show ring.
"I'm really fortunate that when opportunities like that present themselves my family gets around me and helps out," he said.
