Fast tracking their 10-year plan
Sonita Chandar talks to a couple who skipped a few steps to their 10-year plan to farm ownership.
A young Dannevirke couple who started dairying with just $5 in their bank account have gone on to build a successful farming business.
It has not been an easy journey for the former townies and at one point they almost walked away from the dairy industry.
Before embarking on their first sharemilking job in 2006, Brad and Chantelle Mcnaughton used all their savings and more to live on until their first milk cheque came in. Then a few years later they faced a tough and difficult season on a new conversion.
But they persevered and when they won the national Farm Manager of the Year in 2011, they had a five-year plan to go 50:50 sharemilking and 10-year plan to own a dairy farm.
More changes were to come. Their policy of buying heifers for their Dannevirke farm leasing them out for a season, milking them for one season then selling them the following year as in-calf cows allowed them to skip 50:50 and take the step to farm ownership much earlier than planned.
Within a few short years, the Mcnaughtons owned one farm and leased the neighbouring property.
Originally from Palmerston North, Brad decided school wasn’t for him and left at the age of 16 in 1996.
‘‘I really had no huge ambitions at that point,’’ he says.
‘‘My brother was keen on farming and working at Linton so I helped him with milking a couple of times and was hooked.’’
He applied for a job through AGITO for six months but being away from home and having no farming knowledge proved difficult.
‘‘I was young, fresh and knew absolutely nothing,’’ he says.
‘‘I had little support so moved back to Linton to be closer to family and friends and got a job as farm assistant with Braeden Whitelock milking 1000 cows.’’
The following season, he moved to Fielding where he took on another farm assistant position.
‘‘Eventually I took on more and more responsibility and became herd manager,’’ he says.
‘‘But there was no room to progress from there.’’
After completing a sports degree at UCOL in Palmerston North, Chantelle went on to Massey University to do a post graduate in teaching. During this time, she moved onto the farm with Brad. They married in 2005 and have three children, Jayden, 8, Peyton, 5, and Addie, 3.
Later that same year, a neighbour told Brad he was moving to Patoka near Napier to work as operations manager on a farm and offered him the farm manager’s position.
‘‘Chantelle and I decided if we were going to do this we were going to do it properly and save as much as we could,’’ Brad says.
‘‘We started with nothing. Within six months we saved $10,000, which was a small amount but something. However the banks wouldn’t finance us into anything.’’
When another farm manager mentioned he was looking at going sharemilking, the couple thought that ‘‘maybe we could do that’’.
‘‘We applied for three sharemilking jobs that were closer to family and friends and got one in Pahiatua milking 330 cows for Bud Hewitt,’’ Chantelle says.
Between jobs, the couple used their entire savings plus a $5000 overdraft to get by.
‘‘Over the non-productive months, we still had to pay the bills,’’ Chantelle says.
‘‘With neither of us working and the season yet to start, we struggled a bit. By the end of it we had $5 left in our account.’’
She secured a relief teaching job which quickly became fulltime. This kept them afloat.
In their first season in Pahiatua, the payout was very good. They cleared any debts they had and ended up with a surplus.
‘‘We were lucky with the payout in that first season,’’ Brad says.
‘‘So we bought a rental property in Palmerston North, then another in our second season after our sharemilking percentage changed.’’
Doing record production that season also helped boost their coffers so the couple looked to a new challenge.
That challenge proved to be almost too much - the farm was a new conversion.
‘‘We almost left the industry after that job,’’ Brad says.
‘‘Being a new conversion, the job was the hardest and the season the most difficult we have faced. But at the end of the day, farming was what I knew and enjoyed so we stayed.’’
The following year when a friend mentioned his dad was looking for a contract milker, the couple took the opportunity to step up.
After two seasons and with the help of a stock agent and their bank, they leased 260 heifers to build their equity further.
‘‘The price was low but the figures stacked up,’’ Brad says.
‘‘We were building our herd. The intention was to buy heifers, milk them for a season, lease them out and then do it again. The lease payment we received basically paid for it all.’’
Heifers were only bought if they had a farm to go to.
By this stage Brad was confident about how the farm worked and performed.
In 2011, the couple got wind that the farm owner was considering leasing the farm so approached him. They secured a three-year lease.
In their first season leasing, they milked 180 three-year-olds. The rest of the existing herd was sold and new heifers bought.
’’Our aim was to turn over the herd each season but plans often change,’’ Brad says.
Halfway through their second season they took on the lease of the neighbour’s property, which meant they needed all available stock.
Their next step was approaching the farm owner of the first lease farm with an offer to buy.
‘‘We spoke to the banks and the owner and eventually finalised the deal,’’ Brad says.
The couple took over on June 1, 2014, just three years into their 10-year plan.
‘‘We are still finding our way even though we have been in the industry for a while,’’ he says.
Last season, the herd averaged 400kg to produce 154,000kg MS. This season, they are targeting 185,000kg with 430 cows.
In previous years, they have bought in about 400 tonnes of PKE but last season reduced this to 260 tonnes and also dropped cow numbers from 430 to 370.
‘‘We are still only 2.8 cows to the hectare though,’’ he says.
‘‘We are trying a low input system so we can compare the two seasons.
‘‘I see the farm stock numbers at about 400.’’
On June 1, 300 head were sold, but with the stock they had leased out, only needed to buy in 50 to get numbers back up to 430.
About 10ha of turnips will be sown and fed from January to March and Brad is considering 15ha of barley cereal silage. Crop paddocks are sown back into pasture with the target of regrassing 10 per cent annually.
‘‘We have tried growing chicory in the past,’’ he says.
‘‘The first year was good but the second year we were hit by drought so it didn’t perform.
‘‘ We have had four dry periods in the last two years so it is a matter of finding something that will still perform.’’
Pasture is grazed at 2700kg of dry matter with about 1500kgdm residuals left.
‘‘I like the cows to be fully fed at all times,’’ Brad says.
‘‘I am always driving around the farm to see what is happening so we can be well-prepared.’’
Calving began on August 1 with all heifer calves kept and the best 100 kept as replacements.
Chantelle makes sure all calves are given a first feed of warm colostrum as soon as they arrive in the shed.
This season, calf rearing will be a lot easier for them at their farm.
‘‘We did not have the facilities to rear 100 calves in one place and had to go to six different locations around the farm to feed them,’’ she says.
‘‘This was taking nearly three hours which was ridiculous. Since then, we have built a six-bay shed so the calves can be housed in one place which will make it much easier.’’
Chantelle says they prefer to keep calves inside as long as possible.
’’The important thing is to feed them and keep them dry and warm,’’ she says.
Target weaning is 100kg after which they are sent to a grazier in Pahiatua returning as in-calf heifers.
No pre-mating is carried out although a few weeks out from the start of mating on October 23, Brad metri-checks the herd and treats any non-cycling cows.
‘‘We don’t use CDIRS or other methods,’’ Brad says.
‘‘I believe the best way to get cows in-calf is to feed them well and if she doesn’t get in calf, then we still have the milk in the vat from her.’’
Artificial insemination is carried out for 10 weeks through to January 1 which Brad believes is more cost-effective than leasing bulls to put over the herd. From December 1 hereford semen is used for the tail-end and any low BW cows.
They have just recorded their worst empty rate of 13 per cent normally 6-8 per cent. However Brad believes this is due to 50 carry-overs who recorded a 25 per cent empty rate.
Away from the farm work, they spend as much time as possible with family.
’’Family comes first,’’ Chantelle says.
‘‘We enjoy spending time as a family and going to the children’s school events or sports. I still do the odd relief-teaching job which keeps me busy.’’
Brad who is keen on motorsports, still has a go-kart but says he doesn’t have the time to race it. He has also been busy developing a man-cave of sorts where he can relax and socialise with friends away from the farm work.
Two years ago, he became a Fonterra Networker after being approached by the local manager.
‘‘I am probably more passionate about Fonterra and have a greater appreciation for the co-op,’’ he says.
‘‘The co-op is not always perfect but it is good to know the ins and outs and what Fonterra is actually all about.’’
Farm Facts: Owners: Brad and Chantelle Mcnaughton Location: Dannevirke, Tararua Farm Size: 100ha, 80ha lease Cows: 430 crossbreed Production: 2015-2016 154,000kg MS
Target: 2016-2017 185,000kg MS