Country lights shine brighter
A farmer with zero experience, left the city to go farming and is now a top farmer - Sonita Chandar reports.
Up until Kenny Henderson rocked up to his first farm job interview he had never set foot on a farm. He had not known that dairy farming could be a career or that someone could progress easily through the industry. The decision to turn his back on city life ‘‘just happened’’, he says.
And being a city slicker, he arrived wearing a shirt and tie and couldn’t answer any of the questions about grass production, feeding or herd management.
Despite that, he made a good impression on his prospective employers and got the job. ’’They were quite impressed that someone had made the effort,’’ he says. ’’I didn’t own a pair of gumboots, hadn’t ridden a quad bike or tractor. I told them that because I didn’t know anything I didn’t expect a huge salary.’’
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Fast forward six years and he has not only progressed from a farm assistant, he has cemented his place in the industry after winning the 2017 Hawkes BayWairarapa Farm Manager of the Year competition.
He is now the farm manager for
2008 NZ Sharemilkers of the Year Ben and Nicky Allomes, who are
50:50 sharemilkers for Kay Cassells on her Woodville property.
It was the fourth time he had entered the competition. The first time he entered was back in 2011. Although he had only been in the industry a short three months, his employers encouraged him to give it a go so he could see what it was all about. ’’I actually didn’t intend to enter the competition this year.
‘‘I went along to the launch night to support my assistant, Charlotte Oram, and while I was there a friend encouraged me to enter.’’
He says at that time, he had only been working for the Allomes for nine months and was yet to implement his own systems.
‘‘But entering gave me a really good overview of the system. ’’The feedback is invaluable and made me look at various areas where we could do things differently.’’
He says entering previously had made him more aware of his strengths and weaknesses as a manager.
‘‘Each time, the judges’ feedback gave me something extra. One of the things they kept recommending was doing some PrimaryITO papers.
‘‘I have taken that on board and I am now doing Level 5 production management and will continue on to do the diploma next year.’’
He says the biggest benefit of winning is the validation that he made the right decision to go farming and is doing his job well.
‘‘The other great thing is networking and making contacts, especially on a local level because I didn’t really know all that many people in the area.
‘‘Raising my profile will also help me in the future but at the moment my goal is to remain here and progress to self-employment as the Allomes are very progressive employers. Ben and Nicky always challenge me to do better and not settle for the status quo, to be the trendsetter and push to be the best and I am achieving that.’’
Growing up in Lower Hutt, he never dreamed he would end on a dairy farm. He was interested in architecture and design but didn’t pursue it.
Instead, he left school in 1997 halfway through his final year and went to work at a petrol station for a family friend to gain some ‘‘life experience’’.
In 2003 he met Caroline Hodge at a social function in Wellington and they married in 2010. They have two children, Jacob, 4, Lucas,
2, and a third child due in November. His daughter Simone,
15, also lives with them.
After working his way up to manager, he went to work at Transworld International – a freight company that relocate people around the world.
‘‘I sat behind a desk wearing a shirt and tie for six years.
‘‘But I got sick of dealing with people and Customs red tape.’’
He went to work as 2IC at the Big Save import and distribution warehouse for another six years but realised progression in the freight business was too slow for him.
‘‘Caroline’s brother was working on a dairy farm and he was enjoying it.
‘‘We were sitting around one day and I asked her, ‘should we give it a go?’ We looked at jobs on the internet and I applied for one.’’
That job was with Andrew and Monica Arbuthnott at Pahiatua. Within six weeks of applying, they packed up their home at Titahi Bay. He started work in September
2011.
‘‘That first day was interesting.
‘‘Andrew got me in the shed cupping cows. I had the cups upside down – something he had never seen before. I have learnt a lot since then.’’
He learnt fast and within three months was given the responsibility of looking after the day-to-day running of another farm.
‘‘It was the hardest learning experience in my life.
‘‘People talk about the physicality of farming but don’t really talk about the impact it can have on you mentally, especially when starting from scratch. I have no doubt that without Andrew’s patience and teaching I wouldn’t be where I am now.’’
To follow his plans for progression he decided to look for a management position. The family wanted to remain in the area but jobs were scarce. He was considering a relief milking business when he heard of the job with the Allomes he has now and started it last year.
Last season, the herd averaged 427kgMS of production per cow. This season he has set a total herd target of 150,000kgMS.
‘‘We work on a pasture-first system and focus on producing good quality grass.
‘‘Pasture management is crucial – every blade harvested by cows is more milk in the vat and means fewer inputs. We have a flexible system which allows us to increase or decrease supplements as and when needed.’’
They fully feed the herd at all times with the aim to maintain the peak throughout the season.
‘‘The goal is to build production quickly to 2.4kgMS/cow/day and continue to feed supplements to a certain level to maintain this. If production begins to drop, rather than reducing the amount of supplements we will reduce the number of cows and keep production up.’’
He has several supplementary feed options, including fodderbeet, turnips, peas and oats and palm kernel.
About 86 tonnes of palm kernel is used but only as a buffer if needed and 5ha of fodderbeet is grown and fed from March as the herd is dried off. They also sow turnips to feed in January and make silage from surpluses.
‘‘We select the best option at the time and are quick to implement and are quick to remove something if it is not working.
‘‘The quality of our silage dropped last December so we closed up the stack and put the herd back on the leftover fodderbeet to maintain production.’’
They buy in about 86tn of maize grain which is fed through the inshed feeding system at a rate of 1-3kg/cow.
To keep on top of grass quality he does farm walks every 10 days and uploads the data into Minda Land and Feed to generate reports. This is a job he is training Oram to do.
This is where our flexible feeding system works well.
‘‘We start with intensive grazing with 100 cows/ha, then this drops to 80 and then 55.
‘‘The aim is to graze at
2550kgDM and feed around 22kg/ cow. That is made up of 19kg of grass and the balance maize grain.’’
Most of the herd is wintered off at the run-off but they keep 120 early calving cows on the farm. Calving begins on July 29 and everything is kept, including
100-120 replacements. The rest are sent to the run-off after weaning and later sold.
‘‘I am a big believer in brix testing colostrum so that we are giving calves the best possible start.
‘‘Every calf is tube-fed with gold colostrum as soon as it is picked up out of the paddock and then fed ad lib. We do feed fresh warm milk straight from the colostrum cows which makes it a bit easier to feed calves.’’
This is his first year calf rearing and he hopes to work out a system that works for everyone as there only he and Oram are employed on the farm.
Before mating he will look through the herd records and identify any cull cows and do not put them forward. He does premating heats and metrichecks.
‘‘She has to be a really crappy cow for us to do that though. Either she has low production, breeding worth or is really stroppy.
‘‘Alternatively, we will put her to a beef breed.’’
Mating begins October 22 and they do AI for six weeks. Two teams of two angus and hereford bulls are run for a further six weeks.
Last season they mated their heifers to Ezicalf friesians as they are trying to establish a predominantly black and white herd.
Looking ahead, he says he is happy to stay put. ’’My farming goal is to remain in a stable work position in one area and farm for as long as possible to allow my wife and children a settled lifestyle,’’
‘‘Staying here and eventually progressing to self-employment would be ideal as Ben and Nicky are fantastic and really helpful and supportive.’’