Dairy farmers Paul and Lesley Grey never gave up their dream of owning farm land – and in 2020 that dream came true. They’re now four seasons in and planning their next move.
With decades of experience under their belts, the couple sharemilked in Mangakino before selling their large herd in 2015. They then settled in Tokoroa for a short stint of townie life while they searched for their ideal farm. Five years later, the milk price recovered and there was an opportunity to buy Sue Pembridge’s 77ha farm in Atiamuri.
“Our kids are all grown up so it wasn’t a matter of buying a farm to stay farming, it was a matter of finding a farm we liked,” Paul says.
When they bought the Atiamuri farm, Paul considered trying something new and looked into purchasing a Jersey herd. But his deep love of Holstein Friesians took hold and they purchased a Holstein Friesian herd – his lifelong passion for breeding pedigree Holstein Friesians started when his father took a liking to the breed and established the Maranui stud in the 1970s.
The re-establishment of their herd began in 2020. They purchased a herd of 200 Holstein Friesian cows, with a few crossbreds. Over four seasons they have averaged 91,000kg MS per year, around 460-470kg MS per cow. This season they are on track for a record-breaking total of 95,000-97,000kg MS.
Although the farm is primarily a pasture-based system, the Greys have a feedpad, feeding about 150 tonnes of palm kennel and 150t of maize, as well as a bit of DDG (Dried Distiller Grains).
“The Holstein Friesian cow does take more to feed than other breeds, but she will go a lot further.”
Paul and Lesley do about seven weeks of AI to kick off mating. Paul is a firm believer that the extra week is worth it when you consider the price paid for a 10-day CIDR programme.
“We start calving around July 15 and still have AI calves coming through till the end of September, but that doesn’t bother me,” he says. “I find this way I use less CIDRs, and I never have trouble selling the extra heifer calves because they’re Holstein Friesian.”
For the first season on the Atiamuri farm, Paul went with LIC for semen.
“I needed something simple for the first season on this farm with my limited contacts,” he says. Since then they have slowly transitioned to CRV, with the most recent mating entirely to CRV semen.
Udders, temperament, and fertility are the traits Paul says they mate for in their herd.
“While we are building up this herd, my priority is to focus on improving the udders throughout the herd,” he says. “And I always make sure I’m picking the bulls with the better fertility trait. I also consider good feet, legs, and stature; I also don’t want them too big.”
As this is only the Grey’s second season with their own stock coming through, it is too soon to tell which sires are performing well.
“My initial focus was simply to get cows in calf, but I look forward to fine-tuning my selections for replacements over the coming seasons,” Paul says.
Raised around Holstein Friesians, Paul loved their looks but over the years he has come to appreciate more about the breed.
“When I was 14, I probably didn’t understand the benefits of a Holstein Friesian – they just looked like a bigger and better cow,” he says. “But the reason I have stuck with Holstein Friesians is because for not much more money when you buy a herd, you’ve got a cow that has a better residual value when her milking season is finished; you’ve got more options for calves; and at our age we don’t need to milk as many to produce what we do.”
While Paul has been milking cows since he was 13 years old, he is not prepared to slow down – yet.
“We started off with a timeframe of five years,” he says. “We are now four seasons in with one more season to go, and then we will re-evaluate what we do.
“The personal goal would be to get these cows up to 600kg MS per cow – that would be an achievement I’d be proud of – but one that could take a few more years. We’d have to build something with a bit more engine room with around 550-600kg liveweight, which can’t be achieved with the standard LIC or CRV genetics.”
Both Paul and Lesley feel the work they’ve put into the farm and their herd is just starting to come to fruition. Paul is incredibly enthusiastic about what he does and loves to milk cows.
“I’d personally like to milk cows till I’m 69,” he says. “I work on the theory that retirement sounds all good and dandy, but it’s actually pretty damn boring, too.”
