“I am really happy with it. It’s had some challenges on the way but the big picture is it has made a real difference to Northland.”
Extension 350 (E350) involves clusters based around a target farm working with a mentor farmer and consultants with five associate farms each linked and applying the target farms learnings.
Hames says they have reached the target of 10 clusters of 350 Northland farms.
“It is based on farmers learning from farmers. That has been our catch cry all along and it has proved its worth and it is working well.”
It is based on three key planks: lifting productivity and profitability, environmental sustainability and farmer wellbeing.
“Extension 350 is very well supported by some good consultants and tech experts and we are using that to drive the changes in our farming systems. We will have 10 clusters either operating or operating soon through Northland; each has 35 farms and there will be seven dairy clusters and three sheep and beef clusters.
“Each has 35 farmers and they have targets for the mentor, target and associate farmers. The mentor farmers put in a lot of effort and it is great to see the results of them working alongside the consultants.”
Tangiteroria target farmer Graham Beatty says when he and his wife Kyle first started with E350 two years ago he wondered what he had got into. With all the questions, five months into it he wanted out. But when the consultants and mentors kept turning up he realised they were there to help them.
The couple sharemilk on his parents’ farm with 520 cows on a 210ha platform with a mix of kikuyu hills and flats.
He had come back to the family farm in 2011 and although the farm had always focused on development, he realised they needed to make changes and stick with them.
“Extension 350 isn’t a cookie-cutter approach and focuses on things important to us and recognising our non-negotiables.”
Some goals are to raise per cow production and lower the empty rate.
“The results speak for themselves. At the end of year one we were 3% up on production and had lowered our empty rate to 9% from 12%. Towards the end of year 2, given the dry weather, we are still 10% ahead; we were up 20% at Christmas. We have also come down to a 6% empty rate.”
Progress comes from pasture management and harvesting, focussing on growing and using grass better, improved use of N and feeding cows to match demand.
They have also reduced the amount of imported palm kernel from 150 tonnes to 90t. They feared production loss but they followed advice and managed the grass and got better production.
“This is what I call a win-win. Being part of extension 350 has helped me gain confidence to make better decisions in and around the farm, having other farmers there to share ideas with and knowing they are speaking from experience. We make decisions that will suit me and the way I learn, not what the book says.”
The next stage is to share their journey with associate farmers and helping them towards their goals. When the project finishes in 14 months he says he hopes to keep attending industry events and keep learning.
Mentor farmer Travis Parry says when approached and asked to be a mentor he thought it was a good opportunity to repay some of the support and encouragement he and his wife Lisa had received so far in their farming careers. This included working on their parents Waiuku dairy farm, three seasons in Southland and 50/50 sharemilking in their current Northland job.
“E350 has been a great experience for me. I get to see Graham and Kyle move forward with their business.
“We have been able to see that first-hand and support the small steps such as getting their herd records to a high standard, move to 50/50 sharemilking and they can now confidently employ labour with efficient systems for their staff to work under.”
Being a mentor has made him think hard about what he is encouraging the Beattys to do.
“It has been great to see Kyle get much better understanding of the business and become more involved. It has also been rewarding to see Graham come to grips with managing his own well-being and having time to be with his family.”
Parry says their personal benefit from E350 was the opportunity to attend a mark and measure course at Tutukaka.
They were “pretty pumped up” after the three day course and it bought them together as a team. It has given them the confidence to take on an additional sharemilking job which they start in the coming season.
“In my experience E350 is achieving results onfarm from farmers learning from farmers.”
