Pedigreed production

On Te Matai farm, a better-fed, better-bred pedigreed Ayrshire herd is repaying the compliment with better milk production.

By Ross Nolly

A Taranaki farm is about to join an elite club and celebrate a century of ownership by one family.

Having a farm remain in the same family for 100 years is something few farming operations manage as more and more farms are sold and corporations take over. However, it’s a milestone that a Taranaki farming family will reach this year when they attain Century Farm status.

Stuart and Delwyn Honeyfield are the fourth generation to work their Motunui (north Taranaki) dairy farm, which is home to their Te Matai pedigree Ayrshire stud. Stuart’s grandfather settled on the farm in 1923 and his great-grandson Scott is the latest family member to work it.

“I turn up and do as I’m told,” Stuart jokes.

“I’ll speak out if I don’t agree with something, but it’s up to him to make the final call on most decisions.”

Stuart’s parents Barry and Elma left the farm around 18 months ago. Barry was born in a house on the farm and lived there for most of his life.

“My father and Uncle Bob were born in 1932. They worked the farm together, and their hard work put us in a good position when we eventually took over the farm,” Stuart says.

The farm is situated in the heart of oil country and has two oil sites on the property, each taking up half to two thirds of a paddock.

“When the drilling was underway there was a campsite here and people were continually coming and going. Even though everything went relatively smoothly you didn’t realise the pressure until the project was over,” Stuart says.

Farm Facts

• Farm owners: Stuart and Delwyn Honeyfield

• Farm manager: Scott Honeyfield

• Location: Motunui, Taranaki

• Farm size: 161 hectares, 60ha support block

• Cows: 355 cows including 320-330 pedigree Ayrshires

• Production: 2021-2022: 140,000kg MS

• Production target: 2022-2023: 150,000kg MS

The 161ha coastal dairy farm, with a 60ha runoff nearby, is owned by Stuart and Delwyn. Scott works as their contract milker with the help of farm assistant Charlotte Procter, milking 355 cows, made up of 320-330 pedigree Ayrshires as well as first and second cross Ayrshires and a few Friesians.

Scott now has the greatest input into the dairy farm decision making.

“When the last truck left the property it was like a weight had lifted from your shoulders. The majority of the people we worked with came from a rural background, which made things much easier.”

Apart from doing the usual childhood farm chores, Stuart began working on the farm when he was 17 years old. He’d considered attending university, but wanted to travel to the United States. Travelling was the more exciting option, and in 1986 he spent 10 months working on a Minnesota dairy farm.

He’d always thought of the US as