SYSTEMS LOW STOCKING RATE
Three generations of the Todd family in the Tutaki Valley.
High productivity in hidden valley Three self-contained, low input dairy units in a dry, secluded valley achieve productivity and environmental targets with a closed herd, conservative stocking rates, and judicious use of crops. Anne Hardie reports.
T
he Todd family milks 1800 crossbred cows in the Tutaki Valley south of Nelson, yet most travellers heading through nearby Murchison would never guess the rugged hills hide such a productive bowl. In this valley the Todds farm three dairy units that are self contained, low input, and (apart from a few tweaks) achieving their environmental targets to take the 24
business into the future. Stocking rates are conservative, cows have access to hill country with their winter crops, and although the farms have 25km of river frontage there have been years of bridging and fencing. There are now 14 bridges up to 19m in length spanning waterways and, along with riparian fencing and other costs, the environmental spending added up to three quarters of a million dollars a
couple of years ago. For four generations the family have farmed in the valley, beginning with a ballot block after return from war. Other properties were bought as they came on the market and today the business includes the home farm milking about 420 cows at the peak of the season; the middle farm, Tiraumea, which milks 385 cows; and the southernmost farm, Tutaki
Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | July 2020
