SYSTEMS ONCE-A-DAY MILKING
Once-a-day
‘OKIE DOKIE’ for Oaklands
Nelson-based Oaklands Milk have grown from one milk truck eight years ago to a fleet of seven. The Raine family credit a move to OAD milking and A2 genetics ticking the boxes for them and their customers. Anne Hardie reports.
T
he milking platform may have shrunk over the years on the home farm, but Oaklands Milk on the edge of Nelson has grown exponentially since it sold its first bottles of fresh milk eight years ago. When the Once-A-Day (OAD) Milking Conference visited in May, autumn calves were in the paddock and the herd was cranking up for its season which will run through to Christmas. In eight years, the business has grown from one little local delivery truck to a fleet of seven, with deliveries of its glass-bottled milk to local customers as Oaklands Milk or via its Aunt Jean brand to supermarkets in Blenheim and Christchurch. It also supplies its A2 pasteurised milk to a couple of ice cream and cheese businesses. The latest addition to the business is a full-sized tanker to 34
replace the smaller version that collects milk from its other farm at Motupiko, plus milk it purchases from another local dairy farmer. Today the factory attached to the dairy processes 1500l of milk an hour and bottles it, has a staff of about 12 and then another seven behind the wheels of the trucks. At the heart of the operation is the Raine family farm of about 300ha that rises steeply up hills behind the tiny area of remaining flats adjoining the Saxton Field Sports Complex. The milking herd grazes the flats and the steep lower hills of the property, while beef cattle from the farm operation graze still higher and forestry is tucked around the edges. The family has farmed there since 1842 and the fresh-milk business was created to keep it economically sustainable into the future.
FARM FACTS:
• Oaklands Milk • Owners: Raine family • Farm managers: Aimee and Michael Bates • Location: Nelson • Herd: About 100 cows • Production: Peak 33 litres/cow/day • Milk: A2 • Season: March 10 – December 23 • Milking Frequency: OAD for animals/environment and dryland conditions
As its boundary fence struggles to hold back population growth and a city council throws its weight on a rural enterprise, the business inevitably has a few added farming challenges. But the family has taken an educational approach to work
Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2021
