An edge on excellence

BY JON MORGAN

At 22, Clarence and Elise Stolte are the youngest winners of a regional sharemilker of the year title for at least 10 years. But they have a maturity beyond their years.

In just two years as 25 per cent sharemilkers on a family-owned farm near Masterton, they have built up savings and assets of $150,000. Now they intend to take on a $650,000 loan and step up to 50 per cent sharemilking.

Their plan is to build assets of $1.8 million within 15 years so they can buy their own farm.

They are quietly confident. "We've done our planning and we know how to get there," Elise says. "We know there will be risks but we can manage them."

Their youth is not a factor, they say. "What's age got to do with it," Clarence says. "We don't want to be categorised as 'young' sharemilkers, we want to be 'excellent' sharemilkers."

The couple, who married at 19 and have 16-month-old Olivia, and another child due in May, are early starters. Clarence completed a Diploma of Agriculture in 2005 at 18 and then went to work as a farm hand. Elise went into an accounting firm after high school and now looks after the farming business's books.

Bolstering them is their strong Christian faith. They are members of the Reformed Churches of New Zealand and tithe a portion of their income to their local church.

And providing aid of a more tangible nature are Clarence's parents, Willem and Roely. They own the 200-hectare, 480-cow farm in an equity partnership with Clarence's brother, Eric, and will be a guarantor for the couple's loan.

"We're doing what any parent would want to do for their children," Willem says. "It happens that we are in a position to help financially."

He and Roely emigrated from the Netherlands 27 years ago and bought a poultry farm near Masterton. It was a time of great opportunities in the egg-laying business. The industry was deregulating and marketing control was passing back into the hands of farmers. Willem worked hard to find markets for his eggs and now has 9000 free-range and 6000 barn hens supplying supermarkets in Lower Hutt, Wellington and locally.

In 1990, they bought the dairy farm, then 90ha. "Poultry gives us good cashflow, but we wanted equity," Willem says. "It keeps its value. Land never walks away."

They put on a sharemilker for 11 years and then Eric became manager. Clarence and Elise took over after two years when Eric went to the United States to study for the ministry.

Clarence says he's not an egg man. "Working indoors sorting eggs didn't appeal to me. I wanted to be outside with the animals. I could see so many opportunities and challenges in the dairy industry and I looked up to the people who were in it." He adds with a laugh: "They were so much cooler than Dad."

He finds farming exciting. "In a day, I'm involved with animal husbandry, I'm a pasture manager, a vet, a mechanic and a business manager - all those things. That doesn't mean I'm an expert - not yet."

However, the judges in the recent Hawke's Bay-Wairarapa dairy industry awards clearly think he and Elise are well on their way. The couple were praised for their "high level of farm and financial management", "best-practice initiatives around human resource, animal welfare and the environment" and their "passion for pasture management".

They say their strength is in the way their skills mesh - his are pasture, animal and people management; hers are in financial management - and they work together on strategies for the season and in planning for the years ahead.

Elise, who grew up on a dairy farm at Pirinoa in South Wairarapa, says that after recent drought and a low payout they want to make the most of a kind summer and an increased payout this year. Grass growth has continued later than normal and milk production has been good, with savings coming from not having to dip so deeply into the silage they make themselves. They have also saved by employing only one full-time worker instead of two, calling in casual labour when needed.

They milk 120 cows over winter and are on target for 210,000 kilograms of milksolids for the season. It is a big jump from last season's 186,000kg/ms, but they also have an extra 30 cows in milk this year. That is stretching the capability of the 28-a-side herringbone shed, and it takes three hours for the morning milking, although they think that with careful pasture management they can still add a further 20 cows next year.

Helping with feed budgeting is a 120-metres-long covered feed pad that can cater for 400 cows. Last season it was in use for 10 months, if only for an hour a day, but this season it hasn't been needed since winter. It takes cows off puggy ground in the wet to where it's warm and dry, and in summer keeps them out of the sun. Clarence says the difference between feeding out on wet paddocks is a reduction in wastage from 40 per cent to 10 per cent.

Another essential tool is irrigation. They are beneficiaries of an earthquake fault that creates a pool of water 10m to 12m deep in gravel six metres below ground. A centre pivot irrigator and long lateral sprinklers ensure 75ha of the 170ha milking platform is watered.

The result of their pasture, animal and labour management, aided by the feed pad and irrigation, is a milk output of 435kg a cow, well above the Wairarapa average of 323kg.

With such an impressive performance they are confident they can finance the big loan needed to take the next step to 50-50 sharemilking. Most of the money will go on buying the cows, and they also want a new tractor and feed wagon.

They feel capable of paying off the $650,000 loan, budgeted on a $5.40 payout, in five years. "That might seem ambitious, but we are determined to keep the farm performing well," Clarence says. "We can lift our game further and improve our financial management."

Adding to their confidence is the sharemilker of the year win. "Entering the competition has helped us focus on planning our equity growth better," Elise says. They will compete for the national title at Rotorua on May 15.

For Willem and Roely, who are also equity partners in another dairy farm with daughter Annelies and her husband, Andre De Leeuw, the pleasure they get in helping their children is just part of a higher purpose. "It's our faith that moves us," Willem says. "We do this for the glory of God. The glory that awaits us is bigger than anything we can achieve now."

He likes to be involved in the couples' decision-making, to question them about their plans, but is careful not to hinder them. "I don't want to see them make mistakes, and there's always one waiting to happen around the corner, but I know from my own experience it is a useful way to learn."

Clarence and Elise are adamant they are not receiving any special favours. "We don't want anything on a plate," Clarence says. "We could go somewhere else, work for other farmers and do well, but we're doing especially well here.

"Dad's a successful businessman and we can learn a lot from him. We work well together, we have trust in each other and we respect one another."

Elise agrees and adds: "We're blessed in so many ways. Farming is a great way to bring up a family. You can't put a price on that."

Clarence and Elise Stolte will hold a field day at 153 Wiltons Rd, Masterton, on March 16.

- © Fairfax NZ News