Glen and Marie Todd are embracing the challenge of taking on the family farm and moving their herd back to Jersey.

Glen grew up on a dairy farm and has been farming himself for 24 years. He left school to join the first intake at Piarere Agricultural School, near Matamata then took a year off to play rugby in Te Awamutu, working as a fencer and building cow sheds before returning to farming as a 2IC on a larger farm. He met Marie and together they moved to Rotorua for a season before getting the opportunity to contract milk for Marie’s parents back in Matamata.

Glen and Marie have always loved the rural lifestyle and flexibility dairy farming offers, working outdoors with animals and being self-employed. There’s nowhere else they’d rather be with their 2 boys Korbin (13 years) and Mason (11 years).

“Sometimes it’s a tie being stuck on the farm and in the shed, but happy cows and the peace of the farm in the evenings makes up for it. There’s no other industry where you can start off and be self-employed very quickly with nothing other than hard work and passion.” says Glen.

During this time Marie juggled working on farm and in town as a hairdresser, 4 days a week when the farm was quiet. They were contract milking 290 cows for 4 years and it was over this time Glen’s father passed away. Glen’s father had always farmed Jerseys and the opportunity was there for Glen and Marie to also purchase their own Jersey herd and go 50:50 sharemilking.  Glen didn’t think they would be able to afford it but they felt life was too short, so approached the bank and walked away with the approval to buy a 240 cow herd.

‘The herd was originally a full Jersey herd when we purchased it, however many farm owners stipulated sharemilkers must have a kiwi cross herd so to open ourselves up to more sharemilking jobs we started crossing the Jerseys with kiwi cross semen” says Glen.

 “Over the years our calves have gotten bigger, and our cows are now having more calving difficulties because of the larger calves. I believe a cow that needs assistance calving has a much slower recovery time which in turn is affecting our fertility. We have always had amazing fertility but slowly see this decline due to the larger calves being born.”

 After 12 years sharemilking various farm systems in Atiamuri, Waotu and Matamata, Marie's parents approached the couple to say they wanted to sell the farm and asked if Glen and Marie wanted to go into business. Marie’s parents also brought their first farm off her grandparents.  Marie has 3 siblings so the farm was valued and the couple paid market rate so there would be no issues in the future, shifting from being debt free as 50:50 sharemilkers to managing a large debt has been an adjustment.

“Mum and Dad wanted to see us succeed and have the ability to run our own farm, but also have a farm their grandkids could grow up on. Bruce (Dad) has a duck pond he camps out at each duck shooting season on the farm so it's a great family life” says Marie.

“The way we have structured it is similar to a succession plan in which we will own the farm outright and Marie's parents will leave some equity in the farm, money in the bank so to speak as a long-term loan we will pay interest on and repay overtime.  This was simplest for all parties” says Glen.

“We’re very lucky the farm is well maintained with good infrastructure, and we’re excited to be in control of our own decisions and farm the way we’ve always wanted too.  The first thing we did when the farm sale was confirmed was ring LIC to make sure we could change our semen order to all Jersey, it was something we’ve wanted to do for a long time but weren’t able to” says Glen.

Glen and Marie will run a lower stocking rate, lower the feed inputs but also bring maize into the system in autumn for days in milk and body condition score and use blends to be more strategic. In the future, the couple would like to find a lease block nearby to run the heifers as they only have capacity to keep the R1s on farm. They also plan to go OAD within 5 years for lifestyle and sustainability. Their 2 sons are about to become teenagers and lifestyle is becoming more important.

The Jersey cow is playing a key role in the couples farming system and future aspirations with greater feed efficiency, ease of calving, lighter footprint, best suited to the land, better health and fertility and ability to be fully fed. Glen and Marie believe the way things are going within the dairy industry, Jerseys will make a comeback and popularity will grow. A true system 1-3 farm in NZ is more suited to the Jersey cow.

“We find the negatives a myth, I don’t believe our Jerseys are sulky or down any more than our crossbreed cows, in fact the girls that give us the problems are the bigger crossbreds”

The couples breed strategy is 100% Jersey sires this season and they are excited to have the Jersey herd back.

Over their farming career so far, they have taken the best aspects from past farms, systems and business relationships and learnt to always focus on profit not production. To think outside the box and not always follow the status quo, they have ensured their values align with anyone they are in business with, including their cows. Fully fed animals with animal wellbeing as a top value ensures success for everyone into the future.