Ashburton Courier: August 20, 2020

14 Ashburton Courier, August 20, 2020
RURAL/LIFESTYLE
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Dairy farmers still
relishing early starts
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Above: Dromore
dairy farmers Jodi
and Chris Ford
complement each
other working side by
side on farm. They
are busy calving, like
most other dairy
farmers in the
district.
• Wellsand Galleries
• Bulk Earthworks
• Subdivisions
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2300540
TONI.WILLIAMS
@ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Dromore dairyfarmersChris
and Jodi Ford are midway
through calving.
It’s atestingtime; longdays
with physically demanding
work fit in aroundthedaily
running of the farm.
But they are making their
way through, tryingtobe
organised by the end of the
weektoget somemuch
neededtime offduring the
weekend.
The couple, who have
daughters Tayla, 22 and
Leah, 17,and son Alex, 15,
are in a50:50 equity
partnership farming at
Kokura Farm on the
Dromore MethvenRoad, in
Mid Canterbury.
Along with Chris, 43, and
Jodi, 45, there are an
additionalthreefull­time,
and one part­time, staff
working on farm.
Chris’parents, Donald and
Cheryl also live on farm, and
Donaldoftenhelps out.
The Fords supply Synlait,
milking 930crossbred cows,
from217 hectares (effective)
using whatChris describes as
the oldest 50 bail rotaryin
the district.
It mayhavebeenbuilt in
1978 but has had technology
added and is now afully
automated shed able to be
manned by one person.They
milk twice aday. There is
also a75hectarerun­off
block usedfor young stock
and wintering young cows.
On farm they also have
chooks, sheep, pigs and a
goat.
They started as 50:50
sharemilkers around 2013
but two years later tookthe
chancetogointo an equity
partnership.
It was an “awesome
opportunity”,Chris said, and
they made it work for both
partiesinvolved.
“You’ve gottolookoutside
the square and take
opportunitieswhenthey
comeup.”
It’s amantra he livesby
when his name was putinthe
hat for Federated Farmers
early in his dairy farming
career.
Chris grewupinReporoa,
halfway between Rotorua
and Taupo.
His firstdairy farm job was
on akiwifruit andavocado
farminTePuke, milking350
cows.
He met Jodi, aqualified
chef andtownie, on anight
out more than 20 years ago.
They were both out with
friends, hit it off and the rest,
as they say, is history.
Jodi left her joband took
up farming with Chris before
they movedtoaproperty as
lower order sharemilkers at
Whakatane.
“I loveit. Iwould never go
back to the city,” she said.
Chris andJodi complement
each other on the farm
working astaggered work day
that startsat5am. Shealso
runsthe officeand he
manages thepeople, which
includes takingonWilling
Workers on Organic Farms
(WWOOF)toexperience
different cultures andopen
Chris Ford
their home, and dairy farm,
to others.
They rarely argue andlike
to unwindtogether watching
recorded episodes of Hawaii
Five­O.
Chris enjoysjetboating,
playing squash and has a
fascination with growinghot
chillies withnames like
ghost, yellow devil, kraken
andCarolinareaper.
Dairy farming forJodi
allowsher to workoutside,
with animals and she likes
the flexibilityitoffers to
raise afamily.They areable
to be there for the children
beforeand after school, and
get time away when needed.
It was while farmingat
Whakatane that they entered
the NewZealandDairy
Industry Awardsand came
away withacoupleof
awards, including the
leadership award. It saw
Christapped on the shoulder
to take on the Federated
Farmers Bay of Plenty
sharemilkers chair role.
He did it for four years
beforethey moved to the
South Island,and afarm at
Hinds around2007.
“We were very luckyto
work forsomegreat mentors
especially in theNorth
Island whenwewere growing
our business,” he said.
It spurredhim on to
becoming amentortohis
staff andothers in the
community.
Chris’s only regret wasthey
hadn’t movedtothe South
Island sooner,“when land
prices were cheaper”.
In his role as Federated
Farmers MidCanterbury
dairy sector chair, which he
has donefor the past three
years,Chris enjoys helping
people and havinginfluence
overpolicy work with
government.
“Mentor roles, that’s my
passion. That’s my buzz to
really help peopleand
mentor them,” he said.
Chrisand Jodi have been
working withMinistry of
SocialDevelopment and
offering asnapshotof
dairyingtopeople whohad
losttheir jobs due to Covid­
19.Itwas an idea Chris had
dealing with theCovid­19
community welfare response
group during lockdown.
“I just thought that’s
something we can do,” he
said.
They have hadthree on
farm taster courses, hosting
between six to 15 people fora
farm tour and milking
session.
“It’s showing them what
farm life is like in anutshell.
Atwo­hour snapshot,” Chris
said.
He thoughtgetting Kiwis
into farming wasone positive
to come out of the pandemic.
It is on holdduringcalving,
but he is hopeful it will
continue after calving
finishesaround October 5.
He says it is importantfor
urban people to see farming
in action.
“Farmers are really trying
to bridgethegap between the
urban and rural divide.
“There are just aselect few
running down farmers, which
are most vocal,” he said.
“Urban (people)ingeneral
are supportive and
understandwhat we do.”
He saiddairy farmers were
facing afew issues including
thefreshwater accord –an82
page document ­which may
dampen MidCanterbury’s
economy“because we just
don’tknowwhere it’s going to
end up”.
It was hard to planafuture
whenmore and more
regulations were hitting
farmers, he said.
There was also aneed for
more awareness around
mental wellbeing,
Mycoplasma bovis continued
to affect MidCanterbury
farmers and there was likely
to be ashortage of
immigration workers due to
covid to work on farms. It was
all causingconsiderable
financialpressure and at
huge personalcost, Chris
said.
On apositive feed has held
up. ‘‘Alot of farmers thought
we’d be short of crop feed,
but dry matter yields were
up, so it hasbeenavailable.
It’s been areally kind
winter.”
Herding cows to rejoin the milking herd on the main farm
block.