Pirongia based dairy leader Jo Sheridan put international experience into practice as record crowds turned out for Owl Farm’s annual open day, where she spoke to Mary Anne Gill.
Farm manager Tony Alarca gives the thumbs up during milking which was a big favourite for the crowd. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Fresh from a tour of United States dairy farms, Jo Sheridan was on home ground on Saturday, translating global experience into practical farming conversation.
Sheridan – last year’s Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year – was at the centre of the action as record numbers poured into Owl Farm, part of St Peter’s School Cambridge, where she is demonstration manager.
By late morning, between 700 and 800 people had passed through the gates – the largest crowd the demonstration farm has ever hosted.
Visitors came to walk paddocks, talk cows, ask questions and see how theory plays out in practice. For Sheridan, it was an opportunity to demonstrate the systems thinking she has gained internationally and how it applies under New Zealand conditions.
Beside her, three‑year‑old labrador Emjay Sheridan, fast becoming one of the farm’s most photographed residents, soaked up the attention
That international experience underpinned discussions throughout the day, particularly as Sheridan reflected on a season she described as “chalk and cheese” compared with the one before.
“We’ll be about 30,000 kilograms ahead of last season,” she said, gesturing toward paddocks still holding plenty of feed.
“That’s just due to really good rainfall and a lovely summer.
Scooped up by a tractor’s front-end loader were, from left Emily 5, Fergus 6 months and Melody, 7, Meerkerk of Roto-o-Rangi. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
“Last year we were right in the middle of a drought. It was tough,” she says.
The difference shows. Grass cover remains strong, cows are in good condition and the system has shifted to once‑a‑day milking as the end of the season approaches.
Heifers start calving in late June, the main herd on July 1, and the last cows are expected to leave the shed by about May 10.
Owl Farm will milk about 317 cows next season, down from around 360 this year, but production is still expected to be more than 25 per cent higher, likely finishing above 160,000 kilograms of milk solids.
With Fonterra’s planned capital return to shareholders following the sale of its global consumer businesses, attention is turning to infrastructure at Owl Farm.
The cowshed is 47 years old.
“One of our priorities is how we future‑proof it,” Sheridan says.
“We want to put that money into productive outcomes.”
On a day when record numbers turned up to see how the system works, that focus felt timely.
Dishing out the Appleby Farms ice cream, the team from Ravensdown, from left Sarah Death (Morrinsville), Eva Brakenrig (Taupō) and Jules McMillan (Christchurch). Photo: Mary Anne Gill
The Fonterra dairy tanker was a favourite with visitors. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Owl Farm Open Day. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Cows head into the 47-year-old milking shed which is due for an upgrade. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Riley, 6, and Liam, 3, were both sporting Red Band gumboots for the Open Day with mum Sarah van Munster, partnership relationship manager for the Dairy Women’s Network. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Grabbing a well-earned ice cream as she shows off spring calves is Vanessa van de Ven a dairy farmer from Springdale who is a dairy environmental leader with Dairy NZ. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Proudly showing off the manuka cutting grown from seed by Restore Native and soon to be in Owl Farm’s wetlands is Hugo Faber, 10, of Hamilton. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Demonstration manager Jo Sheridan with farm hostess Emay, a three-year-old labrador. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
