Bob and Carolyn Franklin
July, 2018.
We started dairy farming in 2010. Before that we were beef and sheep farming for about 30 years. We currently milk 570 cows over Winter with New Zealand Grazing looking after 50 to 90 replacements each year. Our farm is on the way to Bayly’s Beach, just north of Dargaville. We enjoy being in open spaces and outside. For fun, we are involved with the local hunt and play golf.
We’ve had cattle grazing with New Zealand Grazing Co Ltd since 2012, so over 5 years now. We enjoy using New Zealand Grazing because we don’t have to worry about getting well-grown heifers back. Ruth keeps us well informed about our heifer’s performance and we are always welcome to join her at a weigh on the grower farm.
It is really important for us to have our heifers growing well off-farm as this sets the foundation for continued milk production over a number of years.
If I was to give advice to young farmers – don’t be a farmer unless you love it. And make sure that you grow your young stock – early investment leads to future positive returns.