Pirie Farms and Ngatea Jerseys

23/06/2026

A Fantastic opportunity for these young Dairy Industry enthusiasts.

Holstein Friesian NZ is heading to the 2027 European Young Breeders School! 🌍🐄
Meet this year’s selected participants: In 2027 Holstein Friesian NZ will be sending a team to the European Young Breeders School in Belgium, chaperoned by past attendee Kate Scheepers. Twelve young breeders applied to be part of the six-person team and it is my pleasure to announce that the following young breeders have been selected to attend the 2027 European Young Breeders School:

• Patrick Aitken – Christchurch
• Haylee Baker – Palmerston North
• Jacoba Gread – Morrinsville
• Ella Pirie – Thames
• Paige Taylor – Hāwera
• Riley Taylor – Ōpunake

23/06/2026

19/06/2026

SmaXtec New Zealand .

19/06/2026

We were very impressed today, catching up with Tangaroa Walker Farm 4 Life
It is fantastic to see the next generation of farmers achieve their goals.
Well done Tangaroa, Courtney and family, along with your supporters.
Brian and I are looking forward to watching your progression.

11/06/2026

A fantastic champion of the Dairy Cow.

Pulling this one back up — Jeremy Hill spent a career turning hard nutritional science into practical herd decisions, then turned that same discipline toward advocating for an industry that doesn't always advocate for itself. It's a profile that holds up. Who in your own network has made the leap from technical expert to genuine industry voice, and what pushed them there?

link → https://www.thebullvine.com/dairy-industry-professionals/jeremy-hill-the-scientist-who-became-dairys-fiercest-champion/

11/06/2026

There are a couple of cows due in a weeks time, mated early on purpose, but this wasn't one of them! 24 days early. Benworth Tm Griffinpoll -P JC15
Thanks Emma for the photos

08/06/2026

Ella took some shots today of some of the heifers she liked, and I got her to take a photo of the highest genomic heifer in our herd.
Details below the photos.

01/06/2026

I haven't done a post on SmaXtec New Zealand for a while.
I was talking with farmers who are using technology to reduce their use of dry cow. This makes a lot of sense. We haven't reduced our dry cow antibiotics this season, but alerts like this are very helpful. Brian noticed this cow this morning, and when I checked Smaxtec, there she was on top of the alerts list.
The rumination alerts have been quite common, I think as the cows adjust to lower feed intakes after being dried off.
We've also got calving alerts starting, a couple of special cows are due to calve in two weeks time! Eeek!!

31/05/2026

The end of another dairy season.

Farewell 2025/26.

A very eventful season. We've finished with the highest production ever achieved - just under 425,000 kgMS. The result of a combination of great weather, a good payout and good decisions. Or as one could say - the stars aligned.

We are still milking about 180 cows, this will go down to about 120. The feed situation is too good not to utilise- so empties and late August, early September calvers are being milked. We will receive a slightly higher payment for this milk, but don't have a winter supply contract, so if the weather changes, we can react.

We're getting new calf sheds, have repaired and spruced up three of the houses, fixed up fences and resurfaced races.

There has been a much needed upgrade of machinery.

We have been fortunate to be in the Agricultural sector, we take on a lot of risk, and have been well rewarded as our products become sought after - now that the world relishes the benefits of our natural products.

Onwards and upwards as we say goodbye to Lucky and his team, and hello to Eli, Tarsh and their team.

23/05/2026

New Stuff and Old Stuff

When the cash surplus is higher than budget it gives an opportunity to invest. The text book advice on investing would say to put it into high returning assets.

But sometimes the best spending isn't going to return the highest interest, sometimes it's best to have some fun, or tidy up assets.

We've been doing a bit of both lately.