Fonterra shareholders councillor in Manawatu Ellen Bartlett says the downturn in dairying is nothing new.
«Things are pretty bad at the moment,» she says.
«But I think people don’t realise what they have got until they lose it. Fonterra is doing all it can to push prices for its farmer shareholders. Yes, there are some things the co-op could do better but, at the end of the day, they are working for the farmers.»
She says farmers need to be looking long-term and keeping an eye on the prize. And they must remember they have experienced low milk prices in the past.
«The dairy industry has always gone in swings and roundabouts – it is just one of those things,» she says.
«It is not always smooth sailing and there are things that could be done differently. It is really important to remember that the strength of Fonterra lies in its farmer shareholders.»
She became a councillor in 2009 after being elected unopposed.
One of the hardest aspects of her role is the negativity when things are not all rosy. She admits that the co-op doesn’t always get it right.
«It is not easy being a part of New Zealand’s biggest business and it is upsetting when people go all-out to attack the co-op,» she says.
«There is a great deal of negativity around dairying at the moment. The key is to be positive. Fact is, often there are other reasons behind what is happening and sometimes it is difficult to get people to understand this.»
As a farmer, she, too, has to manage through the ups and downs and remains positive the industry will turn around.
«There are always challenges in whatever you do. I am sure it will come right.»
Bartlett hopes the downturn does not deter new people from entering the industry. From her perspective as a judge in the Dairy Industry Awards she is confident the calibre of people in the industry and the dairy trainees is high.
«The dairy industry has never been an easy industry but with hard work and perseverance it is still a viable, exciting industry to be in.
«There are a lot of young and exciting people who are the future of the industry. If they are an indication of what is to come, then it is a good place to be.»
She just wishes farmers could catch a break. Adding to the low payout has been the ups and downs of weather. Last June, Manawatu was hit by heavy flooding with many farms going under water for several days.
«This has been a difficult season,» she says.
«In autumn last year, there was not a lot of grass around, then we had a hell of a winter and production got hammered.»
Then, at the beginning of the year, the region dried out.
«It was really dry and we were busy feeding out,» she says.
«The only positive to come out of the dry is that because we had no grass we had no facial eczema, which unfortunately hit other places quite hard.»
Bartlett was born and raised in a small village in Dorset. Her father belonged to a cider-making group sited on a sheep farm and this was her introduction to farming life.
«I used to work on a local sheep farm during the school holidays,» she says.
«The farm ran 1000 ewes, which were all lambed in sheds, so coming to New Zealand was bit of an eye-opener. It was a totally different way of farming.»
In 1985, she left school and went to work at a hospital while training to be a nurse.
The following year, she decided to head off on her OE which included a trip to New Zealand to visit family at Kimbolton in the Manawatu district. There she met George Bartlett, a local sheep and beef farmer and contractor. They hit it off but neither wanted to move halfway across the world.
She returned to England after nine months and for several years they kept up their relationship long-distance, visiting each other when they could.
«In the end, I gave in and agreed to move,» she says.
«I realised that what George had built in New Zealand couldn’t be done in England. It was difficult leaving my family, especially my sisters.»
The couple married in England in 1993 and now have three children, Mary Ellen, 19, Louise, 16, and William, 11.
When George mentioned he was interested in dairy farming, she was not keen.
«I was a bit scared of cows. They are big and nosy and I told George I didn’t want to milk cows,» she says.
He decided to give dairying a go and took a job on a nearby farm to get some experience. A couple of years later, they bought a 61ha dairy unit at Kimbolton and employed a sharemilker for the first three years as they could not afford the cows as well as the property
«We still had the contracting business and reared young stock over this time to make up our own herd,» she says.
«When we had enough animals we decided to milk them ourselves, which was a steep learning curve for me. Now my allegiance has changed and I prefer cows. Sheep can be a bit stupid.»
Milking jerseys helped overcome her fear of cows as the smaller animals were easier to manage.
She worked full-time on the farm and hr husband grew the contracting business, at one stage employing nine drivers.
Over time, they bought more land and expanded the farm. However, with the birth of their children, she found juggling the farm work with the household a challenge.
During this time she became the business’ administrator and enrolled in an AgITO diploma course, which she completed in 2008.
«We then sold the farm and bought a bigger block at Feilding milking 300 cows and put a manager on,» she says.
They kept this farm for three years and then took the opportunity to sell this and buy their farm at Halcombe.
When they bought the Halcombe property in 2006, it was 320ha but over the years this has grown to 520ha. The herd has also increased and last season they milked 1100 cows.
«We are trying to be a System 3, though sometimes seem to be a 4,» she says.
«But with the low payout now we are aiming to be more self-contained, keeping our young stock at home and buying in less supplement.»
While planning for the future, they decided the time was right to buy a second farm and recently bought a 600-cow farm in Feilding.
«We wanted to buy some land for George to put a robotic milking plant on,» she says.
«But the opportunity to buy this farm came up and so we took it. The farm is in really good shape and doesn’t need any development. We could look at putting a robot on it in the future, though.»
They take over on June 1 and will employ a manager to run the farm with George having oversight of both properties.
Part of the reason they chose this new farm, was their desire to move closer to town in the future.
«George doesn’t want to retire just yet,» she says. «But one day I would love for us to both retire so I can go on holiday – eventually it will happen.»
However, George obviously has other ideas as he bought her a pair of overalls for her birthday, indicating there may be a few more milkings to be done.
Slowing down would mean stepping down from several organisations, including her role on the Fonterra Shareholders Council.
«When I was doing the AgITO diploma, my interest was piqued by the tutor,» she says.
«It seemed there was a disconnect between the co-op and its shareholders,» she says.
«I wanted to be in a position where I could try to make a difference – where I could talk about things both ways, represent the wishes of shareholders and communicate what the co-op was doing back.»
Ellen is also the deputy chair of the Feilding High School Board of Trustees and also sits on the school farm committee which was behind the recent installation of a robotic milking plant on the school dairy farm.
«There was nothing really super-exciting about the school dairy farm and the cowshed was getting old, so some money needed to be spent,» she says.
«The decision was made to upgrade to a robotic milker, which enables more children to have an interest in the farm. We need to get our youngest and brightest interested as they are vital for the industry to continue to grow.»
She says farmers need to be looking long-term and keeping an eye on the prize. And they must remember they have experienced low milk prices in the past.
«The dairy industry has always gone in swings and roundabouts – it is just one of those things,» she says.
«It is not always smooth sailing and there are things that could be done differently. It is really important to remember that the strength of Fonterra lies in its farmer shareholders.»
She became a councillor in 2009 after being elected unopposed.
One of the hardest aspects of her role is the negativity when things are not all rosy. She admits that the co-op doesn’t always get it right.
«It is not easy being a part of New Zealand’s biggest business and it is upsetting when people go all-out to attack the co-op,» she says.
«There is a great deal of negativity around dairying at the moment. The key is to be positive. Fact is, often there are other reasons behind what is happening and sometimes it is difficult to get people to understand this.»
As a farmer, she, too, has to manage through the ups and downs and remains positive the industry will turn around.
«There are always challenges in whatever you do. I am sure it will come right.»
Bartlett hopes the downturn does not deter new people from entering the industry. From her perspective as a judge in the Dairy Industry Awards she is confident the calibre of people in the industry and the dairy trainees is high.
«The dairy industry has never been an easy industry but with hard work and perseverance it is still a viable, exciting industry to be in.
«There are a lot of young and exciting people who are the future of the industry. If they are an indication of what is to come, then it is a good place to be.»
She just wishes farmers could catch a break. Adding to the low payout has been the ups and downs of weather. Last June, Manawatu was hit by heavy flooding with many farms going under water for several days.
«This has been a difficult season,» she says.
«In autumn last year, there was not a lot of grass around, then we had a hell of a winter and production got hammered.»
Then, at the beginning of the year, the region dried out.
«It was really dry and we were busy feeding out,» she says.
«The only positive to come out of the dry is that because we had no grass we had no facial eczema, which unfortunately hit other places quite hard.»
Bartlett was born and raised in a small village in Dorset. Her father belonged to a cider-making group sited on a sheep farm and this was her introduction to farming life.
«I used to work on a local sheep farm during the school holidays,» she says.
«The farm ran 1000 ewes, which were all lambed in sheds, so coming to New Zealand was bit of an eye-opener. It was a totally different way of farming.»
In 1985, she left school and went to work at a hospital while training to be a nurse.
The following year, she decided to head off on her OE which included a trip to New Zealand to visit family at Kimbolton in the Manawatu district. There she met George Bartlett, a local sheep and beef farmer and contractor. They hit it off but neither wanted to move halfway across the world.
She returned to England after nine months and for several years they kept up their relationship long-distance, visiting each other when they could.
«In the end, I gave in and agreed to move,» she says.
«I realised that what George had built in New Zealand couldn’t be done in England. It was difficult leaving my family, especially my sisters.»
The couple married in England in 1993 and now have three children, Mary Ellen, 19, Louise, 16, and William, 11.
When George mentioned he was interested in dairy farming, she was not keen.
«I was a bit scared of cows. They are big and nosy and I told George I didn’t want to milk cows,» she says.
He decided to give dairying a go and took a job on a nearby farm to get some experience. A couple of years later, they bought a 61ha dairy unit at Kimbolton and employed a sharemilker for the first three years as they could not afford the cows as well as the property
«We still had the contracting business and reared young stock over this time to make up our own herd,» she says.
«When we had enough animals we decided to milk them ourselves, which was a steep learning curve for me. Now my allegiance has changed and I prefer cows. Sheep can be a bit stupid.»
Milking jerseys helped overcome her fear of cows as the smaller animals were easier to manage.
She worked full-time on the farm and hr husband grew the contracting business, at one stage employing nine drivers.
Over time, they bought more land and expanded the farm. However, with the birth of their children, she found juggling the farm work with the household a challenge.
During this time she became the business’ administrator and enrolled in an AgITO diploma course, which she completed in 2008.
«We then sold the farm and bought a bigger block at Feilding milking 300 cows and put a manager on,» she says.
They kept this farm for three years and then took the opportunity to sell this and buy their farm at Halcombe.
When they bought the Halcombe property in 2006, it was 320ha but over the years this has grown to 520ha. The herd has also increased and last season they milked 1100 cows.
«We are trying to be a System 3, though sometimes seem to be a 4,» she says.
«But with the low payout now we are aiming to be more self-contained, keeping our young stock at home and buying in less supplement.»
While planning for the future, they decided the time was right to buy a second farm and recently bought a 600-cow farm in Feilding.
«We wanted to buy some land for George to put a robotic milking plant on,» she says.
«But the opportunity to buy this farm came up and so we took it. The farm is in really good shape and doesn’t need any development. We could look at putting a robot on it in the future, though.»
They take over on June 1 and will employ a manager to run the farm with George having oversight of both properties.
Part of the reason they chose this new farm, was their desire to move closer to town in the future.
«George doesn’t want to retire just yet,» she says. «But one day I would love for us to both retire so I can go on holiday – eventually it will happen.»
However, George obviously has other ideas as he bought her a pair of overalls for her birthday, indicating there may be a few more milkings to be done.
Slowing down would mean stepping down from several organisations, including her role on the Fonterra Shareholders Council.
«When I was doing the AgITO diploma, my interest was piqued by the tutor,» she says.
«It seemed there was a disconnect between the co-op and its shareholders,» she says.
«I wanted to be in a position where I could try to make a difference – where I could talk about things both ways, represent the wishes of shareholders and communicate what the co-op was doing back.»
Ellen is also the deputy chair of the Feilding High School Board of Trustees and also sits on the school farm committee which was behind the recent installation of a robotic milking plant on the school dairy farm.
«There was nothing really super-exciting about the school dairy farm and the cowshed was getting old, so some money needed to be spent,» she says.
«The decision was made to upgrade to a robotic milker, which enables more children to have an interest in the farm. We need to get our youngest and brightest interested as they are vital for the industry to continue to grow.»
Source: Stuff
