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Talking Dairy
In 10: A Pasture Summit sneak peek – what’s on this spring?
In this episode of Talking Dairy in 10, get the inside scoop from Pasture Summit directors Robbie Ferris and Al Rayne. They reveal what’s happening at the upcoming Pasture Summit events, and why they’re a “must have” event on your calendar this spring.
Spring 2025 events are being held in Canterbury on Thursday 27 November, and Taranaki on Friday 12 December.
Find out more and register at: Pasture Summit
Pasture Summit is a farmer-led initiative focused on securing the future of pastoral dairy food production. Its events and activities bring together practical insights, shared experiences, and a strong sense of purpose. As a key partner, DairyNZ contributes funding, research-backed content, and experts to help farmers build resilient, profitable businesses and sustainable communities.
Have feedback or ideas for future episodes? Email us at talkingdairy@dairynz.co.nz
Stay up to date with advice, latest research, tools and resources. Read, browse, scroll, listen, or be there in person. Visit dairynz.co.nz/get-connected
Ki ora and welcome to Talking Dairy in 10. I'm your host Jack McGowan from DairyNZ. In this episode, we've got a preview of the Pasture Summit spring events coming up in late November and early December. For those that don't know, Pasture Summit is run by farmers for farmers, and it's all about sharing practical ideas to keep pastoral farming strong, productive and sustainable for the future. I'm joined by two of the Pasture Summit directors, Chair Robbie Ferris and Secretary Al Rain. They've got the inside scoop on what Pasture Summit is about and what you'll see at the spring events and why it's well worth getting along. Tina Kurua, Robbie and Al, welcome. It's great to have you here.
SPEAKER_01:Great to be given the opportunity. Thanks, Jack. Thanks, Joe. Good to be here.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, Robbie, let's start with the big picture. Why was Pasture Summit created and what's it all about for farmers?
SPEAKER_01:Pasture Summit was formed back in 2017, Jack, and we had a conference in 2018 held up at Claudland's and then down at Ashburton. Those conferences are over two days. And um originally we had a heavy involvement with Ireland, and the idea was to do conferences every second year in the two countries. And then um, like it did with so many other things, COVID came along and sort of blew our ideas out of the water. But we've still kept that link with Ireland, and the second part of that was ensuring that Dairy and Z and Chuggis, which is Ireland's research facility, were communicating because both of those organizations are set up to ultimately benefit farmers through research and increasing profitability on farm. So we've achieved that. We also probably saw a gap in um bringing real success for stories on farm and lining that up with research. Derry and Z have got a hell of a lot of research going back to the 30s, 40s, 50s, but actually getting that on farm, we saw it was probably struggling to do that in the last decade or so. So what we wanted to see was really good farmers out there that are championing the industry, but and then getting them stood side by side with a scientist to bring the science onto the farm, but also get the scientists so they've got their gum boots on, standing beside the farmer and understanding actually what this stuff looks like in a commercial environment as well.
SPEAKER_02:I suppose ultimately we can be pretty proud of the dairy sector's being great at sharing ideas, supporting one another. And part of our goal is that we bring farmers together so they can share their stories and share their ideas and support one another. So to keep part of the uh the events is that they are very interactive. Ultimately, what we want to see is a a vibrant, thriving dairy sector, and we want to see young farmers coming through, young farmers being successful and connecting with successful farmers who've trodden that path.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, thank you both. All right, so Al, tell us about the upcoming spring pasture summer events. When and where are they happening this year?
SPEAKER_02:The spring events this year for pasture summit. The first one is in Canterbury at Burnham on the 27th of November. And the second event is in Taranaki on Friday, the 12th of December.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. And the events are held on farm. Robbie, do you want to tell us a bit about the farm that you're connected to? Why were they chosen? What can people expect?
SPEAKER_01:We're delighted to be back down in Taranaki. The farm that we're going to is the Armstrong Family Farm, and they've got an excellent story. So there's Ian and Judith still strongly involved in the farm, but they've also passed that on now to their son-in-law, Johnny Wright, who's operations manager on the farm, and then also involved because it's quite a brig enterprise, there's um contract milkers on the farm as well, which is Daniel and Monique Newell. So it gives us almost the broad spectrum, right from the people who started the business, and then we've got family involved, and we've also got contract milkers coming through, so young people that have been given an opportunity in the industry. And we're excited to be there because we've got a great lineup of support scientists, right from the likes of John Roach from MPI, who is going to be fascinating to listen to with his new role down in the government and um a real champion for dairy farmers, so that's exciting in itself. Through to Ravensdown and Balance Soil scientists, and we've also got Paul Byrd from DairyNZ, Mark Lawrence, and a host of other people. So we've got a pack schedule down there. Talking to the organisers down there, Katie and Leah from DairyNZ down there have done a brilliant job of pulling all this together. It's going to be a great day, and probably the biggest problem we have is how we're going to get through it all, seen as we've got John Roach talking right at the start. So we'll see.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you have to put a time limit on him.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They don't usually work, Jack.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no. For those that don't know what John Roach's new role is, can you tell us, Robbie?
SPEAKER_01:So he's chief science advisor to the government, essentially. So he is Christopher Luxon's right-hand man, anything science, he goes to John about.
SPEAKER_00:And Al, can you tell us about the farm down in Canterbury? Um, a little bit about them. Why were they chosen and what can people expect on the day down there?
SPEAKER_02:So the host of Mick and Kirsten O'Connor, the outstanding farmers, they're known to some of the committee members, and we approached them and they were they were very keen to give back to the dairy community that's been so good to them. So we're hugely appreciative of their openness and willingness to host us. Mick and Kirsten have a passion for learning and uh continuelessly upskilling themselves and their team. They understand their numbers and uh have truly outstanding cost control and profitability. They've worked their way up from wages and started share milking in 2014, and just as the milk price crashed, they learned a hard lesson that the farm's a business and it's a psychical business. And as a result, they set out to really understand and manage their financials. So outstanding in terms of motivation, in terms of upskilling their staff and the belief in their people, and in terms of their financial management performance. And they have uh run a very simple system that is at the very top end of what's possible in turning pasture to milk. So delighted to have the Davy on their farm.
SPEAKER_00:In terms of scientists coming along, what have you got?
SPEAKER_02:We're a little bit different. We had uh a little bit of static about some water issues in Canterbury here. And uh so as a result, we have pitched our science session, will be around helping farmers understand what impact we're having on their environment, and what are the levers we've got, and what are the actual numbers around uh greenhouse gases and water quality and nitrogen in the environment. And so we will have uh people who will be able to fill us in on that. And the host farmers themselves have been involved in a um an end loss profitability study too. So we've got some real data there on in terms of the farm's impact on the environment and the made changes, significant changes, and just how that's flowed through into the bottom line in terms of the environment and their profitability. So it will be interesting. I guess the aim is that farmers go away in a better position when the questions are asked of them. They've got the knowledge to discuss what they're doing, what they're able to do, and you know what our impact is and isn't.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that sounds really worthwhile. Farmers always have plenty on their plates, but events like this are worth finding time for. Al, what is the value in coming along to a pasture summit event and what do you hope farmers will take away from it in a nutshell?
SPEAKER_02:The events almost always have we profile someone who's been very successful in the path they've chosen. So this will be a chance to hear from a farmer couple of the path they've taken, why they took that path, uh, what they've learned along the way, and getting the results and understanding the results, the physical and financial results from the way they run their business. So it's a an opportunity to have the full picture, which you often don't get. Uh, you'll get one side, usually production side, but this is the full picture that farmers can have here. And we very much encourage discussion and questioning so that it's a it's everyone their guest a chance to ask the questions that mean most of them or to comment on their experience as well.
SPEAKER_00:And what have you heard from farmers about what they've got out of these events, you know, in prior years and how they've kind of applied that back on their farm?
SPEAKER_01:Probably the biggest thing I think that we can get out of these events, Jack, or what the takeaway is is the learning from the day. So if I take the Taranaki one, for example, if you're a young guy or a young couple coming into the industry, you can see how these contract milk is with um Daniel and Manook, how they've got to where they are and where they're going and how they're gonna get there. But equally we've got uh Ian and Judith there to tell the story around their succession and how they're doing that. So if you're a family farm struggling with those questions, or even if those questions are gonna start to come up over the next five or 10 years, come along and listen to these guys. They're they've obviously done it, and we're not saying it's a one-size-fits-all uh with any of this stuff, but it does. It it builds on what you already know and it can really kick start something there. And probably what I'd say to that too is bring your consultant along or your accountant or your um bank manager because they're the ones that are going to be standing side by side with this stuff, you know, and if you talk to them really nicely, they might even shout you the ticket to get there.
SPEAKER_00:Always worth asking.
SPEAKER_01:It is, you know, and if you do need more information and how to register is jump on the Pasture Summit website. We've got great sponsors partnering with Dairy and Z, obviously, and our platinum sponsor, ASB, which has kept the cost right down. But you know, the Pasture Summit is run by volunteers, so there does have to be a charge to put these days together, essentially. But that's absolutely well worth going to, and it'd be the best return on investment you can get this year.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, and for people that do want to register or just find out more information, what is that website address?
SPEAKER_01:Pasture summit.co.nz. Go and have a look on there. There's uh past events and recordings and things like that. That'll get you familiar with pasture summit and what we're all about.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, cool. Just a comment. It was interesting. We had at a previous event we had the Associate Ministry of Agriculture was along. He attended because he was in the area and he'd come from uh another sector event that was on the same morning. He came to the pasture summit event and he was blown away, in his own words, by the enthusiasm, by the energy. There's so many young people there in attendance, and they were being inspired on the day. He was delighted with that. Gave him a great deal of hope that the sector was in really strong art. So, and I think that goes back to our goal is one of them to have vibrant dairy communities, and I think that we do aim to deliver on that. And it's a pleasure to see so many young and engaged people there at these events.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you, Robby and Al. It's been so great to hear how Pasture Summit is creating space for farmers to learn from each other and share experiences. Stay ahead of the challenges and the opportunities in dairy and be vibrant, like you said, Al. If you are keen to be part of it, head to pasturesummit.co.nz for all the details and to register. And that's it for this episode of Talking Dairy in 10. We hope to see you at the Pasture Summit event soon. Matiwa Modi Orda. If you'd like to get connected with DairyNZ's latest advice, research, tools, and resources, whether it's reading, scrolling, listening, or in person, you can visit dairynz.co.nz forward slash get-connected, and don't forget to hit follow to keep up to date with our latest episodes. As always, if you have any feedback on this podcast or have some ideas for future topics or guests, please email us at talkingdairy at dairynz.co.nz. Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time on Talking Dairy.