Dairy farmers Stuart and Julia Eden are exiting the industry after more than 30 years of breeding Holstein Friesian cattle, with a dispersal sale in Northern Southern next week.
The couple run their dairy stud Fermoy Holsteins and beef stud Java South Devon on their flat-to-rolling 216ha farm, nearly 10km south of Balfour.
Nearly 240 Holstein Friesian cattle would be on offer at the sale in their winter barn on Wednesday next week — 187 cows, 23 in-calf heifers and 27 heifers born in spring last year.
Mr Eden (67) said one reason for the sale was the physical work of milking cows had taken its toll on his body, including a need for his two prosthetic hips.
"I’ve been milking cows long enough and it’s time to step back," he said.
"We are ready," Mrs Eden said.
All of their stock were raised and wintered on the farm, so the work was constant and it was difficult to find the time for a break.
Farming had increasing regulatory requirements and the administrative work was time-consuming.
Their farm had sold and would settle on May 1.
"It’s the end of an era," Mrs Eden said.
They had bought a 25ha property in Riversdale to continue to breed South Devon cattle.
They were taking three dairy cows with them, Mr Eden said.
"One of them is Julia’s psychologist," he said.
Mrs Eden agreed.
"I have spend many, many hours having conversations with her — she doesn’t talk back and she doesn’t tell anybody."
The other two cows were both aged 12 and were a result of embryos imported from Canada.
"We can’t part with them," Mrs Eden said.
The reasons for keeping the cows were purely sentimental, Mr Eden said.
People who did not get attached to animals when they worked with them every day were in the wrong line of work, he said.
"If you don’t love what you do, why do you do it?"
He was a child when he milked his first cow, and had always known he had wanted to be a farmer.
His grandfather was one of the first farmers in the Waikato to have a herringbone milking shed.
Fermoy Holsteins was established in South Waikato in 1990, when he and his late wife Rosemary went sharemilking and their employer Rod Nicholas gave them their favourite cow, a Holstein Friesian called Rowe.
A flush of Rowe to sire Brabant Star Patron resulted in the birth of two heifers, a bull and the Fermoy stud.
In 1999, the couple moved to Riversdale in Southland, because opportunities were more affordable than in Waikato, and bought a farm with equity partner Sir Jim Graham, which grew until they were eventually milking 1300 cows.
After 30 years of marriage, Rosemary died from melanoma in 2005.
Rosemary had supported all that Mr Eden had wanted to achieve in the "constant strive to breed the next and better generation of cow", he said.
In 2007, he married Julia, who had a passion for breeding beef cattle.
"This interest sparked new life into the passion that had faded a little with Rosemary’s illness and subsequent passing," Mr Eden said.
In 2013, they bought their current farm, and owned 30 of their own cows. Theybegan building their herd, which included buying 60 heifers from their equity partnership to milk 260 cows in their first season.
"We were all but starting again."
They imported embryos from Canada and mostly used North American genetics, focusing on production, daughter fertility and milk composition.
At the conclusion of the dairy cows sale would be the inaugural sale of five bulls from their Java South Devon stud.
The Australian genetics offered all the attributes of the South Devon they wanted to breed.
"They are easy doing, well fleshed and muscled. They have good fats and are not extreme size."
Maintaining the true South Devon temperament was a must, including "easy doing" cows, Mrs Eden said.
The South Devon cows were given "clean up duty" after the dairy cows to ensure pasture quality was maintained.
"They must achieve rearing a calf, getting back in calf and maintaining their own body weight while doing so."
In their system, the beef cattle needed to be away at an age between 15-18 months.
Their herd of commercial beef cows were mostly South Devon crosses, which offered amazing maternal attributes and the growth of hybrid vigour, she said.
Australian auctioneer Brian Leslie would sell the cattle.
He was invited because of his superior knowledge of pedigree dairy bloodlines including North American genetics, Mr Eden said.
"He’s arguably one of the best auctioneers in the Southern Hemisphere."
