Proud to connect with city folk

Claxby Estates, in Swannanoa, was one of 24 properties throughout New Zealand which opened their gates to city visitors earlier this month. It was well worth the effort for Sam Spencer-Bower who says there is a real need for Kiwis to understand where their food comes from. Tim Cronshaw reports.

North Canterbury dairy farmer Sam Spencer-Bower didn’t really know what to expect when he opened up his farm gate to a bunch of city folks.

However, a sometimes bemused Mr Spencer-Bower was left pleasantly pleased when about 170 visitors came to see the cow herd being milked, while younger guests got close to pet calves. A trailer ride tour of the paddocks was accompanied by the farm manager explaining the farm system so they could see the cows and pasture.

His family business, Claxby Estates, was one of 24 properties part of New Zealand’s third national open farm day initiative, Open Farms, on Sunday, March 12.

Mr Spencer-Bower put his hand up because he thought townies would get a lot out of visiting a dairy farm.

He said it was a rewarding experience.

‘‘I’d heard there weren’t many farmers volunteering and we think its a good thing to do, to open the doors and let people see what we’re doing. We’ve got nothing to hide and the more people that can see what we do and how we do it, the better. There’s a lot of negative views out there on dairy farming, and particularly in Canterbury, so we thought we could try and combat some of those views by opening the doors and let people come and have a look.’’

The operations manager runs three dairy farms of about 1000 cows each and a full support block for wintering cows and young stock on about 1400ha near Waimakariri River, in Swannanoa.

He’s the fifth generation of his family on the land, since Marmaduke Dixon arrived from Lincolnshire, England in 1852. The link continues with Mr Spencer-Bower and wife Jo’s two daughters, aged 10 and seven years old, now helping out on the farm.

The visitors were mostly city people from nearby Christchurch and were quick to ask a mix of informed and less-enlightened questions.

‘‘Probably the [funniest question] was ‘what’s the concrete thing in the paddock?’, which was the water trough for the cows. Most of them I’d talked to had never been on a farm before. They had driven past lots of dairy cows and centre pivots and the like, but never had the opportunity to go on a farm to see how milking happens, etc.’’

Both his team and the visitors really enjoyed the open day, he said.

‘‘I’m not going to lie, it’s a lot of work and a lot of energy to do it, and that’s probably why there hasn’t been many farmers volunteer. We thought it was a good thing to do and the right thing to do and wanted to put the effort in. For us, it was probably the feel-good factor that we were connecting with those city folk and getting the message out there that dairy farming isn’t the evil that it’s made out to be.’’

Many of the visitors were impressed by the sophistication of the 60-bale rotary milking shed.

They also appreciated the modern irrigation system, machinery and the level of skill, management and recording that goes into pastures, feeding cows and farming, Mr Spencer-Bower said.

Normally the cows were milked twice a-day, but the milking changed in February to three times every two days to ease the pressure on the cows and feed situation.

The visitors were spared the complexity of this as it probably wouldn’t mean much to them.

If pushed, he would do it again as there was a real need for Kiwis to understand where their food came from, he said.

‘‘I would hope some other neighbours put their hand up. If the rest of the industry and community thought it was a good thing we’d probably do it again. It does blow you away how little they understand and it’s vital [they know where their milk and cheese comes from].’’

He would recommend other farmers become part of the open days to help close the urban and rural divide.

An estimated 2500 urban New Zealanders visited 24 farms this month during the Open Farms initiative, founded by Nuffield scholar Daniel Eb.

tim.cronshaw@alliedpress.co.nz