Day 3 - Hamilton & Rotorua activities

Today included a number of exciting events, first we went to some farm hardware stores in Morrinsville, visited a 630 cow dairy farm, went to lunch, chased geese, were able to visit the Ministry of Primary Industry, and take an amazing skyline gondola ride.

The farm hardware stores were fun to look through and allowed us to get a feel for what types of equipment would be used here for farming. Also this gave us time to get to meet some of the local hardware store owners and see their kind and caring personalities. It was neat to compare some of New Zealand’s farm and vet stores to those of the United States. There were multiple similarities such as the use of Dectomax pour-on wormer for cattle. If the beauty of the New Zealand landscape isn’t enough to bring more tourism the great people here sure are. Peter was even lucky enough to walk into a “Tool Shed” store and be given a free shirt. This definitely made Peter feel good. Although this is an agriculture trip, Kennedy has a cosmetology license and felt it would be neat to compare salons here to ours back home. While most stores had some type of significant difference, the salons in New Zealand were almost identical to those of the United States. Most of the experiences with the local people in the area was very positive. Interactions with our group members was also fun as we had time to eat brunch together and try each other’s food. Food here is definitely a slightly different flavor, but still good to eat. It was nice to get to enjoy something different yet tasty and similar. The best part of downtown was visiting the Bakery’s and enjoying their flavors and specialties.

Next we were able to visit an average sized dairy farm in the area. At the farm we met Jan and Chad Winke and they gave us a tour of their facility. Jan and Chad are originally from the United States and moved here seven years ago. They do not actually own the farm they are on but are on a contract for three years, or three seasons, to take care of the farm. Doing so, they pay 21% on many different areas and in return receive 21% of every milk check per month. The farm is very beautiful and well managed. Things are managed a lot differently than in the United States due to the size of the farms, feeding of animals, cheap facility design, manure handling systems, and different techniques/requirements for farm equipment. Their farm is ran very efficiently in multiple ways. One way that stood out to me was their herd houses where the cows ate their silage. The floor of the barns were slated just big enough for the cow’s manure to fall through. Doing so, they are able to collect the manure every so often and use this to go back into their fertilizer. We were given an overview of calf raising and feeding procedures which involved a short explanation of their AI procedures. Next, we were able to see the buildings, feed area and silage, and get a feel for what paddocks look like. We also learned about how important it is to sample the soil to make sure it has the right mineral consistency to keep the grass growing as quickly and high quality as possible. The paddocks are constantly being grazed to ensure that they are getting all the use out of the grass that is possible. Chad mentioned that in the next year they will run up to 700 head of cows in order to utilize all of the grass. It was said that if they had more cows last season then they could have avoided mowing some of the paddocks for seed head and grazed it instead. Chad also mentioned how important it was to add fertilizer in different quantities and areas to get the most results for the least amount of money. Next, we looked at the milking systems, which are totally different than those in the US. They are totally outside and have a 44 cow per side size and milks 22 cows at a time. We then looked at the milk tanks and saw how milk gets picked up, which is also different than the US because of the milk trucks. All together it was very interesting to see the difference in how they run their dairy compared to those in the United States.

Kubota lawnmower

Herd Home for Dairy cows at Grant Wills’ operation

Austin listening to Chad Winke

OSU group with the Winkes

Group with the Winkes

Milking shed (parlor) at Wills’ operation

Inside of milking shed

Friesian Holstein cow



Michaela & Kennedy at Rotorua Lake

Part of the group at Rotorua Lake

Statue in our hotel in Rotorua

Gondola car, ride to supper at Skyline Restaurant

After leaving the dairy farm we visited a forestry business which is a part of the Ministry for Primary Industry. There they spoke to us about how forests in the country have been moved from different cultures and ownership. They described how their specific business maintains forests as well as preventing bugs and diseases from coming into their country or how they will control them if it does occur. Leaving here we were driven to our hotel. However, on the drive there we saw many thermal reserves. For dinner, we were taken to a skyline restaurant. As soon as we arrived we were put on gondolas and taken up to the restaurant which was on top of a mountain. The dinner was buffet style and very impressive! I felt everyone thought it was our best New Zealand meal yet. The day was very busy and filled with new and interesting stuff to all of us.