Making hay while the sun shines

Andrew and Tracy Kirkpatrick inspect the hay as the sun sets on their Patutahi farm. Pictures by Strike Photography

by Kim Parkinson

On a sunny day out at Kirkpatrick Feed Supplies in Patutahi it is hard to imagine the flood-ravaged scene of a year ago after Cyclone Gabrielle.

Through sheer determination and hard work, haymakers Andrew and Tracy Kirkpatrick have managed to replant and rebuild their business.

They started Kirkpatrick Feed Supplies in 2017 and have customers all around New Zealand as well as in Japan.

They were the first NZ farmers to produce compressed hay bales, a quarter of the size of conventional bales, and the first haymaking business in New Zealand to export hay.

Last February, with a number of employees and their families relying on them, they made the decision to “keep going and survive”.

As adversity hit, with crops destroyed, expensive machinery broken and more bad news coming on a daily basis, they stayed focused and kept going.

“Every day we were discovering new things and more damage — it felt like a physical punch in the guts,” Tracy says.

“We made the call to survive so we were really focused and got on with it.”

“It did get us down, especially when you stopped, but we were so busy so that helped,” adds Andrew.

They grow hay at several sites at Opou, Patutahi, Ngatapa and Napier.

All three sites were severely impacted by last February’s floods and they had to assess the damage and swiftly focus their efforts on the recovery.

On the day the heavy rain began, they discovered their sump pump was broken — which meant constant shifts by staff throughout the day and night to refuel a replacement pump and keep it working.

“Our haystacks rely on having the water pumped away, so that was our first setback,” Tracy says.

The couple had returned to their Ngatapa home after refuelling the pump on the evening of the 14th, where they were cut off and stranded. It was not until 6pm the next day, once the water had receded a little, that Andrew could return to the base at Kirkpatrick Road by tractor. Here he discovered the extent of the flooding.

“This was the first time in living memory that the Te Arai had flooded our property at Kirkpatrick Road — the whole area was under water,” he says.

“Our brand new generator was broken as was the day-old press. We managed to get a replacement generator straight away and had it trucked from Auckland.”

At Opou they had three expensive and essential pieces of equipment under water — a baler, a wrapper and a drill.

“They were totally submerged for three days. On the first day we could walk into the shed and it was thigh deep; the next day it was knee deep, but we managed to get the equipment out and have it repaired.”

The couple had to think on their feet and act quickly. They had lost 75 percent of their lucerne crop and almost all of their meadow hay across the three sites.

“The first thing we had to do was figure out exactly how much we had lost and start our insurance claims,” Tracy says.

“That same week Andrew was on a plane to the Manawatu and the next week we went to Christchurch and Ashburton to buy hay.”

More than 800 tonnes of hay was trucked up from the South Island — 42 loads, at a massive cost, and it had to go the long way around because of the road closures.

“This allowed us to continue to supply our customers and stay in business,” Andrew says.

The next step was to get a helicopter in to spray and kill what was left of the existing crops.

“It was heartbreaking to watch it all die but it couldn’t be saved,” Tracy says.

Meanwhile the staff kept working, carrying out repairs and whatever else needed doing.

They waited for the land to dry, then reworked the ground ready to replant with new seed.

It was the unforeseen stuff, like the extensive damage done to equipment caused by power surges, that they weren’t expecting.

Dealing with their insurance provider also proved a frustrating and drawn-out process.

With a brand new press and staff eager to keep working, it was important for Andrew and Tracy to stay focused and not let the devastation take an emotional toll.

Now, a year on, they are back in a good position with plenty of stock and most of the new lucerne growing well. The land at Patutahi has not been replanted in hay — instead they leased it to be planted in squash.

“We’re getting back into rotation of our fields — where we plant it in grass for a year and then go back to lucerne.”

Harvest starts in October through to May but this year they started processing the hay earlier, in February.

The move into making compressed bales was a game-changer for the Kirkpatricks, substantially improving the economies of scale of their haymaking business. It came after much research, including a trip to see how things were done in the United States.

They started exporting to Japan in 2019 and continue to refine and improve their operations.

“One of the best things we ever did was to go to America and see how they do it there,” Tracy says.

“In the USA we saw new and innovative agricultural practices that we haven’t been exposed to here in NZ. That experience was just invaluable.

“The reason we got into the compressed bales is because our freight costs were too high to truck conventional bales. The compressed bales are a quarter of the size, which means we can get 48 bales on to a pallet that can be wrapped and stacked in a nice, tidy cube.

“And we can load 30 tonnes on to a truck.”

The smaller condensed bales are commonplace in the USA, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, but the Kirkpatricks were the first to do it in New Zealand.

“The companies we supply in Japan are importers and distribute our hay all around the country,” says Andrew.

They deal with five companies, including Asahi, which also makes beer and steel.

This means regular business trips to Japan and also hosting the Japanese importers in Gisborne when they come in February/March to inspect the hay.

The Kirkpatricks have learnt a lot about Japanese culture and business etiquette, which involves long days of meetings and a good deal of drinking and socialising afterwards where business is discussed.

They were unable to export any hay to Japan last year as the result of the flooding, but will resume this year.

The business grew significantly in 2022, but suffered last year with sales down by around 60 percent. They are feeling optimistic it will return to its pre-flood sales and productivity, and are making the most of a sunny summer season.