Farmers vie for industry awards

Nadine and Matt Gugi with some of their dairy herd.

The size of Matt and Nadine Gugi's dairy herd in central Taranaki would be almost unheard of in their native Switzerland.

The couple contract milk 230 cows on Grant and Marina Gopperth's 70-hectare farm at Kapuni.

"Prior to moving to New Zealand, we milked 46 Brown Swiss cows on a farm we leased from my family in the village of Zuben," says Matt.

They calved year-round and employed two staff. The Gugis also grew maize and grain crops and ran an orchard.

"The biggest dairy farm in Switzerland milks 280 cows, but the average has just 24 cows," says Matt.

The hard-working couple, who have four children, have wasted no time climbing the New Zealand dairy ladder since arriving here in early 2013.

"We own 120 cows which are leased out and our plan is to buy a further 200 in-calf heifers this coming winter."

The couple's goal is to land a 50/50 sharemilking job, of between 300 to 400 cows, by June 2018.

Matt entered the 2017 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards to raise the couple's profile and help grow their business.

"It's a good way to analyse our business, identify strengths and weaknesses and get judges' feedback on ways to improve," says Matt.

The Gugis believe in fully feeding their cows from the day they calve, which can be quite labour intensive.

"Our motto is 'Doing more, to get more'."

"We've increased milk production since coming to the farm in June 2015, while using the same amount of supplementary feed.

"This season we're targeting a new farm record of 100,000kg of milksolids," he adds.

Matt, who has a Diploma in Agribusiness Management, is one of five entrants vying to be named the 2017 Taranaki Share Farmer of the Year.

The first round of judging began yesterday for Trainees, with Managers and Share Farmers facing judges next week.

This March the prestigious competition will celebrate 40 years of nurturing and recognising young dairy farmers.