Fermoy Holsteins dispersal sale the ‘end of an era’

Julia and Stewart Eden have over 30 years experience in breeding Holstein Friesian cows. Photo / Shawn McAvinue

After more than 30 years of breeding Holstein Friesian cows, Northern Southland farmers Stewart and Julia Eden are taking a step back. Southern Rural Life’s Shawn McAvinue reports.

Dairy farmers Stewart and Julia Eden are exiting the industry after more than 30 years of breeding Holstein Friesian cattle, with a dispersal sale in Northern Southland next week.

The couple run their dairy stud Fermoy Holsteins and beef stud Java South Devon on their flat-to-rolling 216-ha 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.

Stewart (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,” Julia 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,” Julia said.

They had bought a 25-ha property in Riversdale to continue to breed South Devon cattle.

“We are going to take a breath and just think,” Julia said.

They were taking three dairy cows with them, Stewart said.

“One of them is Julia’s psychologist,” he said.

Dairy farmers Stewart and Julia Eden are set to hold their full dispersal sale in their barn in Northern Southland next week. Photo / Shawn McAvinue

Julia agreed.

“I have spent 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,” Julia said.

The reasons for keeping the cows were purely sentimental, Stewart 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 wanted to be a farmer.

Fermoy Holsteins owner Stewart Eden pats cow Rowe, which started his stud in Waikato in 1990. Photo / Supplied

His grandfather was one of the first farmers in the Waikato to have a herringbone milking shed.

“It was revolutionary.”

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 Stewart 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,” he said.

In 2013, they bought their current farm and owned 30 of their own cows. They began 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.

For the first time, they would offer offspring from the embryos they imported in 2014 from the Torr Down stud in Australia.

The 7-year-old South Devon bull Java Gum Tonka 15008 (front) is for sale at a dispersal sale in Northern Southland next week. Photo / Shawn McAvinue

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, Julia 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, Stewart said.

“He’s arguably one of the best auctioneers in the Southern Hemisphere.”