Council welcomes new sharemilkers

4th March 2010

THERE will be a change in June 2010 with Aaron O’Byrne and Kim Barson leaving the Council farm at Flint Road.
Aaron and Kim have spent the past eight years on the farm and have decided that now is the time to move on. They both say they have enjoyed the past eight years working for Council and have appreciated the opportunity to strengthen their farming skills and the farm.
During their time, they have made many improvements to the land and buildings and have increased milk solids production from 79193kgs in the 2001/02 season to 115,000kgs in the 2008/09 season.
Jonathan and Asha West will take over on June 1, 2010. A young, energetic couple with three children, Jonathan and Asha come to the farm with plenty of experience as they are currently in their sixth season of 50-50 sharemilking 220 cows on an 80 hectare farm in the Tariki area.
The Council has owned the farm since the 1930s when the then Stratford Borough Council acquired the land for an aerodrome. The extra land was to be farmed and the income used to fund the aerodrome operating costs.
This principle still applies today, with all costs to operate the aerodrome met from the farm income. The surplus is used for rate mitigation. The farm is operated to maximise returns to the district ratepayers.