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00:05Proudly celebrating 60 years of rural New Zealand.
00:10Chunday Country Calendar.
00:16I sort of thrive on chaos, I thrive on the pressure.
00:20He's a young man with a passion for the dairy industry.
00:24Butter was the next obvious product for us to get into.
00:28As well as his own enterprises, he's also running the family farms.
00:33We need to be the top of the dairy industry for farming standards.
00:53Milking dairy cows has always been part of life for Alex Irvine.
01:00I was probably full swing into milking by the time I was 10.
01:03I've been doing it for the best part of 20 years now.
01:07It's something I love and it's always great getting back in with the cows.
01:11At this farm we're doing 650 cows.
01:15Across the whole group we have 3,200 cows.
01:19He's managing four family dairy farms at Springston and Leaston, just south of Christchurch.
01:26Dad got into dairy farming in 1984 and then not long after that he met mum
01:30and now they've got four farms together and created a real family legacy for us all.
01:36My role is general manager.
01:38So I oversee the four farms, oversee the managers, working closely with them
01:42and make sure that we're hitting our targets and the cows are good and the cows are happy.
01:48The cows that we've booked are a Kiwi crossbreed.
01:51It's about 10 parts Friesian and 6 parts Jersey.
01:55We found that was the best because we get a nice high fat content
01:58that will come through in the milk from the Jersey side of it.
02:00And also it's a smaller animal so it's got less compaction on the land.
02:05In total the family farms nearly 2,000 hectares
02:09and the cows produce up to 90,000 litres of milk a day.
02:14We're a considerable sized farm and mum and dad have done amazing to get to where they are today.
02:21Most of the milk goes to Fonterra, but seven years ago Alex set up his own business
02:26processing and selling A2 milk.
02:31I chose the name Canterbury's Choice for the milk because I wanted to represent local.
02:35The choice part is a bit of a Kiwi slang, like that's choice
02:38and it's also the people's choice of milk.
02:54Using glass bottles was a key point of difference and that meant investing in a bottle washer.
03:04I bought this one in 2022 and that was basically to meet the demand that we were seeing.
03:11It had a huge demand after Covid which was great.
03:15This machine can do 4,000 bottles an hour so it definitely keeps up with production.
03:20A lot of room to grow which is great.
03:25The milk tastes a lot better out of the glass over plastic.
03:29It stays fresher for longer and obviously the environmental side of it,
03:33we can reuse them completely, not just recycle them.
03:39This one's 1,800 litres an hour now and a bit of an upgrade to what we used to have.
03:44Alex's parents Dave and Carrie were there from the beginning.
03:48It started really small with Alex buying milk off a local farmer in 20 litre containers
03:54and then it's grown and grown and here we are here now into this custom built factory.
04:02So we've got our whole milk inlet here, we've got our cream outlet and our skim milk outlet.
04:06The factory was built in 2020, converting an old workshop into today's processing plant.
04:13Really, really proud and he's just the sort of guy that, you know, wants to try new things
04:19and experiment and get things done and yeah, he's always been like that.
04:26It's been really exciting and just seeing his products in the supermarket
04:30and just hearing people's comments, it's like, oh that's really great, that's my son.
04:38Our philosophy for all of our children has always been to support them in their chosen career
04:44and what they wish to do but they need to be in the driver's seat,
04:48understand the finances and the ramifications of the decisions they make
04:52and at the end of the day it must be profitable to carry on.
04:59We do about 1,500 to 2,000 bottles a day here and that's made up of whole milk and
05:05skim milk.
05:06So we do about 82% whole milk and the remaining 18% is skim milk.
05:13It goes all across Canterbury from Southbridge right up through to Pegasus.
05:17That's through retail, commercial and home delivery.
05:22Yeah, they thought it was pretty crazy at the start, pretty ambitious
05:24but they backed me the whole way. They're fully supportive.
05:28You know, mum and dad are very big on, I've got to have a good business case behind it
05:31and the numbers have to stack up.
05:34We're only 25 minutes from the heart of Christchurch,
05:37second biggest city in New Zealand, so there's plenty of demand for the milk.
05:46Milk is delivered five days a week.
05:51This milk was processed yesterday and it's going to be delivered this morning
05:55so yeah, it's definitely within 24 hours of being processed
05:58which is what we love, it's nice and fresh for our customers.
06:03As demand grew, Alex went into partnership with JD, who now handles deliveries.
06:10I'm handling the distribution side of the business.
06:12We are in the partnership so they're looking after all the processing of the milk in the factory
06:18and we are in the distribution side of it.
06:21Currently we have two vans and two trucks running.
06:31Today we have around 36 deliveries, so we're heading to hotels first,
06:37then I'm going to go to University of Canterbury.
06:40We'll start with the cafes and the business in the city.
06:44Yeah, it's going to be a busy day, yeah.
06:48We're really getting big support from the Christchurch local community.
06:53Alex is the biggest support for me.
06:55He helped me all the way from starting to till date
06:59and there is always support from that family.
07:02They are very helpful and come forward all the time.
07:08The superfood and juice bar Green gets their milk twice a week.
07:13Morning.
07:14Morning. How are you doing?
07:15Good. How are you doing?
07:16Very good. Is that a phone?
07:17Yes, that's good.
07:18All right.
07:19Can you go?
07:22Julianne Petherbridge was a fan from the start.
07:25All right.
07:25Have a good weekend.
07:27For us, the fact that it comes in glass and we're not serving plastic,
07:30that's super important to our business.
07:32And just the quality of the milk.
07:34You know, A2 protein is just so much easier to digest,
07:37so we want to know that we're serving our customers the very best
07:40and also supporting locals.
07:42So if I can get really good quality locally, it's what we're about.
07:54Our marketing strategy is through social media and word of mouth.
07:59The last few months, we've grown about 11% month on month.
08:02So we're extremely proud and, yeah, the demand's there.
08:05We just need to get our name out there.
08:08Our 11% increase, that would translate to about 10 to 15 new customers every week.
08:14Then that's made up of both commercial and residential customers.
08:17And milk isn't the only product Alex is selling.
08:30Alex Irvine is managing his parents' dairy operation near Christchurch.
08:35As well as selling A2 milk, he's now producing butter.
08:40We've got about 220 litres of cream in there, pasteurised cream.
08:45So we're about to send that through into the butter churn to start making butter.
08:51The shelf life on our milk is about a couple of weeks,
08:53whereas the butter is 18 months.
08:55So huge variation in shelf life, which means we can make a lot of it and store it.
09:01Keeping a watchful eye on the process is Rod Finch.
09:05What do you think about the cream density here, Rod?
09:08Oh, it looks pretty good.
09:10As a mentor and advisor, he's been involved in the dairy industry since the 60s
09:15and is something of a butter expert.
09:17I'm referred to in the industry as a grease monkey.
09:21That's the nickname given to butter makers.
09:25Rod says it's a big advantage when the cream comes from just one herd.
09:31You know your cows, you know what feed they're getting,
09:33and you're monitoring that throughout the 12 months of the year of lactation.
09:47That looks great, isn't it?
09:48Yeah, it looks really great.
09:50A good churn.
09:51Drain the buttermilk out now?
09:53Drain the buttermilk out.
09:55It starts with the grass, the animals, and then the handling of that milk
10:00until you can separate it and pasteurise it.
10:04That's the point of difference, is that artisan aspect of the finished product.
10:12Our goal is to get this into supermarkets across all of New Zealand,
10:15and we're hoping to get that done by about June, July,
10:18by the time we finish all our trials and testing on the butter.
10:24Press it down.
10:25Yep. Line it up. That's great.
10:29Perfect.
10:31Alex's American wife, Jacqueline, has been in the country for a year,
10:35and this is all very new.
10:37Pretty much didn't know anything about farming or butter or anything,
10:43but I think it's been such a privilege coming over here
10:47and getting to know a lot about the dairy industry.
10:52So this is our 200 grams of butter,
10:55and we are trying it in colour black and gold.
11:01See which one is a better block.
11:05She's been helping on the farm,
11:07but with a baby due soon, she's taking things easier.
11:11Milking the cows and taking care of the calves during calving season,
11:16I think that has been a great learning experience
11:19and how each cow has its own personality.
11:24All right.
11:26Oh, yours looks good.
11:28Look at mine.
11:30I think you need to be doing this.
11:32He's doing the best he can,
11:34but he'll definitely be replaced by machinery soon.
11:39Just that one.
11:40We'll do two more.
11:42All of our trial butter we give out to family and friends
11:45to get their feedback on the consistency of the butter,
11:49how well it spreads on the toast in the morning,
11:52how salty the butter is,
11:53if it's too salty, not salty enough,
11:55how it is with baking.
11:58What do you think of this butter, Rod?
12:00It looks pretty good.
12:01I like the colour, I like the texture,
12:04but let's just see what it's going to taste like.
12:08I like the creaminess.
12:09Yeah, it's very creamy.
12:11Pretty good.
12:12That's great.
12:13Are we happy with that?
12:14I'm happy.
12:15So what do you all think about the new packaging label?
12:18Oh, I think that looks great.
12:20I really like that artisan appearance.
12:23You know, hand-salted, hand-crafted.
12:29Alex, like his father, is always exploring ways
12:32to reduce the impact dairying has on the environment.
12:37We're involved with multiple trials every single year,
12:40which involves scientists and experts in their field.
12:44I feel a huge responsibility to make sure we look after the land
12:47and that the soil is a big one.
12:52Early starts are nothing new for dairy farmers,
12:55but their latest trial begins at dusk and runs overnight.
13:00To I see Gus, he came to me about a year ago, I'd say,
13:04and told me about this cool new technology that's happening overseas,
13:07particularly in South America and parts of Europe.
13:09It was UV pivot lighting.
13:12UV lights on pivots, that's a pretty special thing.
13:16It's new technology and, yeah,
13:18everyone's really excited to see how the trials go.
13:22The objective is to grow grass when the sun's not shining.
13:27Interesting.
13:29The light throws ten metres and it's three metres high.
13:33Three metres high.
13:34And from when the light starts to when it finishes,
13:36it's exposed for three hours.
13:44They'll take samples for six months
13:47to see if the UV lights make a difference.
13:49It's going to be really interesting to see the results from this,
13:53these lights.
13:57The initial trials have shown,
13:59we should be able to get about a 15% increase in yield,
14:01which is incredible if we can do that from light supplementation.
14:06For us, using the UV lights is all about
14:09being environmentally responsible for our land, I guess.
14:12We should be able to increase the pasture growth
14:14and that'll in turn give us more feed for our cows
14:17and that'll mean less inputs going into the ground,
14:20less fertilisers and things like that.
14:23They've fenced off three control plots for testing as well.
14:27That was actually considerably less grass than the last one,
14:30so it shows the UV lights are making a good impact so far.
14:34Yeah, on visuals anyway.
14:35On visuals.
14:36It'll be interesting to see the test results from these
14:38and check the quality.
14:50They're also planting natives, something Alex's mum Carrie is passionate about.
14:56Where do you want to plant today?
14:58I reckon over here somewhere.
15:01About 2017, with living waters combined with Department of Conservation and Fonterra,
15:09we planted just over 15,000 natives along our streams.
15:15We've got a couple of natural streams here in Springston on our farm.
15:18So we started that and that was for the eel restoration project.
15:23That worked really well and now the grasses are growing enormously and it looks wonderful.
15:34The purpose of our native plants are to provide shelter for the cows,
15:38also to protect against erosion on the banks and those native plants on those riparian plantings
15:44also act as a filter for any nitrates filtering into the stream.
15:48So it ensures we have clean water heading out to Lake Ellesmere.
15:52As summer ends, it's harvest time.
15:54Barley to keep the cows in top condition.
16:05Alex Irvine is managing four family farms just south of Christchurch.
16:11With over 3,000 dairy cows, he and his dad are keen to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
16:17It's just about coming up a year isn't it?
16:19It is, it is.
16:21They come in to be milked and all the effluent ends up on the yard.
16:24After milking then the staff will hose the yard down and it will end up into a sump,
16:29which is then transferred through a separator and then goes into the effluent pond.
16:34With the high water table here, effluent ponds on this farm have to be above ground.
16:41We've been doing trials with various scientists and researchers for over 40 years now
16:46when I first started it and this is just a continuation of that.
16:51Being treated, red is a control.
16:55This particular trial is aimed at reducing methane and effluent.
16:59It stops the crust forming and the smell as well.
17:02The trial's been running for a year.
17:05With the work we've been doing for the past 12 months with Lincoln University, Ministry for Primary Industries and Ravenstown,
17:12we've developed technology to reduce the methane.
17:16These tubes are two metres deep, which simulates exactly what's happening in any storage pond.
17:23Twice a week they'll come out and they'll take readings from these inspection points here of the methane on top.
17:28Once they've got their readings, then they'll dose the treated ones with iron sulphates and sulphuric acid.
17:34It basically limits the chance for the methanogens to grow, which ultimately will mean less methane.
17:41And they're impressed with the results.
17:44You can see the air, the air rights over the controls there and we've got a 97% reduction on
17:51the treated columns there.
17:53We're stoked with it.
17:55It's very promising, but with most methane on dairy farms coming from cows burping, they recognise there is still more
18:03work to be done.
18:05For me, the greenhouse gases is a responsibility we've got as custodians of our land in New Zealand for New
18:13Zealand dairy farmers to reduce it.
18:16There's already a few solutions out there that are still in trial phase for decreasing the methane from cows.
18:22So any new technology, we're always keen to trial.
18:25I'm really excited for when something comes to market and we can finally tick off that last thing for dairy
18:31farmers, which is the methane.
18:36As summer draws to a close, Alex needs to harvest the last of his barley.
18:4514.3.
18:46Can't get much better than that.
18:48Every year we grow about 80 hectares of barley.
18:52That's about seven paddocks worth for us.
18:54And that'll give us over 800 tonnes of barley every year for feeding our cows.
19:01It's hugely important to us because we don't want to be importing things like palm curdle and stuff.
19:05It doesn't align with our ethos for the environment.
19:11Along with all the barley that we grow, we also grow maize corn, fodder beet, kale, lucerne, triticali.
19:18There's multiple crops we grow ourself.
19:21It's really nice that we can grow our own and feed for our cows and not have to do any
19:24importing.
19:25It's better on the land, better on the environment.
19:32Before cows can eat barley, it has to be milled.
19:36It needs to be crushed into about two to four parts to ensure the cows can digest it correctly.
19:41A cow can't digest whole barley grain, it'll go straight through them.
19:45It's such a high nutrition feed for them, it's actually higher nutrition than pasture.
19:50So yeah, they love it. It's like chocolate or ice cream to them.
19:54We give it to them during milking, so they get it morning and night.
19:58They'll get between half a kilo, right up to sort of three or four kilos of barley each day.
20:07It's a busy time. Farms to manage, milk and butter to get to market, and a growing family.
20:14I'm always keen on creating cows in my life, and I love analyzing data and, you know, problem solving.
20:20And that's been instilled to me from being a child.
20:24The cows are loving it, aren't they? Doing really well.
20:27He's actually very busy.
20:29The phone goes non-stop, sometimes even at midnight when the calves have broken into another paddock.
20:35We're getting dressed and running out the door.
20:39Just non-stop, early in the morning, late at night.
20:43You've had a few late nights in the paddock, eh?
20:44Yes.
20:47And the future is all about continuing what Alex's parents started.
20:52The long-term goal is to carry on mum and dad's legacy of being leaders and not followers.
20:59We need to be at the top of the dairy industry for farming standards, and that's about doing the basics
21:03right.
21:03Right now, that's incorporating technology and science to have improved efficiencies on a farm.
21:09It's about creating intergenerational farmers.
21:13I've got my son Elijah, and we're about to have another baby.
21:16We're really excited for what's to come.
21:28It's a place where a grocer isn't just a grocer.
21:31He's a stationer, a draper, a part-time insurance salesman, and a friend to those in the community.
21:38It's a place where you can buy anything from baking soda to bailing hooks, from fencing pliers to pantyhose.
21:45In fact, you can buy almost anything in a country store.
21:49To see the rest of this classic episode and more gems from the past 60 years, head to TVNZ+.
21:56See you guys.
21:59Thanks for coming.
22:06Thanks for coming, friends.
22:10Cheers.
22:21Cheers.
22:22Cheers.
22:23Cheers.
22:24Cheers.
22:24Cheers.
22:25Cheers.
22:29Country calendar was proudly brought to you by Hyundai New Zealand.
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