WORDS & IMAGES BY ANNIE STUDHOLME
Nestled in the shadows of Mt Somers and Mt Alford, the Broomhall’s farm Paddy’s Pastures is a 250-hectare dairy farm, milking 680 Friesians. Having grown up on the farm, Heather’s connection to the place is long and deep. Her parents, Carl and Dorothy Shannon, purchased the original part almost 50 years ago, having immigrated from Northern Ireland. The name Paddy’s Pastures is a nod to Heather’s Irish heritage.
In 1967, a young Carl Shannon left Northern Ireland at just 20 years old in search of a new future. New Zealand agriculture promised new opportunities, and with a Kiwi mother, he had the world at his feet. His parents had met in Ireland during the Second World War. After travelling for more than six weeks on a boat, and with extended family in Ashburton, Carl ended up working on a sheep farm in Te Pirita for a year before going mustering in the Canterbury high country. After two years, he sent for Dorothy to join him.
Having worked hard, Carl and Dorothy managed to save enough to buy a small dairy farm at Springburn in 1977. It had been one of the first dairy farms in the county, supplying milk for the town supply. They started with a herd of just 60 cows through a four bail shed before building a 12-aside herringbone. As time passed, the Shannons continued to grow their business, managing to purchase additional neighbouring land, block by block. They also bought a run-off block at Mt Somers and added irrigation through the RDR irrigation scheme and, later, the Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation (BCI) scheme.
From a young age, Heather dreamt of one day running the farm her parents had worked tirelessly to create. “I had always wanted to. I loved being on the farm. I loved the animals and the outdoors. I went off and studied vet nursing to bring a few skills back to the farm,” explains Heather.
Heather and Allan first met at the freezing works, where Heather was working for Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights (MAF). Allan had previously worked as a tractor driver on the lily bulb farm at Rakaia. The couple initially headed to Australia for work but returned when Heather’s father’s farm worker moved on, and help was required.
“Dad had just purchased the block next door and had plans for the new rotary shed. He was going to put a sharemilker on it. He had done it on his own for a long time, but we were keen to give it a go,” says Heather.
Having started at the bottom, they moved to variable contract milking after three years, followed by contract milking. Then, in 2016, Heather and Allan boldly moved to lease the property from Heather’s parents.
“Carl wanted to keep it simple,” says Allan. “We had to buy the cows. It seemed like a big step at the time because we were in control of everything, but in hindsight, it was easier. It made us a lot more aware of the costs.”
Three years ago, they purchased the rest of the farm. Today, they run 680 cows split over two herds on a low-input system, averaging 430 kilograms of milk solids per cow. The property is located in the rain shadow of Mt Somers. It has its own unique weather, with an average annual rainfall of 1,000ml. Additional water from irrigation (about 70 per cent of the property) through pivots, K-Line, and a gun was critical to increasing cow numbers.
While Allan swears they live in paradise, fine sunny days are often traded for snow, cold and wind. “I’ll happily put up with the cold for this view. It is the best office you can get,” he laughs.
However, due to the colder temperatures and slow grass growth, the Broomhalls farm accordingly. It’s about farming to the conditions. “We have learnt much about farming here from Dad,” says Heather.
They calve later (August 10), yet they still dry off at the end of May. During the season they drop from twice a day milking to variable milking (3 and 2) in February. “We keep them drier for a little bit longer. It’s down to profitability rather than chasing milk solids. It’s also better for the animals. We tried to push to 700 cows, but we weren’t making any more profit,” explains Allan.
Carl has had Friesians since the very beginning, operating a closed herd. He spent years breeding them to be hardier and better-suited to the unique conditions. But since buying the herd eight years ago, the Broomhalls have invested in cleaning up some of the traits they weren’t happy with by putting World Wide Sires (WWS) genetics across their Day 3 cows (which traditionally had the lowest breeding worth). “We were becoming concerned at the quality of the udders we were seeing in our cows, the feet issues, and also the number of cows we had to calve,” says Allan.
Heather says they could see the difference from the moment the first calves hit the ground. Despite having lower birthweights, the calves quickly outgrew their Kiwi counterparts and were good, strong calves. When they entered the herd, those calves fulfilled their potential as heifers, showing good milking abilities. A handful were among their top producers that season. Initially, Allan and Heather started off buying just 100 straws, but since purchasing the farm, they have moved to 100 percent WWS and were really starting to reap the benefits.
Last March they introduced CowManager, which has meant a move to 100 percent AI, eliminating the need to buy in bulls. One of the big drivers was the danger factor, explains Allan. “We had had so many close calls with me and bulls and staff and bulls.”
Heather raises all their replacements, while they have a buyer for all their bull calves at four days old. They also put Angus across the tailenders, with the resulting beef calves also sold at four days.
A big part of Paddy’s Pasture’s success is its staff. They have three full-time staff members, with the juniors changing each year. Following on from where Carl left off, the Broomhalls have continued that Irish connection, relying on Irish students to fill their junior roles alongside their Kiwi 2IC/assistant manager. They have wonderful, long-standing relationships with Green Mount College and Queens University in Northern Ireland. Students typically come for 12 months, enjoying all New Zealand offers in terms of different farming practices. Many haven’t seen dairying on this scale before.
“It works well for us,” says Heather. “They usually are all off farms and hit the ground running.”
“They all want to learn to farm,” adds Allan.
In addition to their dairying operation, earlier this year the Broomhalls took a nervous punt and opened Paddy’s Pod, a “glamping”— glamorous camping—experience which they operate through the Canopy Camping umbrella.
They needn’t have worried, though. Agritourism has been booming in the wake of COVID-19 as urban dwellers seek to reconnect with nature and the outdoors. From the moment they opened their doors, the demand for bookings has been swift and strong, with guests keen to explore the Broomhall’s piece of paradise.
They had long thought their 6-hectare irrigation pond was worthy of sharing with others, but it was only after their three boys— Kaidyn, Blake, and Dane—started growing up that Heather started searching for something that she could sink her teeth into and generate some extra revenue off-farm. She looked at getting a part-time job in Ashburton, but it failed to give her the flexibility to fit around the boys or rear calves. They had a few different options, but after doing a budget, glamping came out on top.
“We’ve spent many of our summers down at the pond, and we’d always thought it would be great to share it with people. We live in a magical part of the world, surrounded by breathtaking views. The wildlife on the pond is amazing; every day we go down there you don’t know what you are going to get. There’s nearly always swans but we also have some resident rare Australasian Crested Grebes. And with the reopening of the Sharplin Falls track and the Staveley Ice Rink, there was a lot of tourism coming our way, and we wanted to capitalise on that,” says Heather.
Early on in the process, Heather contacted Canopy Camping, a company that runs a website, marketing service, and booking platform, for glamping campsites around the country in exchange for a commission. Canopy Camping was started by two uni-friends in 2012, looking for somewhere to escape with their families, something unique and outdoorsy. It has since grown to include almost 200 sites across the country.
“I just really liked their niche. I approached them with what we had and our ideas, and asked what we would need to do, and they were all for it,” says Heather.
Working closely with Canopy Camping, the Broomhalls installed a beautifully crafted, small-footprint, fully self-contained, totally off-grid wooden cabin. The cabin is complete with a cosy bed, compact kitchenette, bathroom, small fire and barbecue for cooking, and a deluxe wood-fired hot tub.
Mount Hutt Pods in Methven built the cabin locally. The whole project took about six months from conception to fruition, with Heather ensuring no detail had been overlooked. They even have e-bikes available for hire to bike around the pond or to The Staveley Store & Cafe.
“Being part of Canopy Camping made it a lot easier. They gave us templates and timelines to follow. Just having their followers, we would never have been able to grow that. It went live on the website on January 1, and we had our first booking within two hours of opening. It was crazy. It was much busier than we even expected. We got so busy in those first few months that we had to upgrade the califont (gas water heating) and solar panels.”
And it hasn’t really stopped, with occupancy sitting at around 80 percent, says Heather.
“We really didn’t know who our clientele would be, but we’ve had all sorts, from tourists to honeymooners, travellers, and retirees. A lot come from Christchurch. It feels like you are miles away when you are there, but you are actually really close to amenities with Methven and Stronechrubie nearby. It seems to appeal to people.”
Guests are welcome to come and watch milkings, but to date few have taken them up on it. Most are simply content with enjoying the cows from a distance, while soaking in the privacy, peace, and quiet.
The Broomhalls have found that most guests simply want to be left alone, with interaction minimal other than through email.
Though the pod was keeping the Broomhalls much busier than they’d anticipated with the constant turnovers and cleaning, it’s a good busy, especially with the continuous dairy payout changes, increases in farm costs, and the cost-of-living crisis. Although there had been a few teething problems, by and large, they were enjoying the experience of welcoming guests on to their farm. The biggest issue was remembering to book it out to give themselves a break. Heather admits there had been a few times when they’d been caught out. She’s recently employed a calf-rearer who can also help out with the pod when needed.
“We are so pleased that we’ve done it. I can work it around our life and the roster,” says Heather.
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