By LIZ St GEORGE - Taranaki Daily News | Thursday, 22 May 2008
Stephen and Janet Fleming's cows are a picture of health. Their pasture is thick and lush and filled with clover. The animals eat contentedly as the pair make their way through the paddock to a mound in the middle.
"I've noticed we've not the hard pan, there is better drainage now," Mr Fleming says.
It's just one of the noticeable changes since the couple switched to organic farming four-and-a-half years ago.
"I can spend more time with the family now. It is a lot less bother," Mr Fleming says.
Mrs Fleming agrees. "It has taken the stress out. There is more quality time," she says.
They say it hasn't always been that way, but the longer they farm organically, the easier it gets.
"We do things differently now. There are more [farm] products available. Four years ago, it was very limited," Mr Fleming says.
The Flemings bought their Watino Rd farm in 1988. They've since bought more land and now own 134 hectares on their home block, a 22ha run-off, a 60ha farm at Oeo and a 208ha farm at Waverley.
Their home farm and run-off became organically certified in February 2007, while their Oeo farm will become certified in October this year. The Waverley farm will take two-and-a-half more years.
Certification takes three years.
"You apply with your intention to BioGro and you are then audited every six months and randomly. It means being chemical-free for three years," Mrs Fleming says.
They say there were a number of reasons to go organic.
"There were health issues. We were wanting to put healthy products on the market and for our own use. We drink the milk, eat the pigs, sheep, eggs and grow our own vegetables. We wanted to supply it to the population, rather than poison products," Mrs Fleming says.
Her husband became particularly interested in organics when he was building their house.
"It took two years to build. I was running the farm and building the house and I started to think more of making a change. The pastures were not responding to the nitrogen fertilisers as well as they used to. I was starting to ask questions," Mr Fleming says.
"And we were having a lot of metabolic issues with our cattle. We wanted to break away from the conventional path of potash, urea and nitrogen fertilisers," Mrs Fleming adds.
They also questioned why they had got eczema for the first time.
The Flemings milk 320 cows on their home block and until recently have done this themselves with their six children. This year, they employed a worker for the first time. They calve twice, in autumn and October, and milk year round.
The big plus is the 20% milk premium they get from Fonterra now they're fully certified. The premium is 7% during the conversion process.
"When we first started, there were no premiums on Fonterra, Mrs Fleming says.
They are well aware some people only look at the figures. Their production dropped quite significantly when they switched to organics, but is climbing again.
"The 20% fully compensates for the loss of production. If it wasn't for the drought, we would have been on target for this year's production," Mrs Fleming says.
Their figures for the home block over the past six years are:
2002/03 127,602kg/MS.
2003/04 129,181kg/MS.
2004/05 103,998kg/MS.
2005/06 91,876kg/MS.
2006/07 101,744kg/MS.
2007/08 (target) 105,000kg/MS.
Mr Fleming maintains the soil is the most important thing.
"If you have healthy soils, you have healthy plants and the animals will eat it. You've got to get the pastures right. The hardest part is getting the animals healthy initially," he says.
"With conventional farming, you are farming on the top four inches of topsoil. We are now placing more emphasis on soil structure.
"There is one thing I have learnt any paddock that tests nitrogen deficient, you could argue it is calcium deficient. Once the soil is right, the general health follows on. We are still getting the soil right."
The Flemings apply chook manure with a calcium supplement, sugar, seaweed and fish to their pastures and have planted some of the old-fashioned grasses, such as plantain grass and chickweed.
They have also planted numerous trees around the farm.
"If you stop using chemical fertilisers, a lot of the weeds go," Mrs Fleming says. The couple grub ragwort and thistles and top Californian thistles. They make their own silage and buy in organic hay.
Animal health issues are tackled in a number of ways, including drenching with seaweed and vinegar and using homeopathic remedies and tea tree oil.
"We also put seaweed in a container for six weeks. The animals have an intelligence: They take what they need. For a start, we got rid of the animals that needed to be propped up with antibiotics.
"It was the hardest at the start. You do have to cull the cows causing mastitis. Our calving is a lot easier now and our cows aren't going down. It is easier farming there is less intervention," Mrs Fleming says.
They rely heavily on BioGro when contemplating using something new.
"If we want to use a certain product, we email them and ask if we can. They email us back with a yes or no. At the end of the day, it is your own risk. It is nice to have a certifier out there. Some people are afraid of them," Mr Fleming says.
They say they use the same chemicals to clean their cowshed as everybody else and can use certain items to correct soil deficiencies.
"You can apply for some restricted items providing you have a soil test and give reasons why you want to use it," Mr Fleming says. The couple have a good discussion group with organic farmers locally. There are 15 in the group from Pio Pio to Waitotara.
They believe organic farming will become more mainstream. "I think in 15 years' time, the Government will force farmers to farm without chemicals," Mrs Fleming says.
And they believe their farming methods will be attractive to staff. "You see some young sharemilkers sent out spraying for the day," Mr Fleming says.
They also feel consumers will want more organic products.
"People are more aware of the numbers on packets. I am quite surprised by how many natural products are on the shelves," Mrs Fleming says.
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