Feed for Thought

During the Rural Roadie, Matt and Wade sat down with Taranaki dairy farmer, Dave England, to explore his transition from engineering to dairy farm ownership. At 28, Dave and wife, Hollie made the decision to enter the dairy industry, advancing from a 200-cow lower order role to managing a 600-cow operation within a year. By intentionally working with progressive farmers, Dave rapidly developed his skills and built the equity needed to step into a 310 cow 50/50 sharemilking role.  His disciplined approach to budgeting and consistent delivery on financial projections earned the banks' trust and laid the foundation for future growth.

Now at the helm of a high-performing System 5 dairy operation with 1000 cows and newly acquired land, Dave shares the strategies that have shaped his success. He emphasises the importance of proactively seeking opportunities, maintaining strong financial literacy, and surrounding yourself with a trusted team. Listeners will walk away with practical advice: know your numbers, treat every farm as your own, and build a reputation that opens doors in the farming community.

Tune in as Jen Corkran, Senior Animal Protein Analyst at Rabobank, shares her expertise on converting grass into protein and explores current market trends in New Zealand’s primary sector. 

The conversation begins inside the farm gate, drawing on Jen’s 12 years of experience in agronomy and farm systems. Jen unpacks the fundamentals of pasture management and insights into modern pasture varieties. Top-performing operators, she notes, consistently prioritise what grows underfoot, regardless of season or soil type. 

The discussion then shifts beyond the farm gate to Jen’s current role at RaboResearch, where she forecasts commodity trends, interprets global supply and demand, and translates these insights for farmers. With protein demand rising and global supply constrained, the outlook is promising. This episode reinforces the global advantage of New Zealand’s grass-based, homegrown feed systems. Despite challenges like weather variability and rising costs, Jen highlights the opportunity in our ability to efficiently convert local feed into premium products valued by increasingly discerning consumers.*

*Recorded late May 2025.

 Tune in as Matt and Simon Begley, local Area Manager, sit down with Frank Briant to delve into the story of the Briant Brothers’ operation in Patutahi, Gisborne. This episode highlights how the diverse 520ha operation, which consists of maize grain, Pioneer seed production maize, livestock, kiwifruit, grapes, citrus, squash, and popcorn, has weathered challenges and thrived through strategic diversification and family succession. 

After parting ways with his brother after 42 years of farming together, Frank established a new operation with his three sons in 2012/13. The Briant Brothers’ partnership with Pioneer dates back to 1989/90, growing seed production maize. Frank shares insights into how their farming practices have evolved from traditional maize cribs to modern combines and precision agriculture. Frank discusses the family's resilience and the importance of diversification when Cyclone Gabrielle devastated their crops in 2022, and how they've recovered and thrived through modern techniques like strip tillage, achieving impressive maize grain yields averaging 18 tonnes per hectare this season. 

Tune in as we welcome Fiona and Tom Langsford, winners of the NZ Share Farmers of the Year. Alongside taking out the overall prize, the Langford’s also took home the Sustainable Pasture, Business Performance, Environmental Sustainability, People & Culture, Leadership, Farm Safety, Health & Biosecurity, and Experience 2025 Dairy Industry Awards. In this episode, the team share their journey of balancing on-farm excellence at the South Waikato-based dairy operation.

Fiona returned to her family's high-performing 262ha, 1,100-cow farm in 2017, taking over management after three weeks of training, focusing on maintaining and refining the already successful system. Tom joined after the arrival of their first child, and together, they have balanced farming with family commitments through job-sharing and strong systems, achieving commendable results while raising three young children. 

The team delve into their attention to detail in pasture and feeding management led to a farm record production of 510 kg MS per cow this season. Environmental stewardship is at the core of their operation, with significant reductions in water usage and extensive tree planting. Their environmental roadmap extends to 2030, with plans for continued improvements. 

As they take on a second contract milking role and create advancement opportunities for their staff, Fiona and Tom demonstrate that farming excellence is about strategic vision, communication, and creating systems that work for both people and the environment.

Recorded on the Rural Roadie, tune in as Matt and Wade sit down in the caravan with Canterbury farmer, Will Bailey, to discuss the impact of a newly built feed pad infrastructure on his dairy farm operation. 

The team delve into Will’s feeding strategy and how targeted investments can deliver valuable returns. The 300-metre feeding face accommodates up to 400 cows whilst eliminating wastage. Beyond these efficiencies, the system has delivered additional benefits such as reduced lane damage, cleaner equipment, and the ability to feed in any weather conditions.

Having found their "sweet spot" for cow numbers and feed efficiency, Will's experience offers valuable insights and considerations on feed pad infrastructure investments.

Tune in as Wade and Matt Towers, local Area Manager, sit down with Dave Swney, the 2025 maize silage catalogue cover and Waikato Dairy Farmer. Dave shares his journey of returning to the family dairy farm, transforming it into a sustainable and efficient System 5 operation south of Te Awamutu. 

In this episode, Dave shares the challenges faced over this period, including learning the importance of ‘time budgeting’, dealing with health issues and reducing the stocking rate to improve farm performance. By bringing young stock management back to the farm, Dave highlights the gains of better control and reduced costs, while balancing growing maize on farm with buying in feed to spread risk. The team then delve into Dave’s strategic approach to maintaining feeding consistency, improving reproduction results from 20% to 12% empty rates and emphasising the value of external expertise and farmer networks in continually improving the operation. 

Tune in to our latest episode with Taranaki farmers Craig Lynskey and Kieran Bourke as they share their journey transitioning from spring to autumn calving and the strategic advantages of this approach. The team discuss how increasing mild winters and challenging summer droughts pushed them toward this strategic shift. "Our growth rates through summer are often in single digits, yet consistently 40-45 in most winters," Kieran explains, highlighting the fundamental mismatch between traditional calving patterns and weather conditions.
 
 Craig and Kieran’s systems now capitalize on the autumn flush and strong winter growth, with cows reaching peak production precisely when high-quality feed becomes abundant. Both system 4 operations with feed pads and storage facilities. The results speak for themselves, with Kieran's Holstein herd averaging an impressive 650-670 kgMS/cow despite high stocking rates.
 
 The team dig into the practical aspects of their transition, from staggered calving dates starting in early March to grazing management strategies that maintain higher residuals through winter. Their advice for farmers considering similar transitions is clear: ensure you have a suitable climate, proper infrastructure, and systems to maintain feed quality year-round. The winter milk premium is "just the cherry on top" – the real value lies in aligning production with your farm's natural growth patterns in a changing climate. 

Introducing Matt and Wade's Rural Roadie! A 3-week caravan tour travelling rural New Zealand starting March 17 in the Waikato ending in Timaru on April 4. Matt Dalley and Wade Bell, our Farm Systems Specialists and Feed for Thought podcast hosts are cutting tracks through the country, hosting on-farm events, podcasts, RP evenings and more, offering farmers, growers, contractors, consultants, and rural professionals a chance to gain valuable insights into the profitable use of maize silage and the efficiencies in farm feeding systems. 

Head to, www.pioneer.co.nz/matt-and-wades-rural-roadie or Google 'Matt and Wade's Rural Roadie' to find out more about where they're heading and the events taking place along the way.

Field Operations Manager, Duncan Grant, shares his decade-long journey from field technician to leading the field operations in Gisborne. Discover the strategies and challenges of coordinating contract growers to maintain seed purity and manage cross-pollination risks. Learn from Duncan's insights the dynamic planning needed to tackle logistical hurdles presented by unpredictable weather conditions to produce some of New Zealand's highest quality seed.  

In our first episode of the year, Logan Dawson, 2024 Waikato Share Farmer of the Year (alongside wife, Sian Dawson), joins Wade and Matt to share his farming journey to managing an 880-cow share milking business in the Waikato. 

The team explores Logan and Sian’s system, examining how split calving and precise diets boost milk production. Logan explains balancing pasture and supplements to achieve high production metrics while keeping operations simple. They also discuss the financial strategies and technological advancements behind their on-farm success.

Logan explains how his custom feeding tools and data analysis optimise feeding levels, leading to high profits per hectare.

Join us for a thought-provoking episode filled with practical insights and forward-thinking approaches.