Biofarm Products Limited
For 20 years, Cathy and Jamie Tait-Jamieson have been both farming and processing Biofarm organic acidophilus yoghurt on their farm near Palmerston North.
Milking 150 cows, the Tait-Jamiesons contribute a drop in the bucket of total New Zealand milk production. However, one litre Biofarm acidophilus is the number one selling natural yoghurt on local supermarket shelves.
Fonterra has 61 farms under organic contract, with 34 having completed certification. Last year its suppliers produced around 17 million litres of organic milk. This is predominantly sold on the international ingredients market.
Certified organic since 1986, Biofarm is the second oldest commercial organic farm still operating in New Zealand.
Directors Jamie and Cathy Tait-Jamieson first adopted biodynamic methods on the farm in 1980 and marketed their first yoghurt in 1986, becoming the first company in New Zealand to supply organic products to mainstream supermarkets.
Biofarm Products Limited was formed in 1993, when Neville and Sue Openshaw joined Jamie and Cathy as partners.
When the Tait-Jamiesons began farming organically they were labelled hippies, with the local community speculating on when they would go broke. It was extremely hard to get finance, with their non-conventional enterprise not fitting rural lending criteria.
Eventually personal contact with a bank manager met through home-schooling, led to financing through a commercial rather than rural lender which enabled us to tick all the boxes.
We produce organic milk products not only for business reasons but are also motivated by a social responsibility to provide consumers with safe and healthy products and the environmental reason of farming in a sustainable way.
In 1997, Cathy was presented with the Maori Woman Overall Excellence in Business award.
The Tait-Jamiesons milk 150 cows plus carry young stock on their 220 hectare farm. A similar-sized conventional farm would milk about 700 cows, but would need to run 1000 to generate the around $3 million turnover being achieved by Biofarm.
Financially and environmentally, the business has stacked up well, says Cathy. Socially, a conventional dairy farm milking 150 cows would be a one-man operation. We employ 12 on the farm, and in the factory and office.
Milking is year-around, to ensure stable production. The aim is to produce 2000 litres of milk per day, to meet market demand which fluctuates only slightly according to the weather.
Working outside the New Zealand milk production curve, the Tait-Jamieson cows are milked right through winter and calve all year except in spring. At times, they supplement supply with surplus organic milk bought from Fonterra, but are self-sufficient during the winter trough when surplus milk would not be available.
With possible expansion in mind, they are aiming to rear a few more calves every year to manage growth so production can be grown along with the market.
Differences between the Tait-Jamiesons dairy farm and others are especially marked in mid August, when they were featured on Rural Delivery.
We have no recovering pasture where cows have been breakfed and the paddock has turned to mud. And we have no stored feed ahead of us for freshly calved cows as unlike the seasonal dairy industry which is in the midst of calving we will not calve again until late September/early October, says Jamie.
At this time of year, the whole farm is in short pasture, well controlled by the herd that is rotating around the whole farm in 20 days. They are just keeping ahead of grass growth, which will escalate in early September when the rotation will begin to slow.
Pesticides and herbicides are not used on the property.
We have plenty of weeds, but they do not pose any problems to animal health. In fact, at certain times of the year you can observe cows and sheep nibbling at young shoots of hemlock (which is generally poisonous), says Jamie.
By ensuring animals are never pinched for feed, they ensure they do not resort to eating poisonous weeds like hemlock and ragwort.
Biological controls are proving effective in controlling ragwort, with the Californian flea beetle having eradicated the weed over approximately one third of the farm. Cinnabar and magpie caterpillars are also present, hibernating during winter in old wooden fence posts, tree lots and the like.
The property is vulnerable to flooding so periodically gets dumped with enough ragwort seed to last another 100 years!
Pasture quantity/quality is maintained by managing the soil first and foremost, by measures including maintaining low density stocking rates during wet periods. Soils are naturally high in potassium, and clovers and other species grow rapidly in the climatic conditions. On parts of the farm that are prone to drought, Japanese millet is grown in the sandier soils, as well as oats and vetch. Maize is sometimes grown as a summer supplement.
Organic protocols allow the use of natural mineral fertilisers, if required. No fertiliser was applied for 20 years, but after the big Manawatu flood of 2004 deposited areas of silt, low sulphur Reactive Phosphate Rock (RPR) was applied at 100kg/hectare.
Animal health and welfare are a high priority. Motorbikes and dogs are not used to herd cows.
During long periods of wet weather, cows can have problems with lameness caused by softening of their hooves. Feet are immediately inspected for lodged stones or bruising and affected cows kept close to the shed so they do not have to walk any distance.
Homeopathic arnica and ledum is used to treat bruising and puncture wounds, but if a hoof is infected and the animal is in pain a vet is asked to administer an antibiotic. The animal is held in quarantine for the stipulated time then either dried off or her milk fed to calves after the required withholding period (double what is required for conventional farms).
We would expect to treat one or two cows per year with antibiotics. We dont like doing it as it means the cow must leave the farm, but animal welfare is the priority.
For 25 years, homeopathic remedies have been routinely used on lactating cows to prevent and treat mastitis and have proved very effective.
When calves are removed from cows, stress is lessened by providing an area where the cow can sit and feed by the calf pen, day and night. After about two days, the cow is generally confident that her calf is fine and remains in the paddock with the rest of the herd.
If the cow doesnt come back to see her calf during the day then she is not feeling well, a signal for us to check up on her and perhaps give her some extra food or maybe calcium, says Jamie.
The Tait-Jamiesons farmed conventionally for five years. In their organic transition years, participation in a local farm discussion group became irrelevant as there was no need for information about such things as fertiliser application to boost pasture growth, antibiotic and other drug treatments for animal sickness or pesticide use for weed control.
They had only had European research to turn to for the information they needed - trial and error became the order of the day.
Feeling in the 23-member discussion group was that theyd go broke. Today, they are one of only two of those original farms still operating, with most having been sold for conversion to lifestyle blocks.
Yoghurt is made every day, with rapid turnover.
When the Tait-Jamiesons first converted to organic dairying, they had no alternative but to build their own processing facility if they were to supply organic dairy products to the local market as there were no other processors.
Biofarm now makes five yoghurt and two non-homogenised milk products.
The company has just started packing its milk and yoghurt in Ecolean environmentally friendly packing, made from chalk combined with low levels of plastic. The chalk component biodegrades rapidly creating a suitable environment for remaining plastic to break down.
Biofarm yoghurt is seen on supermarket shelves throughout the country, serviced by 13 distributors.
I know a town by its supermarkets, says Cathy who places a high priority on getting out and collecting feedback on their product. She says her best results come from listening and responding to this feedback.
In their early twenties, the couple registered the Biofarm trademark is registered in the US, Japan, Australia and in Some European countries.
We thought if we reached for the stars we might get to the moon.
Now in their 50s, they are considering whether to tackle the vast international market with its value measured in billions of dollars.
Biofarm is certified organic by AgriQuality, ensuring the factory and farm are approved under one system which links in comfortably with New Zealand Food Safety Authority standards.
Milking 150 cows, the Tait-Jamiesons contribute a drop in the bucket of total New Zealand milk production. However, one litre Biofarm acidophilus is the number one selling natural yoghurt on local supermarket shelves.
Fonterra has 61 farms under organic contract, with 34 having completed certification. Last year its suppliers produced around 17 million litres of organic milk. This is predominantly sold on the international ingredients market.
Certified organic since 1986, Biofarm is the second oldest commercial organic farm still operating in New Zealand.
Directors Jamie and Cathy Tait-Jamieson first adopted biodynamic methods on the farm in 1980 and marketed their first yoghurt in 1986, becoming the first company in New Zealand to supply organic products to mainstream supermarkets.
Biofarm Products Limited was formed in 1993, when Neville and Sue Openshaw joined Jamie and Cathy as partners.
When the Tait-Jamiesons began farming organically they were labelled hippies, with the local community speculating on when they would go broke. It was extremely hard to get finance, with their non-conventional enterprise not fitting rural lending criteria.
Eventually personal contact with a bank manager met through home-schooling, led to financing through a commercial rather than rural lender which enabled us to tick all the boxes.
We produce organic milk products not only for business reasons but are also motivated by a social responsibility to provide consumers with safe and healthy products and the environmental reason of farming in a sustainable way.
In 1997, Cathy was presented with the Maori Woman Overall Excellence in Business award.
The Tait-Jamiesons milk 150 cows plus carry young stock on their 220 hectare farm. A similar-sized conventional farm would milk about 700 cows, but would need to run 1000 to generate the around $3 million turnover being achieved by Biofarm.
Financially and environmentally, the business has stacked up well, says Cathy. Socially, a conventional dairy farm milking 150 cows would be a one-man operation. We employ 12 on the farm, and in the factory and office.
Milking is year-around, to ensure stable production. The aim is to produce 2000 litres of milk per day, to meet market demand which fluctuates only slightly according to the weather.
Working outside the New Zealand milk production curve, the Tait-Jamieson cows are milked right through winter and calve all year except in spring. At times, they supplement supply with surplus organic milk bought from Fonterra, but are self-sufficient during the winter trough when surplus milk would not be available.
With possible expansion in mind, they are aiming to rear a few more calves every year to manage growth so production can be grown along with the market.
Differences between the Tait-Jamiesons dairy farm and others are especially marked in mid August, when they were featured on Rural Delivery.
We have no recovering pasture where cows have been breakfed and the paddock has turned to mud. And we have no stored feed ahead of us for freshly calved cows as unlike the seasonal dairy industry which is in the midst of calving we will not calve again until late September/early October, says Jamie.
At this time of year, the whole farm is in short pasture, well controlled by the herd that is rotating around the whole farm in 20 days. They are just keeping ahead of grass growth, which will escalate in early September when the rotation will begin to slow.
Pesticides and herbicides are not used on the property.
We have plenty of weeds, but they do not pose any problems to animal health. In fact, at certain times of the year you can observe cows and sheep nibbling at young shoots of hemlock (which is generally poisonous), says Jamie.
By ensuring animals are never pinched for feed, they ensure they do not resort to eating poisonous weeds like hemlock and ragwort.
Biological controls are proving effective in controlling ragwort, with the Californian flea beetle having eradicated the weed over approximately one third of the farm. Cinnabar and magpie caterpillars are also present, hibernating during winter in old wooden fence posts, tree lots and the like.
The property is vulnerable to flooding so periodically gets dumped with enough ragwort seed to last another 100 years!
Pasture quantity/quality is maintained by managing the soil first and foremost, by measures including maintaining low density stocking rates during wet periods. Soils are naturally high in potassium, and clovers and other species grow rapidly in the climatic conditions. On parts of the farm that are prone to drought, Japanese millet is grown in the sandier soils, as well as oats and vetch. Maize is sometimes grown as a summer supplement.
Organic protocols allow the use of natural mineral fertilisers, if required. No fertiliser was applied for 20 years, but after the big Manawatu flood of 2004 deposited areas of silt, low sulphur Reactive Phosphate Rock (RPR) was applied at 100kg/hectare.
Animal health and welfare are a high priority. Motorbikes and dogs are not used to herd cows.
During long periods of wet weather, cows can have problems with lameness caused by softening of their hooves. Feet are immediately inspected for lodged stones or bruising and affected cows kept close to the shed so they do not have to walk any distance.
Homeopathic arnica and ledum is used to treat bruising and puncture wounds, but if a hoof is infected and the animal is in pain a vet is asked to administer an antibiotic. The animal is held in quarantine for the stipulated time then either dried off or her milk fed to calves after the required withholding period (double what is required for conventional farms).
We would expect to treat one or two cows per year with antibiotics. We dont like doing it as it means the cow must leave the farm, but animal welfare is the priority.
For 25 years, homeopathic remedies have been routinely used on lactating cows to prevent and treat mastitis and have proved very effective.
When calves are removed from cows, stress is lessened by providing an area where the cow can sit and feed by the calf pen, day and night. After about two days, the cow is generally confident that her calf is fine and remains in the paddock with the rest of the herd.
If the cow doesnt come back to see her calf during the day then she is not feeling well, a signal for us to check up on her and perhaps give her some extra food or maybe calcium, says Jamie.
The Tait-Jamiesons farmed conventionally for five years. In their organic transition years, participation in a local farm discussion group became irrelevant as there was no need for information about such things as fertiliser application to boost pasture growth, antibiotic and other drug treatments for animal sickness or pesticide use for weed control.
They had only had European research to turn to for the information they needed - trial and error became the order of the day.
Feeling in the 23-member discussion group was that theyd go broke. Today, they are one of only two of those original farms still operating, with most having been sold for conversion to lifestyle blocks.
Yoghurt is made every day, with rapid turnover.
When the Tait-Jamiesons first converted to organic dairying, they had no alternative but to build their own processing facility if they were to supply organic dairy products to the local market as there were no other processors.
Biofarm now makes five yoghurt and two non-homogenised milk products.
The company has just started packing its milk and yoghurt in Ecolean environmentally friendly packing, made from chalk combined with low levels of plastic. The chalk component biodegrades rapidly creating a suitable environment for remaining plastic to break down.
Biofarm yoghurt is seen on supermarket shelves throughout the country, serviced by 13 distributors.
I know a town by its supermarkets, says Cathy who places a high priority on getting out and collecting feedback on their product. She says her best results come from listening and responding to this feedback.
In their early twenties, the couple registered the Biofarm trademark is registered in the US, Japan, Australia and in Some European countries.
We thought if we reached for the stars we might get to the moon.
Now in their 50s, they are considering whether to tackle the vast international market with its value measured in billions of dollars.
Biofarm is certified organic by AgriQuality, ensuring the factory and farm are approved under one system which links in comfortably with New Zealand Food Safety Authority standards.