SMASH has been set up to help dairy farmers, particularly those with smaller operations, to run successful businesses. We mainly achieve this by running events throughout New Zealand. These give farmers the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills which will stand them in good stead back on their own farms.
We also want to foster a supportive farming community – we are all in it together! SMASH is run by a group of New Zealand dairy farmers with a passion for the industry and for helping to build a strong and sustainable future for dairy farming. Read more
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With the girls producing just 0.74 kg milksolids I have decided to finish up for the season. Dry off date is the 4th May. So, in the end they didn’t milk much longer than last year, and I only gained a couple of percent in total production. Still, with the pay out well up and […]
With 31 days left till June, we are still milking TAD. With all the supplements we have fed over the summer, the little bits of rain, and sticking to our round length of 45 days since the calves left the farm, we have increased pasture cover to 2,400+ kg DM/ha. If this warm weather continues, […]
In my last blog I was talking about getting a third cut of silage. Well, the weather was good, so I started filling the second pit. I then managed a fourth cut, which I baled as it was off half the saved area. I saved the rest as standing silage and am just grazing the […]
Nothing beats writing a blog while it is raining, especially at this time of the year. It’s money falling out of the sky and from what I see on the Rain Radar everyone is getting a good drop. I hope many of you had an excellent Christmas and New Year, with hopefully some time off, […]
“Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future”. This John F Kennedy quote rings especially true for us as we break into 2021. Last year was a year like no other in many ways, but in saying that, so was the […]
I am currently having the best season on farm to date, with everything going to plan so far. Before the government’s rules, regulations and restrictions kick in we have decided to go ALL IN for production results and have a farm target of 2,000 kg MS/ha. We are fully pushing the farm, cows, and us […]
So far, the season has been mild and grass growth favourable. I guess after the drought last year we were due some good fortune. Still, I am trying to put as much silage in the pit as possible, especially with the price of PKE holding up. Two silage cuts are in and the third cut […]
I thought before I go on about the farm, I would recap my current situation. This is a small farm with a small herd, 80 cows, and there has been a need to diversify to defy the trend of small farms merging into bigger ones. My decision to go with timber has been a good […]
It’s a great little country that we live in! As I watch the rest of the world struggling to cope with Covid I really do appreciate this slice of paradise. The cows are just starting to calve and at time of writing there is plenty of grass and it has been mild weather. Cover is […]
Thank you and your committee for your great work re SMASH events. We have gained several life changing ideas from these events.
At SMASH events we met like-minded people doing similar things.
It gave us confidence to know that there are people out there doing the same thing we are doing.
The positive vibe and the feeling of community amongst the farmers here was a highlight.
Can't sleep as am too excited after events!
This was a brilliant day. Refreshing, informative, varied and motivating.
“We have kind of gone off discussion groups because they tend to just look after our little district. Discussion groups are mainly people checking up on what the neighbours are doing whereas SMASH events are different, we get a lot more from them. I wholeheartedly loved it. It is good getting out of the area too.”
The strong working partnership of smaller herd farmers Matt and Sarah-Jane Yates has been a cornerstone to the success of their farming business. Matt started his career drystock farming on the family block, but its sale enabled him to buy his own property.
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