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
Thanks to Alastair for his detailed notes on how he is transitioning to winter milking. They are now up on our website. His mating plan alone is worth a look!
Switching to Winter Milking – Alastair Neville's Story – Reporoa | SMASH
Smaller Milk and Supply Dairy Herds New ZealandGreat turnout at Alastair Neville’s farm in Reporoa yesterday... despite the weather (it was colder than what Alastair’s shorts might suggest.) Topics were around the switch to winter milking and use of crops in his system. Great looking farm and cows.
The month of September rolling around always gives me such a feeling of relief. I guess it’s owing to the fact that this is it, spring is here, the rush is over, and with daylight saving looming it will mean that those long evenings will once again reappear enabling all sorts of outdoor activity. Oh, […]
As I write this on the 30/7/19 I have just over half the herd in. The girls certainly have been keen to go as I had 25% of the herd in by due start date! This has convinced me to push back my start date to the 25th July. This is particularly relevant when it […]
I was aiming to write this blog on the shortest day, but that was on the 22nd of June, and it came and went before I knew it. We are now two weeks past that already! Wow, two weeks past the shortest day, which means only 84 days to go until daylight saving kicks in. […]
The season ended early for me with drying off on the 26th April. The dry summer/autumn encouraged this decision, and I feel it was the right one, with covers now over 2500 two thirds of the way through May. For the record, final figures were 28,759 kg solids, 368 kg per cow, and 1027 kg […]
It’s been a long time coming but finally the rain has arrived, hopefully not too late as we are very short of grass. With a bit of luck we can still see a pretty good finish to this season – we do need some good growing conditions over the next two months to set up […]
My calendar seems in a bit of disarray at the moment as we work ourselves through 2 weeks of days on, days off, days on, days off, causing me to struggle a bit trying to remember what day it is. I do know that it’s ANZAC day today as this is such a well-advertised and […]
I feel in rather a buoyant mood today for several reasons including, but not limited to: autumn rain, maize, bacon, craft beer and boys…..Often we put ourselves under pressure by having a list of things we need to do, but can’t find time to do, or maybe don’t want to do; or things we want […]
February has brought plenty of heat to our operation, and any areas with a stone or sand base are now dead. Even my lucerne block is wilting and with growth rates at 4 kg/day silage has become the order of the day. With a 36 day round, I still have a little deferred grass, but […]
It’s been a long time between blogs and lots has been happening. The rain has been wonderful and is keeping the grass growing at exponential rates, which is a wonderful change for this time of the year. The end of 2018 was busy with normal farming life but also Mrs. Frostie took on a few […]
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.
Key supporter:
Other supporters:
Would you like to hear about events in your region? Join our mailing list to be the first in the know!
