THE DESIRE TO SUCCEED IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS
SUCCESs
If at first you don't succeed, do something different. - Geri Scazzero
about me
I am Chris Herud – Dairy Farm Mentor and Production Advisor. I grow people to be successful in dairy farming by providing the knowledge, principles and tools required to maximise farm performance.
Margaret and I have been married for over 40 years, nearly as long as I've been farming. We have two adult married children and seven grandchildren. We own 40 Ha at Forest Hill (Southland, New Zealand).
I grew up in Rhodesia on a cropping, beef, and dairy farm. After completing a two-year diploma in agriculture and national service, I worked on an extensive irrigation property growing cotton, maize, and oranges.
On marrying in 1976 we returned to the family farm, bought 800 Ha next door, and farmed 600 beef cows, 240 Ha maize, established a legume seed business and assisted my parents with their dairy and milk processing unit. During those years we lived and farmed in a war zone - I served with Special Forces and the Police Anti-terrorist Unit. In 1984, after the change of government, we chose to leave Zimbabwe with $1000 and emigrate to New Zealand.
Margaret and I began our NZ dairy journey by starting at the bottom –married man, contract milker and then sharemilking in the Waikato. In 1995 we purchased a 140 Ha sheep farm at Centre Bush, which we converted to a self-contained dairy unit and farmed for 11 years before health issues prompted us to sell. Since 2006 we have farmed dry stock on our property at Forest Hill. Recently Margaret and I decided to take a step back from the physical demands of farming and lease our property. I now have a greater opportunity to pass on what I have learned to the next generation of dairy farmers.
how i can help you
I've learned through nearly five decades in the dairy industry what works and what doesn't, and I love helping NZ dairy owners, managers, and sharemilkers avoid mistakes and exceed their goals and expectations.
I will help you and your team become competent in feed management and budgeting, understand the nutrients needed to maximise MS production, learn how to manipulate pasture growth and grow high yielding crops, maximize the use of fertilizers, and learn how to work well as a team.
If you're ready to see your farm and your cows thrive, let me put my practical experience and my expertise to work for you. I will evaluate all aspects of your farm operations, identify issues that limit production, and recommend proven success strategies.
But I'm not just a production advisor. I'm a mentor. I won't just give you a plan, but I'll help you understand why it works so that you become an expert yourself. I'll work with you regularly to help ensure you see the results you desire.
Every situation is different, but the average farm can expect the process to require two seasons.
Below are milk solids production graphs showing how my methods helped one farm increase milk production every season over a seven year period.
The chart below shows how the above farm's cost of production and breakeven dropped as MS production increased.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
I’ve worked closely with Chris Herud over the last 6 years. Starting out from when I was a trainee, Chris has mentored me and taught me the essential skills of how to run a farm. Now I’ve been able to purchase my own piece of land and incorporate it into the original farm.
I think some of the important things that Chris brings to the table are always doing the simple things right, and to understand exactly what you are trying to achieve. The reason for this is because without actually understanding what your system is about you can’t make the improvements that you may need.
Once he knows you’ve got a good understanding of your system, Chris will help you to extend yourself with good use of feed budgeting, nutrient management planning, crop/grass planning, and winter budgets.
Another string to Chris’ bow is his help in the HR area. He has helped us greatly by using personality profiles to enable us to work better as a team and to facilitate better communication. He also helps us to teach younger staff the skills essential to farming, these are the things you may not allocate time for yourself. It’s great having it come from a neutral person.
It has been great to have Chris as a liaison between me and the owner who has moved overseas. This means the farm owner has full confidence that between me and Chris the farm will continue to run at a high level.
Chris has given me a good understanding of farming systems and this has helped me to pass on the understanding to a lot of people. Over the past 7 seasons, we have always increased our production and I can attribute all of this to having Chris on board. Next season we are budgeting to do nearly double the production of the first year with only 40% more cows. This is a great testament to how Chris has helped us in so many ways to keep striving to take new opportunities and understand our systems.
I would strongly recommend bringing Chris into your farming team, as he genuinely cares about your farm and your team and he will be a valuable piece of the puzzle to any operation. Chris is on call 24 hours a day for the extra piece of mind you're making the right decision.
James Matheson
chris lawlor
Chris Herud has been our farm consultant for 8 seasons at Waipahi. He has assisted us to grow from milking 450 cows producing 380MS/cow to 700 cows producing 500MS/cow.
Chris has stuck to the grassroots basics of good pasture management through weekly farm walks, analysing feed wedges and regularly helping update feed budgets. His fertiliser budgeting and push for regular K application has lifted our pasture produce enormously.
Chris sees the bigger picture and regularly mentors all staff and advises on our team functionality. He is not afraid to tell it how he sees it.
As a result we have a very stable team with goals set which are being achieved.
For me, the ultimate result is I’m working and studying in Australia with a farm and team in NZ performing at the top of industry standards.
For more information, call 027 628 6044.
CLIFF ERSKINE
Chris Herud has been our farm consultant at Zion Dairy Limited for the last 12 months or so. What a brilliant asset Chris has been to our dairy business! Pasture management, herd conditioning, feed structures, and overall planning are all part of his advice.
To complement this verbal advice, Chris has provided us with detailed computer programmes that he has written specifically for our farming operating.
Chris has a group of very experienced experts in specific fields that he brings to the farm whenever required. Chris is always available and happy to be consulted at any time.
We just cannot speak highly enough of his expertise and knowledge and the way he communicates it so clearly and honestly. Add to this that Chris is a thoroughly honourable man of great integrity who carries out his work with a genuine caring and obvious desire for you to succeed, it puts him seriously ahead in his field. We could not ask for more and would thoroughly recommend Chris to others.
For more information call 021 572 520.
initial consultation
Let's talk.
Show me your farm and tell me your concerns and goals.
I'll offer a plan tailored to your specific situation and needs.
fortnightly visits
MENTORING & SUMMARY REPORTS
Recommended for new clients for a 2-year period
This includes:
-
Mentoring
-
Pasture management and production advice
-
Cropping and fertilizer advice
-
Feed budgets
-
Nutrient spreadsheets
-
Winter feed budgets
-
Personality profiles: facilitate better teamwork and improve working relationships
-
Tuition to understand and do all the above yourselves
-
Summary reports
-
Availability by phone anytime
fortnightly visits
MENTORING & COMPREHENSIVE REPORTS
Recommended for new clients who need comprehensive reports for a 2-year period
​
This includes:
-
Mentoring
-
Pasture management and production advice
-
Cropping and fertilizer advice
-
Feed budgets
-
Nutrient spreadsheets
-
Winter feed budgets
-
Personality profiles: facilitate better teamwork and improve working relationships
-
Tuition to understand and do all the above yourselves
-
Comprehensive reports
-
Availability by phone anytime
monthly visits
MENTORING & SUMMARY REPORTS
Recommended after an initial 2-year period – management understand and are using the above but need support and fine-tuning
This includes:
-
Ongoing mentoring
-
Pasture management and production advice
-
Cropping and fertilizer advice
-
Advice on feed budgets, nutrient spreadsheets and winter feed budgets
-
Personality profiles: staff selection and management
-
Summary reports
-
Availability by phone anytime
monthly
visits
MENTORING & COMPREHENSIVE REPORTS
Recommended after an initial 2-year period – management understand and are using the above but need support and fine-tuning
This includes:
-
Ongoing mentoring
-
Pasture management and production advice
-
Cropping and fertilizer advice
-
Advice on feed budgets, nutrient spreadsheets and winter feed budgets
-
Personality profiles: staff selection and management
-
Comprehensive reports
-
Availability by phone anytime
visits as required
I'm happy to help whenever you need me.
Each visit will typically last about 3 hours.