Gypsy Day for Dairy Farmers

Tomorrow is gypsy day for dairy farmers. This is the day when farm workers, farm managers or share-milkers move to new farms. Share-milkers take their cows with them. If it’s a short distance, they walk the cows along the roads or if it’s a long distance, they use trucks to take the animals.

The families move too so suddenly schools find children have disappeared and the next day new children have arrived. Of course it doesn’t all happen in one day. Many farm workers moved their animals today.

Share-milkers are farmers who own the cows but not the land. They feed the cows in the winter, plant crops on the land, make hay for winter feed and milk the cows but the land belongs to another farmer, often a retired farmer. There are different business arrangements but often it is a 50 – 50 split in profits. The share-milker takes 50% of the profits and the land owner take the other 50%.

This is a very common arrangement in New Zealand. Many share-milkers are young people who want to buy their own farms and this is one way to earn enough money to buy land. It is good for the land owner also, especially a retired farmer. It is hard work milking cows twice a day, every day; milking starts very early in the morning. The share-milker does the hard work and the retired farmer earns a living from the land.

Vocabulary

• gypsy –a traveller who moves from place to place often
• crops – plants for food e.g. turnips, canola,
• arrangement – agreement
• split – divide
• profit – money left after costs have been paid