Supplier Support
Develop your farming business with confidence using our expert team to support you as you grow.
Access to farms, managers and data
As a supplier you have full access to Spring Sheep dairy farms and the farm managers to ask questions, visit, compare data and progress farm performance together, along with financial data and analysis support.
Supplier benefits
Milk contracts
Spring Sheep suppliers are offered multi-year contracts. These are typically three years with the agreement automatically extending by a further twelve months on each anniversary of the Commencement Date. This means you have a three years forward contract at any one time.
Milking Zealandia® Entitlements
Supplier production entitlements are set at a milking sheep level, called Milk Zealandia Entitlements (MZEs). These are set at a maximum number of milking ewes per entity which will grow over the first three years of your contract before reaching your farms maximum.
Purchasing your sheep
Our Zealandia® sheep are specifically for Spring Sheep suppliers. You can purchase your flock from the Spring Sheep supplier platform which all suppliers have access too. We can support you through this process to make sure you get a good balance in your flock.
Signing up to supply
When it comes to signing up we'll meet with you on-farm to provide a milk supply agreement and livestock purchase agreement – typically this is done 8-12 months ahead of the start of supply.
Economic Farm Surplus
Because not every farm operates under the same labour, stocking and feeding policies it is best to look at Economic Farm Surplus (EFS) on a case-by-case basis.
Projected surplus
A typical fully costed model could expect EFS per hectare of up to $3000 in establishment years with room to materially increase in future years under mature operating models
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Budget forecasting
Spring Sheep has developed a comprehensive farm budget based on the past 8 years of operating experience, which you can tailor to your unique farm.
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Enquire now
Contact our team today for a detailed analysis and full financial budget prepared for your farm.
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Leading research programme with MPI
Spring Sheep are fortunate to lead and run the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures (SFF Futures) Scale Up Programme, a new five-year partnership programme with Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), which is designed to take the sheep dairy industry from the piloting phase through to an established primary industry. Previously Spring Sheep ran the 6-year Sheep - Horizon Three Research Program with MPI, which was focused on building a high-value and sustainable New Zealand sheep dairy industry by building a fit-for-purpose New Zealand sheep milk farming system. As a supplier, you will be up to speed with all the latest from trials and projects from these programmes.
Unmatched farm support
Getting into sheep milking is an exciting step and we're available to help out. Our farming team have plenty of experience to share and is only ever a phone call away. They are happy to provide advice drawing on their years of experience in sheep dairying in New Zealand and overseas. We regularly host on-farm discussion groups and like to share what's working well and what isn't working so well.