At 19 years old, Ross Tetley-Jones was buying his first tractor, a used John Deere 2850, eager to start his own contracting business.

Now 30 years on, he runs his own contracting company and a 404-hectare dry stock farm. He acknowledges this was possible through the support, advice and encouragement from his parents, Rod and Yvonne.

'It wasn't a matter of handing out large amounts of cash, it was support such as letting me run my first contracting business from a shed on their farm, and then guaranteeing the loan for my dry stock farm. They gave me that helping hand, but it was up to me to make them work,” Ross says.

Brought up on a sheep and beef farm in Taumarunui, with his father running a small contracting business, Ross has always been obsessed with farm machinery.

'In 1988 I went tractor and truck driving in Otorohanga, and I never left.”

By 1993, at the age of 22, Ross was involved with a small-scale contractor, and carried out his first season of silage making. When his parents moved to a 200-hectare dry stock farm in Otorohanga, he was able to operate his own business out of their shed.

'I spent three New Zealand winters in the United Kingdom doing five months contracting during their summers. One year I ended up running the irrigation side of a lettuce farm over there.”

Ross's contracting yard. Photo: Catherine Fry

Listening to Dad's advice

Contracting is hard work, but the pay is good, and Rod had wise words for his son.

'He advised me to use the money I had earned from contracting to buy a non-devaluing asset, or all I would end up with is a pile of rusting junk.”

When the 200ha adjoining his parents' farm came on the market in 2003, Ross bought it, with his parents guaranteeing the loan.

The two properties were run alongside each other, but as separate entities. While no money changed hands, Ross and Rod worked together on jobs and even shared a worker at one point.

The rolling to steep hill country is all in grass and used for dairy support, beef fattening and dairy service Jersey bulls. Younger cattle are smaller, and by running them in smaller mobs, this lessens the impact on the steep pasture.

'Dad fought the gorse on his farm for 15 years and won the battle, but we still have to get contract knapsack spray teams in each year to spray both farms.”

When his parents retired in 2015, Ross bought their farm, and now runs the property as one large one with a farm manager, John. His dad still helps out a bit and enjoys being part of farm life.

Ross winters 1000 cattle made up of about 500 rising one dairy grazers from off the farm, 400 mainly white face, dairy beef heifers and steers, and 165 rising two Jersey service bulls.

'We've been sourcing the Jerseys from about six suppliers over the last 24 years. I have an on-farm auction every year in early September to sell the two-year-olds, then buy in another 165 yearling bulls.”

Managing two businesses

Despite his dad telling the young Ross not to 'be a magpie and collect too much of the shiny stuff”, Ross has a fairly large fleet of tractors and farm machinery.

'I like the shiny stuff,” he says with a smile.

The contracting business has grown from one man to four full-time, one digger operator and two seasonal workers.

'It wasn't really planned, it just evolved from customer demand. We have a really good yard culture, and some long-standing relationships with customers.”

For the 2021 season, Ross would have liked three seasonal workers, but a labour shortage due to Covid-19, has meant he has just had to go with the team he has, and they have all worked hard to meet the demand.

'By mid-May the contracting side of things has died away, and we do some earthmoving in the winter to generate winter work for the boys, and they also help on the farm.”

The farm has always had an established 32ha of native bush under Queen Elizabeth II covenants. During the winter, fencing upgrades for the waterways is carried out as they flow into the Waipa River.

'We grow 1000 rounds of grass silage on the farm each year, and sometimes a little extra is bought in. The boys do a lot of feeding out in autumn and winter.”

Ross is grateful for the dad's mentorship and support from his parents, and believes it is a good thing having lots of fingers in lots of pies, even if it means a lot of hard work.

'I'm machinery mad and I love dogs and animals, so this agriculturally based life, with the mix of contracting and farming really works for me.”