Anna and Tony WakelinTony_and_Anna.JPG

Equity Farm Managers - Alto Holdings

Anna began her dairy career at Willsden in 2004 as a junior staff member. The following year Tony and Anna took a 2IC job next door at Prairie, where they spent the next two years gaining experience and skills. They were also able to buy and raise their first 20 heifer calves.

After two years at Prairie Tony and Anna accepted the role of managing the 700 cow Camden Farm. They took to the management role at Camden with great enthusiasm, achieving record production of 289,000kgMS in their first season.
Whilst at Camden they were given the opportunity to rear 115 heifer calves in the first season and 117 heifer calves in the second season.

Tony and Anna used the buying and selling of stock to increase their equity which enabled them to consider taking on a 50% sharemilking position. Their ambition to make the move to sharemilking saw them establish a joint venture with the Camden Group in 2009. Alto Holdings Ltd was formed by the partners when they landed a 50/50 sharemilking job, milking 530 cows for John and Jenna Drenth in Te Pirita, near Dunsandel. Alto completed a brilliant first season in 2009/10, with outstanding milk solids production and high milk prices boosting profitability.

Tony and Anna and Alto enjoyed another two great seasons, completing a three year contract with the Drenth’s, during which time they grew in cow numbers by leasing out extra animals at the end of the seasons and rearing extra heifer calves.

For the 2012/13 season Alto moved to a new dairy conversion for Richard and Margaret Spencer-Bower in Eyrewell, Rangiora. Here they milked 1050 cows through a new 60 bale rotary with in-shed feeding, pivot and border-dyke irrigation.

Alto has increased in cow numbers again for the 2013/14 season milking 1330 cows. They are really fortunate to have a great staff of 5.5 from Chile and India that have largely been on board since 2007.

Anna and Tony have three children, Tom, Georgie and Nicholas.

In 2014, they have been part of the Camden group for nine years. For them, it’s exciting to have grown as farmers and as a business and to be looking forward to the opportunities ahead.