“ I am the youngest of three siblings. Apart from Roy, we have a sister, Debbie Stratford, who is also married to a dairy farmer. After school, I went to Weston and Cedara agricultural colleges. My mom called me one day while I was with friends and said it was time to get back to the farm. My dad was focused on the contracting business and wanted to sell the farm. She knew I wanted to farm and pulled me back,” he says.“ At that time, we were milking about 60 cows. My plans to go over-seas were cut short, and in 1990, I arrived back on the farm.”
According to Graham, it was initially a shaky setup with a six-point milking machine on a 265 ha farm.
“ Back then, we bought 10 cows, paid them off, bought 10 more and paid them off as we struggled along. Roy also joined the farm in 2005 and managed a farm stall around the time of the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
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2. Cows in the holding pens before entering the milking parlour on The Plains.