David and Kelly Fisher know the true meaning of Gypsy Day. They walked 230 cows eight kilometres from one farm to another when they changed sharemilking jobs in 2009, just the way generations of farmers before them once did.

Today few herds are moved on foot. Instead on June 1, fleets of trucks carry cows up and down the country.

Gyspy Day 2012 for the Fishers was more of a logistical operation with 300 cows trucked from the couple's previous sharemilking job on Steve and Dawn Connelly's farm near Matamata to the property belonging to John and Eleanor Fraser near Tirau. A further 250 cows and yearlings arrived by truck from other locations. Then there was the furniture trucks filled with the family's possession, plus farm machinery too.
Daughters Yasmin, 10, and Ashlyn, 7, are enjoying their new home and happy they can still attend Matamata Primary School.
Lifestyle change
David was truck driving and Kelly hairdressing in Tauranga before going farming. They had their own home on a small piece of land at Whakamarama but when Yasmin was born the couple began to question the long hours David worked and looked for a change of lifestyle.
Their first position was at Waitoa where David was a farm worker helping milk 470 cows. He completed a Level 4 NZQA farming qualification and the couple's next job, two years later, was managing a dairy farm near Te Aroha, before they decided to purchase a herd.
'It was pretty scary at first,” says Kelly.
'We sold our house and went into debt to buy the herd. We went from a regular weekly wage to a monthly cheque and living on overdraft.”
'June/July you get no income and just a small one in August, with things improving by September,” says David.
Taking the step of buying their own herd was not easy but the couple say they haven't looked back since the first tough year.
'It's given us the lifestyle we want, with time for us together and with our girls. It means we can be involved in their school and sports. I wouldn't change it now,” says Kelly.
Bigger and better
The decision to go even bigger was easier, but also made after careful consideration and research.
'The best thing we did was go on a BNZ strategic planning three day course,” says David, who admits to initially thinking it was expensive and probably wouldn't be worthwhile.
'Farm ownership is out of the question for us so once we've paid off debt we'll look for some off-farm investments,” says David.
It is the Frasers who have given the couple the chance to expand. They moved from the 97ha Connelly farm with its 28-a-side herringbone shed to the 210ha (180ha effective) former sheep and beef property with its 44-a-side shed.
David hopes to raise production on the Fraser farm, as he has done on his pervious jobs. Last season he achieved 127,600kgMS, a new record for the Connelly operation and one achieved with similar feed inputs.
Farm worker Juan Martins from Uruguay has joined the Fishers on the Fraser farm. Juan is contracted to the couple for three years and they are delighted with his work ethic and his keenness to learn.
Kelly and David are looking forward to the challenges ahead – and the close proximity to Lake Karapiro for water skiing.