Supplier Support

As a supplier you will have full access to the three 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.

Signing up as a supplier

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 three years forward contract at any one time.

Milking Zealandia® Entitlement

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. This puts no limit on the amount of milk you can produce and leaves you free to chase genetic and on-farm performance gains.

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 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 EFS on a case by case basis
A typical fully costed model could expect Economic Farm Surplus per hectare of $3000 in the early years lifting to $5000-$6000+ in the mature operating model.
Spring Sheep has developed a comprehensive farm budget based on the past 5 years of operating experience, which you can tailor to you unique farm
Contact our team today for a detailed analysis and full financial budget prepared for your farm.

Request more information

Ongoing 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 are only ever a phone call away. They are happy to provide advice drawing on the years of experience milking sheep in NZ and overseas. We regularly host on-farm discussion groups and like to share what's working well and what isn't working so well.

Experienced support crew

Here are a few of our team members who will help you to build a successful sheep dairy farm.

“Anthony has milked sheep at scale in both the North and South Island. Heading up our large farm with over 2,500 ewes Anthony knows sheep dairy is about all the little things done right to achieve desired farm outcomes. An expert in pasture management for dairy ewes, Anthony draws on many years of previous experience milking cows and can relate well to those farmers joining the industry from a similar background.”

Anthony Sheppard - Farm Manager St Kilda

Leading research program

Spring Sheep are fortunate to lead and run the Sheep - Horizon Three Research Program in conjunction with the Ministry for Primary Industries. As a supplier, you will be up to speed with all the latest from trials and projects as a part of this program.