In 2002, Olin Greenan, a Monaghan native reared on a 40-cow dairy farm, made the brave move to New Zealand.
A young man in his early 20s with little to his name, Olin had no initial intention of staying long-term. However, the opportunity to build a successful dairy business at scale, and to do so relatively quickly, soon captured his imagination.
Olin worked his way up through the traditional New Zealand dairy farming pathway, starting as a general farm worker before progressing to second-in-command (2IC), farm manager and contract milker. In 2008, he secured his first 50:50 sharemilking position.
The opportunity arose after he caught the attention of a farm owner following a successful run in the New Zealand Dairy Farm Manager of the Year competition.
Impressed by his performance, the farm owner approached Olin and offered him a 50:50 sharemilking position on a 300-cow farm.
Under this arrangement, Olin was required to purchase the entire herd, with the farm owner providing the land and infrastructure.
He raised the necessary capital through a combination of bank finance, personal savings and a small loan from former lecturers who had taught him during his agricultural degree in England.
Olin stayed four years in that role before moving through a number of other sharemilking roles, each involving a larger herd than the last.
In 2023, he secured the opportunity to take on his current role in a 780-cow herd under another 50:50 sharemilking arrangement.
The farm is located in Orini, a small rural settlement approximately 30 minutes north of Hamilton in New Zealand’s Waikato region.
System
Olin’s a firm believer in a low-cost, low-input grass-based system in order to generate strong returns on his invested equity.
The farm is 234ha in total, stocked at 3.3 cows/ha and utilising 15t DM/ha. Cows are fed a total of 400kg of imported feed which is primarily made up of palm kernel and some maize silage. In 2025/26, the cows produced 374kg of MS/cow.
This low level of milk production per cow is something Irish farms would struggle to wrap their heads around but is one of the most popular systems operated by some of the top performing dairy farmers in New Zealand.
High stocking rates, utilising a lot of grass per hectare and low levels of imported feed which in turn equates to lower levels of production per cow, high levels of production per hectare and in essence a simple system to run with less exposure to volatile milk prices.
It’s worth noting the herd is also a very crossbred herd with predicted mature cow weight in the herd at 455kg.
Over the years Olin has hired a number of Irish students and prospective farmers, returning some of the help and generosity he received upon landing in New Zealand all those years ago.
Sharemilking
Sharemilking, while gaining popularity in Ireland, is still very uncommon when compared to the New Zealand dairy industry.
A 50:50 sharemilking arrangement essentially satisfies two parties. It allows a farm owner looking to step back, the opportunity to hand over the day to day and strategic running of a dairy farm to the share milker. A person who doesn’t own land but is highly motivated and eager to grow a dairy business in their own right that is capable of generating equity.
The scale of New Zealand farms like the one Olin is based on allows him to achieve something 95% of Irish farms wouldn’t be able to offer, hence the reason he has stayed in the country.
In the short-term Olin is hoping to make the most of the opportunity he is in, with the long-term goal to continue growing his net worth and potentially farm ownership.
