22 | Ray still loves ‘the noble profession’ Richard Loader Richard Dean McCrostie and Carl McCrostie with ‘Derrick’. In the business of telling stories, I am in the privileged position of yarning to the salt of the earth on a regular basis, and being blessed with their wise pearls, while also privy to their life changes. Ray and Janette McCrostie farm in Mokotua, southern Southland, on land that Ray’s father bought 55 lambing seasons ago. Ray was 15 years old at the time and has always had a love for the land, saying that he has always felt farming was right up there as a ‘noble profession’. “Every year we pluck out from nowhere, it would seem, a considerable amount of meat and wool that feeds, clothes or provides shelter for our fellow man, within a profitable framework. But, unless I’m missing something, that perception is being eroded by woke politicians, and it’s probably not agreed to by the urban majority now either.” Still believing farming to be a noble profession, Ray says it is a 24/7 commitment. He’s not issuing a complaint, it is simply what he loves about the life, and always has. “You are constantly required to observe and interpret minute signals from a variety of forms of life including your stock, your pastures, the weather, the whole ecosystem. It’s a dynamic changing thing that requires your concentration twenty four hours a day/seven days a week, taking into account a recipe for success one year that could lead to failure the next.” ARABLE » Ray McCrostie Through experienced eyes that have witnessed more than five decades of governments and change within our nation, along with the rise of pressure groups voicing strong views through a powerful social media, Ray says woke politicians are right up the top, when it comes to the biggest challenge young farmers face going forward. “That has really ramped up under the leadership of the last Labour government. That is all about politicians who are removed from the reality of life, who don’t see what goes on in 77 CLYDE STREET, INVERCARGILL, PH (03) 214 4254 www.southlandhonda.co.nz SOUTHLAND HONDA For the best Parts, Sales & Service in the south For all your Agrichemical applications, get in touch with Spray Quip today! 027 226 5018 sprayquip21@gmail.com Ray McCrostie on farm. nature. Nature takes no prisoners. It’s the law of survival of the fittest and now we have a bunch of woke politicians who take into account all the touchy-feely emotional populist views, that are so removed from reality.” Ray is a realist and says young farmers must also have an open mind about embracing technology and adapting. “Advances in science and different ways of doing things are huge. With the technology coming down the track, whether we like it or not, farmers are going to have to change. For better or worse, change is inevitable.” With age creeping on and unstoppable, Ray and Janette have made some decisions about reducing their workload, while ensuring they can remain working independently on their land for as long as possible. The couple are reducing their flock of Border Leicester/Romney cross ewes through natural attrition by about 150 each year, while doubling the less labour intensive beef rearing to about 60 a year. “We’re also increasing our cropping, albeit in a minute way. I’ve just harvested about three hectares of oats for dairy cow feed, and I’ve made 86 bales of oats, along with 700 bales of balage and 300 bales of hay, of which half has already been sold dairy cocky neighbours.” Change is a constant that cannot be avoided, but it’s how the change is embraced that really matters; something that Ray and Janette have mastered.
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