| 39 Ballandean continues its long, proud history Sue Russell Running a sheep farm, 10km south-west of Timaru, which has been in the one family since 1882, is something current owners Duncan and Amy Scott are tremendously proud of. Counting their own children that makes six generations of Scotts who have called the farm home. It’s about a year since Rural South last caught up with Duncan and the theme of lack of rain in the local area was still uppermost in his mind. “We’re desperate for water with only 55ha of flat land under irrigation,” Duncan says. The total land footprint extends some 204ha with approximately two-thirds rolling, with the core activity on the farm breeding and finishing stock from their Dohne and Border/Leicester sheep studs. Dohne is a breed Duncan’s father Owen became interested in in the early 2000’s for good reason. Dohne are a true dual-purpose sheep. Ewes make excellent mothers, producing vigorously growing lambs and a wool clip averaging 21 micron for the mixed-age ewes. This means the wool stacks up close to merino. Originating from South Africa, Dohne sheep first arrived in New Zealand back in 1998. Two years ago the stud, then called Glenloe Stud presented their first Dohne ram sale and Duncan recalls a sense of uncertainty as to how the market would respond. The decision has been made going forward to rename the stud Ballandean. “We were very pleased with how our first ram sale went. The breed has an excellent track-record when it comes to survivability and growth rate, which in our situation on the farm, is critical. Feedback from our farmer clients has been so positive with one farmer commenting that Dohne has saved his farm.” Duncan says, given the environmental challenges, the sheep are in good condition, however last year the situation was pretty tough through Autumn. “We were feeding out from the middle of February to the end of August, however the ewes lifted really well, however as a result the scanning % dropped as a result of a tough season as others around the area experienced. MEAT & WOOL » Ballandean Ltd That will be off-set this year by better product prices.” When Rural South spoke with Duncan midJanuary the second draft of the mob was about to get underway in three weeks, with a final draft eight weeks later. Each season about 350-400 ewe lambs are kept as replacements. Duncan is aware with so much feeding out last year the ability to grow sufficient crops to replace that deficit is a concern. Many farms in the district have been in the family for generations, as demonstrated by the Anderson family living on Anderson Road, the Scott’s living on Scott Road and the Cairds living on Cairds Road along with several other very well established families in the district. The farm is a typical size for what most properties were historically, however Duncan says a trend has been as a farmer sells out, the property is taken into an existing farm, increasing its size accordingly. “I’m pleased to see the meat schedules are looking on an upward trend for both older ewes and lambs heading to the works which is some good news, given farm operating costs just seem to continue to go up all the time.” Another positive trend is the store lamb market is going well, following Southland’s ‘shocking’ lambing season. Compliance costs and time-frames continue to be a headache as Duncan explains. “Actually I’d describe it more as a migraine. We’re dealing with continual extensions of time to get our water access consents sorted. It’s frustrating because we did everything right at our end, applying for a new consent to access water from the river a good six months before the old consent expired. It’s now 18 months further on again from that application time, without any clear sense of when the new consent will come through.” Above all, Duncan says unrealistic compliance charges coupled with no accountability, adds huge stresses on to farmers doing the best they can every day to keep their operations financially viable. In fact Duncan says if it wasn’t for the compliance issues and uncertainty Ballandean Farming would be ticking along well. Another activity in the business is the production of Clover Honey, the idea of Duncan’s father. Hives go to Omarama and Ranfurly but after two dry seasons honey production is down. “There’s still some positivity in the honey market which is slowly improving. We sell our honey to Airborne Honey is Leeston.” Ballendean Stud will present approximately 40 Dohne and 15 Border Leicester rams for sale on the farm at this year’s annual sale on 4 December. “We’re very much looking forward to showcasing these fine animals and based on feedback from existing clients we’re expecting keen interest from buyers.” www.standrewstransport.co.nz Cell: 027 329 555 Phone: 03 612 6605 Main Road, St. Andrews PO Box 137, Timaru Email: satrans@xtra.co.nz Proud to be associated with Ballandean Ltd 9 King Street, Timaru E: timaru.tyres@gmail.com 03 688 9358 • 027 610 9020 Tractor & Implement Tyres Cars & 4WD Trucks & Trailers Puncture repairs 24 hour call out Specialising in PROUDLY SUPPORTING BALLANDEAN LTD 39 George Street, Timaru 7910 | PO Box 125, Timaru 7940 | Email: hcmail@hcpartners.co.nz Phone: 03 687 9222 | Website: www.hcpartners.co.nz Are proud to provide accountancy, tax and business advice services for Ballandean Ltd Partners: Paul Wolffenbuttel | Jasveen Singh | Nick Krivan | Kalpesh Hari | Mark Evans Ballandean Dohne ram hoggets.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=