| 13 Over 45 years of intensive selection Lambing begins on August 1, docking around September 20. Russell Fredric MEAT & WOOL » Hokotehi Moriori Trust and Turanganui Romneys’ Turanganui Romneys’ genetics are a key driver behind Hokotehi Moriori Trust’s (HMT) sheep operation, a change farm manager Levi Lanauze made in six years ago with the realities of island farming front of mind. Turanganui Romneys is a premier South Wairarapa stud run by the Warren family, with more than 45 years of intensive selection for productive traits. “When I came onto the farm, we were looking to change ram breeders and we were looking for a good, solid, robust sheep,” Levi says. This decision to introduce Turanganui genetics was partly driven by the trying conditions on the Chatham Islands, but mostly due to needing an animal that would maintain its condition during the five day voyage to New Zealand’s mainland. “The thing I always tell people is I needed a sheep that could put on a lot of weight and then manage to carry it. That’s obviously [during] the five days of travelling on the ship.” HMT’s sheep and beef platform comprises two stations. Kaingaroa Station covers 4,800 hectares on the north-east of Rekohu, supported by a 1,000ha fattening and finishing block at Henga, which also serves as a holding area prior to shipping. Last year a further 400ha lease block was added for lamb finishing, ewe hoggets, and a small number of young cattle. The Trust now runs 4,500 breeding ewes and around 1,000 hoggets, lifting ewe numbers by about 1,400 with the additional lease block. Turanganui Romneys Mike Warren 027 446 5312 or 06 307 7841 Guy Warren 027 848 0164 WilliamWarren 027 824 9327 Proud supplier of Maternal Genetics to the Hokotehi Moriori Trust ON FARM R2 BULL SALE BRED AND RAISED ON STEEP HILL COUNTRY Ke Warra Maxwell R156 MF Aswan 2991 Mureduke Quaterback Q011 MONDAY 8TH JUNE 2026 1pm BULL OPEN DAY FRIDAY 22nd May RICHARD & DENISE MARTIN | MATT & LUCY BERQUIST ENQUIRIES & VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME P: 03 541 8559•M: 027 230 3098 • E: richard@martinfarming.com 385 CHUR CH VA L L E Y RD , WAK E F I E L D , NE L SON facebook.com/MartinFarming Levi’s breeding focus begins with fundamentals, while structurally sound feet are essential in a system where labour and shipping schedules are constrained. “Something as simple as selecting rams with open points so you don’t end up with wool blindness or a low dag score; for an island farmer, it’s something you really have to be quite picky on.” Since the switch to Turanganui genetics – in tandem with improved farming practices –performance gains have followed. Wool yield per sheep has lifted and lambing percentage has improved by around 14 to 15 percent to achieve 140% to 150%. “I think, within reason, we’re one of the highest percentage ewe flocks on the island and that is a credit to some of the genetic selection as well.” Lambing begins on August 1, docking around September 20, and the first draft of lambs weaned mid-November for shipping by December 1. Annual lamb shipments typically range between 3,500 and 4,500 head, though capacity constraints remain. “If we lift our lambing percentage too high, at the moment we wouldn’t be able to shift that extra production so that’s something we don’t really focus on too heavily at the moment, but with a better shipping service that would obviously become something that we’d start to lean towards, trying to crank it right up.” The current ship, Southern Tiare, can carry about 2,000 lambs per sailing, with the Ministry for Primary Industries adjusting stocking density. The island’s much needed replacement vessel due to be commissioned late 2027 is expected to provide double the current lamb capacity. “It just adds optimism and possibility; you don’t have the burden of possibly being left with 1,000 lambs in August.” Levi says. Bumper sheep meat schedules and improving wool prices this season are reinforcing that optimism. “What a year to be a farmer eh? The current sale prices of everything that we produce is just adding confidence and ambition, I suppose, to our budgets; when the farms do well, the island does well.”
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