26 | A passion for the industry Representing his region David’s time breeding sheep takes him back 40+ years. Harry has fully taken over the farm business, while still leasing land and slowly buying stock and plant. Sue Russell Kim Newth There isn’t much highly regarded sheep breeder David Colhoun hasn’t seen, done or thought about when it comes to creating the best possible trait outcomes for his commercial clients, who need rams to perform well, cope with tough conditions and produce off spring that add value to their business. He states simply he has a passion for the industry. “You meet a lot of people and become good friends. The main thing is the passion for the people who generation on generation work really hard, often against tough odds, to grow their sheep farming businesses. I get so much satisfaction from helping them achieve positive outcomes.” David’s time breeding sheep takes him back 40+ years. He’s seen breeds come and go, in and out of favour but his success has been built on a simple formula – produce rams who in turn produce fertile sheep, with strong survivability, growth and carcass yield traits. No auctions either, just a relaxed atmosphere where clients have the time to select the type of rams they require within set price ranges. “In the early days a Border Leicester was mated over a Romney, the latter of which were the common breed, and created a Coopworth. I began performance recording, where I put a specific ewe to a ram. I weighed their lambs at birth and then again 6-8 weeks later to give me a growth rate.” Technology comes into play as well, as David explains. “The computer picks out the fastest growing animal and then we take an eye-muscle scan of the muscling size of chop area. Improving genetic gain As Federated Farmers newly appointed Meat & Wool chairperson in North Canterbury, Harry Wilding brings a deep passion for farming to the role and a desire to do what he can to help rural communities flourish. A fourth-generation farmer at Ferniehurst Station, Harry has recently been through farm succession with his parents, Richard and Catherine Wilding. He is proud to be taking the family farm legacy forward. Like his father and grandfather before him, he’s committed to looking after the land and farming sustainably to produce quality meat and wool. Harry has fully taken over the farm business, while still leasing land and slowly buying stock and plant as budget allows. His parents have just finished building a retirement home in Kaikoura but are still involved at Ferniehurst with Richard continuing to do a lot of farm work. “I’m very lucky to be in this position to be able to carry on the family business,” says Harry. “It’s what motivates me to want to give back to the industry. I’ve only just started this role with Federated Farmers, so to begin with my focus will be on listening and learning. I’m keen to find ways to make sure any new rural policy coming in is workable. I understand the mental load on farmers and see this as a cool opportunity to do my part to make farming better for everyone in North Canterbury.” Harry returned to Ferniehurst three years ago, after having worked on sheep and beef farms in Western Victoria. Steering his family’s 1800-hectare station in North Canterbury through changeable MEAT & WOOL » Colhoun Genetics / Ferniehurst Station Ltd Proud to be associated with Colhoun Genetics • LIVESTOCK CARTAGE • GENERAL FREIGHT • BULK & FERTILISER 99 Ward Rd, Cheviot 7310 03 319 8644 | 0276 776 787 MI & DJ STACKHOUSE is about continuously culling and you have a lot of paperwork but this is an element that I enjoy. Small incremental gains add up.” And proof positive that genetic gain has indeed transformed the ‘bottom-line’ for farmers in terms of carcass weight can be seen with comparing kill weights 40 years ago, when a farmer could expect 12-13kg weight. Today that figure has mushroomed to 18-21kg+. Similarly, in Southland, where David’s 130ha studs are based just 10 minutes north of Invercargill, lambing percentages shifted from 100% to 150-160%. DNA technology is also transforming the industry today. Colhoun Genetics concentrates on producing three breeds of ram – Coopworth, Suftex and Coopworth/Perendale. Between these three breeds, with their specific trait strengths, a wide array of commercial clients are served. “The Coopworth is David’s main maternal breed, clients retain their ewe lambs to breed from. Suftex is all about meat yield and Coopworth/Perendale are noted for their hardiness. David keeps coming back to the fact that he’s in the breeding game to help farmers get the best they possibly can from the rams they buy. “That’s my biggest satisfaction by far. I love to hear from farmer clients as to how their rams have performed.” And this reputation for wanting to see clients businesses thrive has cemented David as one of the most respected breeders in the country. He’s also had his share of pioneering moments when, 30 years ago, he introduced one of the first pregnancy scanning services in New Zealand. “It meant I got away from the farm for a couple of months each year and it created another income stream on which to grow our business. And I met a lot of wonderful people.” He says those days when he was out visiting farmers to scan their sheep, offered him great opportunities to discuss with each one how they farm and how they could potentially improve things. “It went both ways, as I also learnt a lot from them.” And another great source of pride is his family of four wonderful children, each having achieved their own aspirations. “That and 8 grandchildren are a constant source of joy. I’m an active tennis player and enjoy giving back to the community. Southland is a great region to live and work in.” seasons is proving to be a challenging yet fulfilling mission for the young farmer. There has certainly been no shortage of rain this summer. “We went from a hard spring to a dry early summer and then to a wet summer, so it feels like we’ve gone full circle. With having had so much rain in January, everyone has struggled to catch up on things like paddock preparation and shearing. Everyone has felt the pinch but it’s a great problem to have considering that we’re usually talking about drought here during summer.” There was a better base for feed last summer due to an easier spring. “This year, since it was dry early, we didn’t have a lot of feed so we were shipping young stock early.” At the time of writing, Ferniehurst still had a good number of trade lambs that Harry hopes to finish on farm and take through to store weight, provided conditions allow. Last year, the station also bought 90 Friesian bull calves for finishing. Harry says they have doubled that number this year. “We’ve dropped a few ewes to replace the stocking rate with bulls and plan to have a crack at putting Halter on the bulls over winter. We’ve got some large blocks up river that are hard to access. In that sort of country, Halter offers a good techno option that’s precise and efficient – we’ll see how it works in practice.” Meanwhile, Harry says he could not take up off-farm opportunities like the provincial chair role without the backing of his hard-working farm colleagues, senior stockman Derek Kapinga, who has been at Ferniehurst for over 20 years, and shepherd Jack Satterthwaite. “They make my life easier and I’m very grateful for that.”
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