14 | Blanket tree planting irks stud owner For the last three years, regular buyers have attended looking for a bull to take home and enhance their own herds. Richard Loader Respected for producing high quality stud and commercial Angus bulls that go the distance, northern Hawke’s Bay farmers Grant and Sue Crawshaw are also deeply passionate about young people entering the industry and that good pastoral land is retained for their bene t. Strongly opposed to the blanket planting of plantation pine trees on good pastoral land, Grant is competing with the forestry companies and advocates of carbon farming in an attempt to curb it. “Unfortunately, those companies have more money than I do. I think we’re going to lose a lot of young people from the industry with blanket planting of trees. Recently we’ve spoken to three very good young farmers who wonder if they will have a job in the future.” Sue adds that many farmers have gullies that could be planted but it’s the blanket planting that really irks her husband. “We also enjoy helping young managers and staff progress in their farming careers. We’re considering equity partnerships to further assist young people in the farming industry.” The Crawshaw family has farmed in the small rural settlement of Nuhaka, between Wairoa and Gisborne, since 1971. Migrating from the South Island, the Crawshaws brought with them the Kenhardt Angus stud. Grant has followed an intergenerational interest in Angus cattle. “My mother’s family used to have an Angus stud called Pine Farm. My parents bought progeny of Pine Farm Angus cows and started the Kenhardt stud, registering their rst Angus calf in 1962.” Grant was fourteen when his parents bought the Nuhaka farm, which was then 325 hectares, and has worked the Nuhaka land since he was 21. In 2000 Grant and Sue took over the farm and have increased it to 2600 hectares, with the acquisition of neighbouring land, and separate farms up to an hour away. The Nuhaka property is challenged by a 121-hectare earth ow moving towards the Nuhaka river. Over the years the earth ow has buried the woolshed, and cattle and sheep yard infrastructure. “The earth ow makes it harder to farm and eventually we may retire some of that land. We’re planting a lot of poles to try and soak up some of the water but it’s so deep seated that there isn’t much we can do about it.” At Nuhaka, with three supporting staff, the Crawshaws run 4000 breeding ewes, retaining 1000 replacement hoggets, with about 800 sold RURAL PEOPLE » Kenhardt Angus as surplus. Two hundred trading heifers and steers are fattened each year but the prize residents are three hundred plus Kenhardt Angus stud cows and supporting stock, including a small New Zealand genetics base. While R2 bulls used to be sold through the combined sale at the Gisborne sale yards, micoplasma bovis prompted an on-farm sale and for the last three years regular buyers have attended looking for a bull to take home and enhance their own herds. “The sales have gone very well, averaging $7000 to $8000 per bull,” says Grant. “What makes our cattle special is the reputation they have for doing the job and growing on to be big bulls — they don’t melt or fade away. They’re run as a commercial operation. When you hard-feed an animal and it carries excessive weight, the bull can be more prone to breaking down because the joints P: 06 838 8282 M: 027 483 0644 | 027 230 8713 L to R: Ross Mitchell, Daryl Fergus, Rob Fergus, Tim Petro, Luke Bates, Deano Brenssell. www.fergusrural.co.nz • admin@fergusrural.co.nz Gisborne: Wairoa: Rob Fergus 027 4496007 Deano Brenssell 027 8638923 Luke Bates 027 4211653 Daryl Fergus 027 2092787 Ross Mitchell 027 4048965 Environmental Solutions Consultant: Tim Petro 027 3390400 Livestock and Agribusiness consultants. AGRIBUSINESS aren’t made to handle huge weight too young. We expect our bulls to do more than a season and pride ourselves on that. The national average is two and half years but we have stations with Kenhardt bulls of eight to ten years old still working.” An East Coast breed inspector, Grant places a lot of emphasis on good temperament and bulls that are structurally sound, culling heavily to maintain that standard.
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