26 | Carbon neutral farm is the way ahead Matt McLeod, Jack Delaney, Mia Webby heading off to get cows and calves for marking. Richard Loader RURAL PEOPLE » Richard Webby Using B+LNZ’s GHG (Green House Gas) calculator to measure greenhouse emissions, East Coast Farm Manager Richard Webby was pleased to record a reading of -.614 tonnes of carbon per hectare for Ruakaka Station. The GHG Calculator is a free tool designed to help farmers measure on-farm emissions and sequestration, enabling an action plan to be developed. “Effectively we are operating as a carbon neutral farm,” says Richard. “I’m lucky that I have a farm with a lot of bush on it and I inherited 130 hectares of young plantation pines when I arrived here to manage Ruakaka in 2017.” Located sixty kilometres west of Gisborne, Ruakaka Station is owned by Middle Mount Ltd and embraces 2000 hectares of medium/steep hill country. Of the 2000 hectares, Richard says 1300 hectares is effective, meaning that in addition to the pine plantation a further 570 hectares of native plantings also contributes to Ruakaka being carbon neutral. “A lot of that land has fenced off waterways, bush blocks, riparian and reversion areas. So there is a combination of things that get us to this point.” When Richard took the role ve years ago, the farm needed a lot of love with a lot of kanuka scrub to be cleared to make the land more productive. “I am conscious about what level we go to with our farm development and scrub cutting, so that we don’t push to the extent where we have a rectangle with no trees on it. I have a lot of kanuka, totara and pockets of native bush all over the place. So it’s making sure that we maintain a real balance on the farm, and that is what I believe we are getting to. You can go from one end of the farm to the other and I have bush corridors up and down the main creeks.” Richard says he is lucky that Ruakaka’s owners are prepared to invest capital in the farm’s development, enabling selective cutting rather than indiscriminate spraying regimes. “If you are spraying, you are hitting everything and you are also killing your spiders and lizards. Cut a tree, the lizard just moves to the next tree. When you cut you can leave those little slips that are covered in native, leave the kanuka down by the creek and all of that adds to the whole environmental aspect of the farm. We do some spraying, but we have cut around 400 hectares of scrub compared to 90 hectares that have been sprayed.” Ruakaka Station is home to 12,000 stock units, of which 53% are beef and 47% sheep. “We have 4300 ewes plus replacements. We don’t mate our hoggets, at this stage. We do 135% lambing and try to nish most of the progeny. I winter about 1300 head of cattle. I’ve gone away from nishing my own homebred cattle and have recently moved into bull beef. Bar enough for replacement heifers, I sell all my weaners and replace them with R2 Friesian bulls. So on the easy country I run two-year-old bulls and nish them for the beef market. 30 EJ GORDON LIVESTOCK LTD Proud Supporters of RICHARD WEBBY FOR EXPERT ADVICE ON THIS SEASONS PURCHASES Please feel free to contact Neville Clark Mobile 027 598 6537 Evenings 06-862 8620 Marcus Beaufoy Mobile 027 244 5238 Evenings 06-862 5511 Tim Gardner Mobile 027 3555 001 Evenings 06-867 4466 Bruce Orr Mobile 027 4922 122 NOW OPERATING A B3 SQUIRREL Return per stock unit on Friesian bulls is so much greater than if I was to nish my own progeny.” Storth Oaks Angus bulls were already on the farm when Richard arrived in 2017. He had previously used Storth Oaks genetics and liked what they were doing with their genetics. KayJay Angus genetics are also used now but Richard says regardless of where the genetics are sourced buying a balanced bull that looks look good and has the right genetic package is key to his breeding programme. “I winter about 1300 head of cattle. I’ve gone away from nishing my own homebred cattle and have recently moved into bull beef. Bar enough for replacement heifers, I sell all my weaners and replace them with R2 Friesian bulls. Morethanjustasawmill • Extensive timber range • All your fencing requirements • Large range of manufactured & other products • Firewood • Dog tucker and other stock feed 77 Main Rd, Makaraka Gisborne 4010 P 06 867 7135 E admin@larsawn.co.nz
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