58 | RURAL PEOPLE » Shane and Dot Dromgool Shane and Dot Dromgool rain-safe When Rural North spoke with Northland farmer Shane Dromgool early March, the rst question was how did they and the farm fair through the awful weather brought by Cyclone Gabrielle a few weeks earlier. The answer was “We always get plenty of rain, when it rains and we were, thankfully, only on the fringes of this cyclone, having a couple of trees blown over and surface water for a short while” said Shane. The couple farm half-way between Kerikeri and Okaihau and the property is 300m above sea level, on a hill so water moves off-farm readily. The Dromgool’s operation includes cattle stud Longview Shorthorns, aptly named given the vista and Shane says the herd originated from his father’s herd who farmed Shorthorn cattle for some 50-60 years. “We initially purchased cows from Dads unregistered but fully recorded herd and through DNA and the APX system a 3 generation pedigree was easy to prove”. Starting with their herd 24 years ago, the herd now comprises of 300 recorded breeding cows. “We source semen from Australia every year and offer progeny of sires unavailable elsewhere in NZ, at an annual on farm sale”. “We love the temperament of Shorthorn cattle, who have exceptional growth rates, and sires are used by both Dairy and Beef farmers wanting to maximise their pro t with the hybrid vigour they will gain from cross breeding” Another part of their operation is their Dairy farm with a herd of 500 predominantly Friesian cows. Because they rear all calves born on the Dairy unit, it was important for Shane to have access to suitable bulls to tail of his Dairy herd and thus created his interest in Shorthorn cattle. For this, colour is also an important factor when deciding what bulls to choose as the Blue roan calves are highly sought after. The white and pastel roan coloured bulls are chosen for this purpose and blue roan calves always fetch a premium at sale. Always with a exible approach to making a farming business work long term, Shane and Dot have created an opportunity for son Jake to ful l his passion for ne wine, by establishing a vineyard on the land, which is expanding its footprint to keep up with demand. While having a keen interest in viticulture when Jake nished school, he was encouraged to complete a Business degree at university, which he did. Once completed Jake worked for a local vineyard, The Landing, learning all about growing Sue Russell Shane & Dot Dromgool’s grandson Ratu-James. 38 Rewa Rewa Rd, Whangarei / Ph: 09 438 1319 salesn@piako.co.nz. / piako.co.nz / murrayb@piako.co.nz. PIAKO TRACTORS NORTHLAND LTD PROUD TO SUPPORT SHANE AND DOT DROMGOOL (Formerly Bryant Tractors) Sales / Service / Spares Tractors, Machinery & Spray Equipment Rob Titter Farm Services Ltd Repairs on all makes & models r��er@xtra.co.nz Ph: 09 401 1774 Mobile: 027 522 6248 34 Station Road, Kaikohe. great grapes in a Northland climate with inconsistent summers, where drastic weather events are not uncommon. Jake now works full time at home, milking cows in the morning and spending the rest of his day tending the vines. Jake is passionate about his wines and Northland as a wine destination and whenever he can he is eager to spread the word about Northland. His wines are now well placed in top end restaurants throughout the North Island. Back to the weather and Shane says that Northland has inconsistent summers where the threat of cyclones is increasingly real. Given this, the selection of grape varieties that mature over an extended period of time is important. When one variety gets hammered by a weather event, a later maturing variety will become that years star. This year’s Shorthorn bull sale is scheduled for 19 May with 20 bulls standing out as this year’s line up. Picked from around 120 Bulls available the sale is a hybrid sale, on-farm and with BidR which works well capturing a large cohort of buyers. A pragmatic thinker, Shane says that while the dairy farm is the current back-bone of the farming business it won’t necessarily always be so. With the planned expansion of the vineyard and ever increasing costs and compliance/regulatory restrictions placed on farmers in particular Dairying, who knows? “We source semen from Australia every year and offer progeny of sires unavailable elsewhere in NZ, at an annual on farm sale . We love the temperament of Shorthorn cattle, who have exceptional growth rates, and sires are used by both Dairy and Beef farmers wanting to maximise their pro t with the hybrid vigour they will gain from cross breeding”.
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