64 | 16 decades of dedication at Waitawhiti Waitawhiti has been in the Richardson Family for 160 years in April 2024, Waitawhiti was first purchased in 1864 by Charles Thomas Richardson and today is proudly farmed by Graham his wife Lisa and their children Charlie and Zoe. Waitawhiti is 2343 hectares, 1150 hectares is medium to steep northern Wairarapa hill country, 660 hectares is forestry and 500 hectares is beautiful native bush. Waitawhiti farms sheep and beef, ewe flock is Perendale Finn/Texel rams have been purchased from One Stop Ram Shop in Hawkes Bay since 2015. “We have been consistently docking 145%+ for the last 4 years, our cow herd is made up of 270 MA Angus Pure Cows, 80 R2 in calf heifers, our bulls are purchased from Glanworth Angus located just outside Pahiatua, and Turihaua Angus located at Turihaua bay in Gisborne we consistently calve 94%” Lisa says. All progeny is sold, lamb sales are a mix of prime and store sales. “We proudly supply AFFCO and have been exclusive suppliers for 35 years and Grahams father Neil was a committee member for the AFFCO Growers back in the 1990s, Ray Spencer from Kiwi Livestock is the stock agent and plays a key role in stock sales. “We retain 80 weaner heifers, cull heifers and top line of steers have been sold locally recently with the second cut of steers being purchased by a repeat buyer in Waikato. “We sell our wool to Bremworth and are proud to be part of their Elite Wool Growers Group which is a new suppliers group, we have signed an exclusive contract with Bremworth and are excited to see where this next wool journey takes us. All of our ewes are in a 6 month shearing pattern, pre-lamb is May and post weaning in November, replacement ewe lambs are shorn early December and then shorn in May again to then join back into the ewe flock as 2ths to be shorn again in November. “We are very fortunate that our children wanted to continue farming Waitawhiti, and our staff are a family affair with our Son Charlie, Daughter Zoe and her fiancé Cody all working on farm, Zoe also works for Farm Focus and Pongaroa Hotel along with doing casual work for local farms in the surrounding district. \ Charlies partner Xanthea lives on farm and works as a shepherd for a local farmer along with doing casual work for us when we require it, were also employ a Fencer/General to keep on top of on going fence maintenance. “Our lamb prices are going to be significantly reduced this year, this will have an impact on farm, with the fertiliser plan being removed from our expenditure, and with a pending drought looming we are preparing ourselves to shut paddocks up to grow extra feed for our stock RURAL PEOPLE » Waitawhiti Station Waitawhiti was first purchased in 1864 by Charles Thomas Richardson. Proud to be providing shearing services to Waitawhiti Station 063768096 / 0273868789 KIWI LIVESTOCK PRIMESTOCK | STORESTOCK | VALUATIONS | AUCTIONEERING Ray Spencer 021 544 791 o ice@kiwilivestock.co.nz Proud to support Waitawhiti Station and have purchased extra baleage to help us get through the dry Autumn. “As a farming family we are looking forward to the future, we all have a passion to produce great quality stock and are very proud to still own and farm Waitawhiti under the Richardson Family name for years to come.” Randall Johnston
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=