| 93 RURAL PEOPLE » Rakaunui Farm SPRAYING, LIFTING, FERTILISER, FROST CONTROL, HUNTING & FISHING, FIRE LIGHTING/FIGHTING, TRANSPORT, SCENIC FLIGHTS, WEDDINGS, AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY, POWER LINES P 06 376 8000 E W tararuaheliwork.co.nz Stable, high growth herds the aim Hallmark bull in holding paddock before going out with two R2 heifers. A back to the future approach following cyclone Gabrielle has led Rakaunui Farm managers Alex and Katie Renner, to add not one but two new Angus bulls to their herd. Despite a difficult year in which half the farm was smashed by the cyclone, losing at least 40 hectares to landslips - taking with it kilometres of tracks and fencing - the farm has had a cracker of a lambing season and are excited about the addition of new vigour to their cattle herd. The Pongaroa commercial cattle farmers sought high growth, maternal traits and easygoing temperament. Which led them to Hallmark Angus of Tutira. “The Hallmark yearling will go over our R2 heifers to produce replacements,” Katie says. Reserved as a cow bull, the second Angus yearling is from Kay Jay Angus stud of Masterton. “He’s exciting because Kay Jay Angus have a good name and progeny from their bulls sell well in the saleyards. As we sell all our weaner steers onto the store market we want to build a good reputation and by using Kay Jay genetics we hope to increase the value of our weaners.” The impact of production loss from the cyclone necessitated a return to hardy east coast cattle herds with high growth & yields, good constitution and temperament. A few years ago, they introduced Speckle Park heifers but this season they are sticking with Angus breeds. “We’ve actually sent some speckle park steers to slaughter this week and they actually yielded really well, but we’re going back to Angus because it gives us more options throughout the year” says Katie. Steering a steady course makes sense given the cyclone recovery work still required. “The clean-up is a work in progress. We’ve repaired a lot of netting and waratah fencing but the bulldozer and digger will need to be out this summer to restore tracks lost to slips. “Luckily, we didn’t have major rivers in flood, but we had a lot of slipping which took out tracks and fencing,” says Katie. This made mustering and stock proofing paddocks difficult for Alex. Who soon taught himself how to use a drone to survey and conduct muster in his absence. “It proved to be a very handy tool.” Strong pasture growth because of the wet start to the year, did help bolster the spring lambing season, with its 4500 strong Romtex base ewes recording their highest ever lambing survivability rates. “The clean-up is a work in progress. We’ve repaired a lot of netting and waratah fencing but the bulldozer and digger will need to be out this summer to restore tracks lost to slips. “Luckily, we didn’t have major rivers in flood, but we had a lot of slipping which took out tracks and fencing.” Bernadette Cooney So that’s a bonus Katie says but the downside is ewes are only fetching a third of what they were last year and lambs about half of what they were. Combined with high agri interest rates it wouldn’t be without challenges. Despite this they continue to farm for their family’s future and with this in mind they introduced FE Romney rams to the ewes two years ago. The facial eczema tolerant Romney’s longterm goal is to slowly but surely future proof next gen flocks against hotter, wetter climates of the future.
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