38 | Big growth animals Family-owned & operated Tony and his team provide essential services to farmers across the region. Anne Boswell Bernadette Cooney Gisborne based rural transport company Willson and Watson Transport Ltd are a family-owned and operated business, dedicated to providing central North Island farmers with reliable and essential agricultural transport services. Heading into its 20th year of operations, Willson & Watson Transport is owned and operated by Tony Willson and his wife Susanne Watson, who employ two fulltime drivers and an owner-operator, running transport routes stretching from Gisborne to Auckland and as far south as Palmerston North. “Each truck does around 130,000 kms a year and we cart around 20,000 tonne of maize out of Gisborne over to the Bay of Plenty alone, every year, which is quite a few loads,” quips Tony. Tony and his team provide essential services to farmers across the region. Their offerings include bulk haulage for fertilisers, plus stock feed supplies and transporting maize from paddock to silos. “We’d probably cart about 8 to 10 thousand tonne of maize from the paddocks to dryers each year and we supply kibbled maize to a large stock feed company up north,” says Tony. “Whatever the requirement we can pick up and deliver a wide range of bulk cartage whether its grains, fertiliser, stock feed or metals and aggregates.” Currently, stock feed for dairy farmers is in demand, keeping the team busy across rural communities that are key to the company’s success. “A lot of our mates are farmers, and we do all our work for them,” Tony shares. RURAL SERVICES » Willson & Watson Transport / 90 Mile View Station Simmentals Together, Creating the Best Soil and Food on Earth ballance.co.nz | 0800 222 090 At Ballance, we believe that a thriving agricultural community can only exist with the support of all who live and work in it. As a result, we invest both time and money to help secure the future of New Zealand farmers. ProudlySupporting Willson&WatsonTransport Weaner calves. A Far North commercial beef farmer that uses Simmental genetics over his entire herd of breeding cows says other breeds “can’t hold a candle” to the Simmental’s growth and structure. “They are the leading animal for growth,” Reubin Wright says. “Simmentals have 8.5-23.3% extra live weight gain at weaning. My male calves are 320kg by March.” Reubin, who was born and bred on a beef farm in the Far North, owns 90 Mile View Station with wife Lisa near Kaitaia. The couple owns two properties totaling 260ha – 190ha effective and another 70ha in native bush. They also lease two blocks – 80ha next door to the home farm and 45ha next door to the second property they own. They run 440 breeding cows of Friesian- Hereford, Friesian-Angus and Simmental cross genetics, all of which are calved to Simmental. The hybrid vigour of the profitable and wellperforming crossbred herd suits both the business’ breeding structure and allows Reubin to take advantage of the positive traits of each breed. Reubin, who has also worked as a stock agent for Carrfields for 27 years, has been using Simmental bulls for many years, buying around five annually. He says the Simmental breed has many positive traits, from fast growth and stature to quiet temperament and exceptional muscling. On the maternal side, Simmental cross females excel in milk and mothering traits, further boosting the weaning weight of their progeny. Reubin favours genetics from two studs in particular – Beefit Simmental Stud in Kaikohe, and Kerrah Simmentals in Waitoa, Hawkes Bay. With 520 fully registered calving females, Kerrah Simmentals is Australasia’s largest, and one of the leading gene pools of fully recorded Simmentals. “Both studs have big cow numbers, so everything they put up for offer are the best of the best,” Reubin says. Reubin says bull selection is paramount, and while calving ease is a trait of the Simmental breed, he doesn’t specifically select low birthweight bulls. “Low birthweight is not an issue, especially over terminal cattle,” he says. “I can’t get a big weaner from a small calf.” The herd calves July 25, for 42 days. With Simmentals reaching their optimal carcass weight before their second winter, they are well received at the sale yards. “I sell 200 heifers annually at the Tuakau Weaner Sale, and I’m part of a syndicate that puts up a total of 550 Simmental bulls at the Peria Annual Weaner sale each year,” Reubin says. Before live export cattle was banned in New Zealand, Reubin was exporting around 30% of his Simmental cross heifers to China, making excellent returns for himself and clients. “Simmentals were flying out the door,” he says. Reubin says the breeding cow looks to be coming back into favour, and Simmental genetics are an excellent choice for a profitable system. “Breeding cows have their place, particularly in Northland,” he says. “They are an efficient pasture management tool. “Farmers have to get smarter with rising costs, including freight. You can cut costs in a breeding cow system. I freight about five bulls in and 440 calves out per year, and it is a viable business.” “And we’re still mates, so I must be doing something right.” Their clients include both sheep and beef farmers as well as dairy operations, reflecting the diversity of Gisborne’s agricultural landscape. “It’s about 50/50 split between sheep and beef farmers and then obviously, we sell a lot of stock feed to dairy farms,” says Tony. Willson & Watson Transport operates a fleet of modern, well-maintained trucks, including powerful Scania and Volvo models. “Our owner driver has just bought a big 770 hp Scania,” says Tony, “and that makes a huge difference in getting places and getting that backload on.” The company intends investing in another Scania 770 hp truck toward the end of this year. “We’ve got a couple of Volvo trucks as well and they get serviced by our Volvo agent in Tauranga and the Scania’s are serviced by the Gisborne service agent.” Investing in modern trucks ensures comfort and enhanced productivity during long hauls to Auckland, which are made up to five times a week. The company is committed to maintaining the highest safety and compliance standards in a highly regulated industry. Tony has spent a lifetime within rural transport, first starting work in his father, Warwick Willson’s agricultural transport business, that he first founded as a one man-one truck operation. Tony’s parents Warwick and Bev retain majority share of their own transport business run independently of Tony and Susanne. “Hopefully my young fellow will start driving in a few years, and then I can kick back a bit,” Tony says with a smile.
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