84 | Going from 1200 to close to 3000 ewes Aaron and Amanda with daughters Ruby (11) and Lucy (8). The dairy cross heifers with Shorthorn progeny (below). Virginia Wright ON FARM » Mill Valley In the last few years Amanda and Aaron Harris significantly increased the scope and scale of their farming operation by around 1200 hectares when they took over the Harris family farm in a leasing situation. They’re now farming around 2000 hectares, around 1300 effective or grazable. They had not long before taken ownership of the 600 hectare block they had been farming and welcomed the opportunity to take on the extra challenge of the adjoining family farm, 70 kilometers inland from Mt. Taranaki in Porokura. “We weren’t in the dark about what we were taking on because we were already helping on the family farm alongside our day-to-day activities on the other farm so having that prior knowledge and understanding really helped us immensely. But even just the increase in the level of stock work, going from 1200 ewes to close to 3000 breeding ewes going to the ram, and from calving around 30 cows to more like 300, was indescribable. We welcomed it though because we knew it had worked well for Aaron’s parents and we wanted to try and continue that on as much as we could,” says Amanda. Along with the lease the Harris’s purchased the stock on the farm which included 1500 Romney ewes. For some years they’d been concentrating on transitioning their own mixed flock of 1200 ewes into being fully Wiltshire, using their Wiltshire stud, and while it felt like going back to first base their intention remained the same, it’ll just take a few more years. Apart from being compact, hardy and not too fussy when it comes to grazing the Wiltshires are easily identified as they shed their own wool. “We’re three years in so we still have roughly 1000 woolly ewes. The Romneys were very good ewes and there was no reason to get rid of them. We can certainly breed up a good Wiltshire sheep from that. We mate hoggets so we’re starting to get some three-quarters filtering into that flock again,” says Amanda. It’s a similar story with the cattle as they work to breed a pure Shorthorn herd using their own 50 strong Shorthorn stud. “We have the stud herd and the commercial herd we bought when we took over the farm and they don’t cross over,” explains Amanda. “We put shorthorn bulls over these Hereford-Fresian or Angus-Fresian cows which produces a really good weaner. We rate the Shorthorn breed and using our bulls gives us some flexibility and our scale allows us to support other breeders around the country as well. We’re gradually transitioning them to a pure beef herd and retain our own heifers chosen for constitution or looks or temperament so they’ll be a self-replacing herd. It saves a huge amount of labour not having to rear dairy-beef replacements and gives us more control over the type of animal we’re breeding while selling off the steers at different times helps with pasture management and gives us a cash-flow boost when we need it.” Meanwhile their fourth annual ram sale last November was very encouraging with good sales at steady prices averaging just over $1100 a ram. They’re all fully recorded and go back to the Wiltshire stud that started in 2010 and the Harrises are more than happy with the growing recognition of their quality. 101 Broadway, Stratford 4332 | 06 765 8643 admin@ eldtorque.co.nz | www. eldtorque.co.nz CONTACT US FOR ALL YOUR TRACTOR & MACHINERY NEEDS TARANAKI LIMITED Taranaki’s only authorised dealer for Massey Ferguson, Fendt, Valtra & Iseki
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