Business Rural North Spring 2021

42 | RURAL PEOPLE » Romani Farms: Ross & Ruth Richards Coopworth stud at Virginia Wright R omani Farms is 660 hectares effective of medium hill country 25 minutes east of Taumarunui where the home farm snuggles up against the Hauhungaroa Ranges, making for a cold and frosty winter. Overall the farm is in three different blocks about three kilometres apart with 400 of their total of 900 hectares leased from six different Maori trusts. “We move stock between blocks seasonally but generally speaking we farm the blocks as self-contained as possible,” says Ross Richards who co-owns the farm with his wife Ruth. Ruth and Ross Richards came to the home farm in 1993 as equity managers for a family company that was set up specifically to buy the farm. “We were in partnership with Ruth’s parents Walter and Tui Scott, and sister and brother-in-law Mary and Chris Tylden. They put money in as an investment for them, and it helped us get into the farm basically, and over time we bought them out. We had one child at the time and we’ve had three more since,” says Ross. Traditionally, the Richards’ farm near Tau- marunui has been very summer safe with plenty of summer grass and cold winters, but in their time that’s changed. “We used to light the fire in March and it wouldn’t go out until September sort of thing,” says Ross.”But it’s much warmer now. The last three years our rainfall’s been down 30% on our long-range average, but with the warmer winters we grow more grass than we used to.” To achieve the flexibility they now need so that they can de-stock if it starts to turn dry the Rich- ards lamb a lot earlier than they used to. “Don’t get me wrong,” says Ross, “it’s not dry like Hawke’s Bay or Canterbury or anywhere like that, but our systems used to rely on heaps of growth over summer to lamb late but have the growth to finish those lambs. Now we’re lambing earlier so we’re killing lambs straight off mum in November in good numbers whereas before it would be January before we’d even wean.” Central to Romani Farm is the Coopworth Stud. Its pedigree dates back to not long after the beginning of the Coopworth Concept in the 1950’s which got its name from Professor Coop who worked out of what is now Lincoln University. He made it his mission to introduce science to sheep breeding. “Coopworth’s was never about a breed specifi- cally,” says Ross, “ it was about performance recording. He used border-leicester crossed over romney because that was what was available at the time but right from the beginning the Coop- worth “rules” were that you can bring any breed of sheep in if it offers better production than what you’ve got.” The Richards’ Coopworth Stud can trace its lines directly back to the Mid-northern Coop- worth Company started by a group of coopworth breeders who put their best ewes into a central flock back in the 60’s, following Professor Coop’s principles. It has East-Fresian, Texel and Finn bloodlines, all breeds that came into New Zealand in the 90’s to improve production, with the Finn in particular being known for typically producing three or four live lambs. “When we got the flock in 2015 they were very, very fertile and eczema tolerant,” says Ross, “We had started breeding some rams in 2005 from some of Edward Dinger’s surplus hoggets, but we bought his whole flock ten years later when his arthritis got the better of him.” The Richards’ have increased the eczema tolerance further while keeping the high fertility. They focus strongly on teeth and feet knowing that their own animals have to travel three to five kilometres from block to block, but the key thing for them has been to further increase their disease tolerance. “We don’t drench adult sheep at all,” says Ross, “if it needs a drench it’s culled as is anything that gets fly-strike, so we haven’t dipped for eight years. None of the stud lambs are drenched until six to eight weeks after weaning so we can identify which ones are both resistant and resilient to parasite pressure. We’ve been doing it for long enough that we hardly see any Barber’s Pole either.” The proof of their success can be found in the Beef and Lamb “low input progeny test” regime which is done in Orari Gorge where they drenched lambs at weaning and never again. The Richards’ have had two cohorts of lambs measured and tested against many others from all over the country and theirs have been some of the most productive. The days when they used to sell their rams by word of mouth are long gone and they now have a steady stream of buyers coming to the farm for a busy week each November. “We’ve sold out of rams every year for the last five,” says Ross, ‘so this year we’ve mated a thou- sand Coopworth stud ewes to make sure we’ve got something for everyone.” “We don’t drench adult sheep at all. If it needs a drench it’s culled as is anything that gets fly-strike, so we haven’t dipped for eight years. None of the stud lambs are drenched until six to eight weeks after weaning so we can identify which ones are both resistant and resilient to parasite pressure.” The Romani Farms’ Coopworth flock is renowned for its Eczema tolerance and high fertility. Phone: 07 872 6444 Fax: 07 872 6446 Email: info@gfa.co.nz Website: www.gfa.co.nz Working together to achieve your goals.