Business Rural North Spring 2021

50 | Red Devon studs keep ‘genetic pool pure’ Sire Bull Buster in front with cows to calve from late July. In the background are R2 and R1 heifers. Sue Russell D on and Jeanette Wills’ WillsNet Red Devon Stud is situated in a sweet part of the country, east of SH2 in the Tararua District between Eketahuna and Alfredton. The area is mostly beef and sheep hill country and well suited for raising their prized Red Devon cattle. Don says there are many reasons why he was drawn to the relatively uncommon Red Devon breed, when he bought the farm in 2014, as a way to ‘get away from the maddening crowd and the demands of people’. “We were told they were a docile animal to work with and so we bought two pure bred cows, Imogen and Jordan with calves at foot that we called Mar- tha and Mini. The next step was to buy a pure bred bull which we named Basil,” Don explains. When they first stepped on to the property Don felt it held potential, with limited infrastructure, so he invested time and good money into bringing the stockyards, access tracks and drainage up to scratch. Stud’s such as WillsNet are really important in terms of the national herd, given that when crossed with other breeds, the progeny naturally becomes a lot more docile. “It’s a strong trait that gets passed on in cross- breeding. That’s why it is really important there are Red Devon studs that keep the genetic pool pure.” Currently the farm is home to two breeding bulls from different genetic lines and the total stock numbers usually range between 40 and 50. Don says he finds breeding bulls much easier than his former life of dealing with foreign corporate management and he doesn’t regret the decision to buy the farm and start a new life for a moment. Rural North » Tawataia Farm: Don and Jeanette Wills He finds the NZ Red Devon Cattle Breeders As- sociation a valuable source of information, as well as providing access to breeding bulls to keep the gene pool healthy. For the most part, the weather-gods smile sweetly over Eketahuna and surrounds, where regular rain is common, though strong winds can add to the chill factor at times. It’s country well suited for cattle breeding. Don says successful farming comes down to doing the basics well and supporting nature to produce healthy, diverse grasses to grow healthy stock on. “The fundamental principle is that if you want to have healthy stock above ground, you also need to have healthy stock below ground.” Understanding this, Don puts a great deal of store on ensuring the soil, as a living organism is nurtured and looked after. He supplies seaweed extract into the blended mix of mineral fertilisers to give soil microbes a boost. “Soil science, pasture management and a summer safe environment creates time to grow the bulls to typically 700kg to 800kg as three year olds. Pure bred R2 and R3 bulls are available to be purchased as sire bulls.” Don describes the Red Devon as a super-breed, docile and friendly. “They will follow you around in the paddock. They calve easily and are very fertile. They’re also hardy at foraging and make great mothers. Their genetic integrity is second to none.” A great Red Devon Bull, Don says is made of a combination of features and factors. “With features, you are looking for well-muscled, good proportions, good shoulders, a long straight back, large testicles and dark ruby-red colour, good constitution and faster growth.” Factors that can impact on sire bulls include culling them before they grow too big and develop foot problems. He culls the breeding cows at 8 or 9 years, typically when their calves become smaller. “I also check the temperament of the calves. Bad boys become steers and prime meat.” Don is proud of what he has achieved in adding breeding value to the national Red Devon herd. Quinfert can help farmers to save money as well as better meet environmental obligations creating a win-win, says company owner Dr Bert Quin. The company’s Quinfert Algerian RPR range centres on reactive phosphate rock, which Bert says has a far more sustained-release mode of action than the traditional quick-release products most farmers have used. “A large part of the issue of phosphate being lost from agricultural land into waterways is because of the use of water-soluble phosphate. It is far more prone to run o and leaching from the soil. RPR on the other hand is a natural phosphate mineral that, importantly, is not water-soluble. It releases slowly as the acid in the soil turns it into a plant available form,” he says. While some have said that RPR releases too slowly potentially slowing production Bert says testing has revealed that this is far from the case on New Zealand’s well developed soils. He says that Olsen P tests of 20 plus indicate loosely held phosphate in soils and so it is preferable to keep igures under 20 to avoid issues with leaching or inadequate absorption by plants. What’s more, the higher that igure rises over 20 the more soluble the phosphate is and the more environmental issues it can cause, he says. Bert is well quali ied to be advising farmers. He has a multi-disciplinary PH.D in analytical chemistry, biogeochemistry and water quality fromMassey University and Saving money and the environment has worked at the MAF’s Agricultural Research Division (the predecessor of AgReseach) as a laboratory and soil fertility research scientist at Winchmore in Canterbury. It was there he initiated research into RPR and demonstrated how superphosphate made fromAl/Fe phosphate rocks was lowering e ectiveness by 50%. He also designed and coordinated the ‘National Series’ of RPR trials, which ran on 19 sites throughout New Zealand over the period 1981 87. By 1984, Bert was appointed as Chief Scientist for Soil Fertility at the Ruakura Research Centre, where he had oversight of 56 scienti ic and technical sta . Bert started his company in 2018 after becoming horri ied at what products were being sold as RPRs by the industry. Quinfert is now the fastest-growing fully independent New Zealand-owned fertiliser company in New Zealand with ive depots in the North Island and three in the South Island. The range also includes a product called SUPORGANIK, which combines chicken litter with inoculated elemental sulphur and RPR. Bert says its perfect for increasing organic nitrogen and organic matter in the soil. AlpHa is a synthetic fulvic acid designed tomaximise the potential of soil organic matter to complex soluble metals in the soil solution. It has been formulated to complex with toxic aluminium and other metals, which can produce toxic e ects in pasture and crops including reducing yield and limiting the uptake and utilisation of plant nutrients. $398/t + GST ex McPhersons, Te Poi