| 9 Virginia Wright Perfecting the art of breeding & finishing RURAL PEOPLE » Tuatahi Farming Partnership Limited 168 Totara St, Manunui 3924 Ph 07 895 8492 • Mobile 027 418 670 Fax 07 895 7687 •ongaruetransport@xtra.co.nz Proud to be associated with Tuatahi Farming Partnership i i i i i For all your fence contracting needs PROUDLY SUPPORTING TUATAHI FARMS 027 266 0437 | daniel.woodney147@gmail.com Pat Lacy Livestock Ltd Pat Lacy 027 495 35 64 nyanza@xtra.co.nz Buyer and seller of store stock & fat stock Sheep, Cattle & Deer Proudly supporting Tuatahi Farming Partnership l i i i i Mananui Station and neighbouring block Moerangi combine their 1700 and 2500 effective hectares to comprise Tuatahi Farms. Mananui Station’s Farm Manager Carlos Segura started working there around ten years ago and worked his way up. It lies just east of Taumaranui not far from where his wife Amanda’s parents live. Carlos grew up in Mexico so, as well as enjoying everything the job has to offer, they’re loving that their two children Nila (16yrs) and Vitali (12yrs) now live within reach of their New Zealand grandparents. Mananui Station and neighbouring block Moerangi combine their 1700 and 2500 effective hectares to comprise Tuatahi Farms and the two blocks collaborate to make the most of what their land has to offer. Moerangi is both a breeding and finishing block but concentrates primarily on breeding and breeds all Mananui’s replacement ewes, whereas Mananui finishes all of its progeny as well as buying in cattle to finish. Although all the breeding now happens at Moerangi, once this year’s six year olds go to the works they will all have had at least one cross with an FE ram thanks to a program Carlos put in place a few years ago after a particularly bad season for facial eczema. “About 3800 ewes will go to an FE ram at Moerangi. We end up with between 1500 and 1600 female lambs as our replacements,”says Carlos. Moerangi’s own ewes go to a different ram as their incidence of facial eczema is significantly less thanks to their higher elevation. Over the last year Mananui Station has turned its focus very deliberately not only towards producing more lambs but lambs with a higher yield. “To start with we’re going for high fertility. We went from 160% scanning to 185% this year with the high fertility of the Coopworth FE ram so that means more lambs on the ground. They then go to a terminal ram chosen for higher meat yield and higher growth rate: more lambs, faster growing lambs, early markets and so on,” explains Carlos. “If you have a slower maternal ram that doesn’t finish until early February you have to take what you can get at market, whereas the faster growing lambs you can kill late November early December when the market’s just starting. With the higher demand you make better money and they don’t cost you anything if you time it so they go straight from mum. That’s what everyone looks for: as many lambs off mum at weaning as possible.” To achieve their goal they’re trying two blackfaced terminal ram studs known for their fast growth and high meat yields to see which stud copes better with the Mananui environment. With the steady purchase over a few years of the stud line that proves the most resilient Carlos aims to have a healthy 80 terminal black-faced rams covering his 5200 ewes. He’s hoping that if they achieve the early finishing they’re after the lambs will be gone by the time FE hits in early autumn. The other string to Mananui’s bow is the terminal cattle they buy in which are then carefully managed to hit various contracts to Silver Ferns with an eye to any premiums they can achieve. “We buy in straight beef, no Fresian crosses. We kill all year round with Silver Fern but whenever we can we work with their programs. This winter we’re supplying one unit each in July, August and September which is 40 Angus Pure, Rising 3’s fattened on farm only on grass to around 300 to 340 kilos carcass weight,” says Carlos. They manage the need for traceability in some of Silver Fern’s markets by being transparent that the animal killed by Tuatahi was purchased from a registered breeder which means the animal’s history can be traced back to the original paddock. Of the 1500 or so cattle they finish each year about half go to the Silver Ferns Reserve Program which requires pure beef without the pedigree and traceability. Of those around 300 are heifers which can be finished lighter at around 270 – 300 kilos. As Carlos puts it “they give me another lever to pull” as he manages the vagaries of the weather and what it does to the pasture. Given the seemingly non-stop rain that has fallen in recent months having lighter cattle has been a blessing. Ask Carlos what he’s looking forward to and the answer is quick and simple. “For it to stop raining and the sun to come out.” “We went from 160% scanning to 185% this year with the high fertility of the Coopworth FE ram so that means more lambs on the ground.”
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