10 | Pushing lambing dates later this season The operation has grown considerably over recent years. Karen Phelps RURAL PEOPLE » Heather Gee-Taylor Heather Gee-Taylor and her father Mike are recalibrating their Manawatu-Rangitikei farming operation with the pair pushing lambing dates later this season in a bid to better align with feed availability across their properties. The ram will go out on 1 May, a shift that will push weaning out to January. “This will help us meet the spring growth curves as the springs seem to arrive later now,” says Heather. Heather leases 360 hectares of the 560-hectare family property Glencorran and, with Mike, purchased Tawai Farm, a 300-hectare property just 3km from Glencorran, where Heather holds a one-third share. The operation has also grown considerably over recent years. Ewe numbers have lifted to 4,000, alongside 400 cows across the entire business. Improved commodity prices and lower interest rates have given the pair confidence to invest, with fertiliser going back on the land after a period of restraint during tougher trading conditions. Water infrastructure has been a major focus. A reticulation scheme covering 300 hectares has been completed on Tawai, giving stock reliable access to water across the property. Attention is now turning to Glencorran, where the first stage of a similar scheme begins this summer. “It’s a long skinny farm,” says Heather of Glencorran. “The initial phase will establish the water source and lay the main pipe, with troughs and the remaining pipework to follow in the following year, budget and conditions allowing.” Back on the home farm Heather has been out clearing manuka, a task she says is about more than tidying up the landscape. “We’d rather keep that country clean and the hills are bigger and we are mustering from further away and the sheep love hiding in manuka,” she explains. The approach differs from that taken on Tawai, where the terrain and land use make the shrub less of a mustering hazard and it is instead used for manuka honey production. “Tawai is flatter and the manuka, around 28ha, is mainly fenced off,” explains Heather. She also focused on enhancing sheep stock resilience by transitioning to Romdale ewes. “They are stronger and survivability is good. They do better in hard times,” she says. “We are also moving to more Romney rams back over the Romdales to add more durability and fertility.” A fencing contracting business the pair set up to service Tawai’s boundary work is also part of the mix and remains a useful sideline alongside the core sheep and beef enterprise. It has continued to take on outside contract work when time allows, though Heather says the farm remains the priority. One of Heather’s true passions lies in horse breeding and she has been dedicating more time to her ten brood mares and a stallion at her small stud. Currently producing 8-10 foals annually, she rears them for show jumping or all-round use, training them for jumping before selling them through private arrangements. Although financially the picture is brighter than it was, after a difficult run of high interest rates and depressed commodity prices, Heather is cautious about declaring victory too soon. “Give us another two seasons like we’ve had and we’ll be on a real win.” Call us today! Manawatu Shearing Top Service Competitive Rates Covering Manawatu, Rangitikei &Wairarapa areas 021 124 4 926 manawatu.shearing@gmail.com RichardRowe 027 279 8841 WilliamRowe 021 242 8181 Email: mercang@farmside.co.nz *catalogue online at Angus NZ; Genetics; see sale catalogues.
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