| 17 Record steer sale caps Morunga success Karen Phelps Record-breaking cattle prices and a carefully honed sheep breeding and finishing system have put Morunga Station firmly in the spotlight. The East Coast hill country farm achieved what is believed to be a record highest grossing sale at its annual R3 steer offering at Matawhero in February. The property sold 950 traditional and exotic forward store steers averaging $3,050 a head. Farm manager Willie Short says the achievement was the culmination of many factors coming together at the right time. “Quality genetics and market timing all lined up for a good result,” he says. Located about an hour from both Gisborne and Opotiki, Morunga Station is a 50/50 partnership between Willie’s parents David and Charlotte in the Waikato and Jason and Sara Barrier. Spanning 1,159 hectares (965ha effective) and sitting between 700 and 1,000 metres above sea level its steep, wet hill country presents plenty of challenges RURAL PEOPLE » Morunga Station Ltd PROUD TO BE WORKING WITH MORUNGA STATION LTD Ultrasound Pregnancy Testing Sheep SERVICES LTD SPENCE LIVESTOCK Covering the North Island Phone Matt Spence on or email 027 951 2327 spence.matt1@gmail.com making its consistent livestock performance even more impressive. The station buys around 1,000 weaner steers each year, with 70 to 80 per cent sourced from farms and sale yards across the South Island, primarily Otago and Canterbury, with additional stock coming from the central North Island. The cattle start off in the Waikato where they are rotationally grazed in mobs of around 300 before arriving at Morunga as 15 to 18-month-old. “We spend a lot of time researching which bulls have been used and selecting the best genetics and type. Dad has been doing it for decades and I’ve been learning the ropes alongside him,” says Willie. Once on the station they become an important part of the wider farming system. Initially used to help manage pasture quality, the steers later shift onto a high-growth feeding programme designed to maximise weight gain. During spring they can gain more than two kilograms a day before reaching sale weights of around 520 to 530 kilograms by February. “We run a high stocking rate over winter so we can ensure pasture control right through to sale, this complements weight gain in both sheep and cattle.” explains Willie. The cattle are integrated with the station’s sheep enterprise, consisting of 3800 ewes and 1000 hoggets, being set-stocked through lambing before returning to rotational grazing after weaning. “We try to average 150% lambing and finish all nonreplacement lambs at 20kg cw.” While the livestock business continues to evolve through an ongoing succession process, Willie has steadily worked his way into the management role. He has built experience shepherding and later worked as a stock manager near Gore before returning to Morunga and eventually taking over management in 2022. Alongside the farm’s livestock success Willie and his wife Lauren have launched a new venture Morunga Natives, a small-scale native plant nursery. “We’re a long way from Gisborne so we wanted something Lauren could do on the farm and she loves growing native plants,” explains Willie. “Our point of difference is being at 700 metres above sea level. The seed is eco-sourced from this property and the plants are raised here so they’re already adapted to these conditions.” They currently have 6,000 plants with plans to expand production to 25,000 over the next few years. The nursery aims to provide resilient plants for local revegetation projects with a long-term goal of supplying larger podocarp species. The East Coast hill country farm achieved what is believed to be a record highest grossing sale at its annual R3 steer offering. KARERE Holdings Ltd Contact Warren D’Ath 06 354 8952 Romney & Perendale Stud Farm
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