Business Rural North Summer 2021

34 | Succession opportunities at a young Richard Batley feeding the deer with Harriet on his knee and Stella (top). Stella, Harriet and Lucy Batley enjoying the waterfall on the Moawhango river in summer (below). Russell Fredric RURAL PEOPLE » Rimrock Hills R ichard Batley is “really stoked” to have been given the opportunity of farm succession by his father, Roger, and to continue a five gener- ation-long family legacy. He farms the 1320 hectare Rimrock Hills, a sheep and beef property situated on flat to steep contour a short distance north east of Taihape. “My family have farmed in this area since the late 1890’s. A lot of what I farm now was leasehold until the post World War Two era when opportunities arose to purchase them.” However, Richard’s father did not get ownership until 2012. “He’s actually, to his credit, has done the op- posite for me; he’s given me succession opportuni- ties at a young age. I am really appreciative of his generosity and the opportunity he has given me and my family.” Richard is married to Lucy; the couple have two young children and are expecting another. The home farm is on 415 hectares, acquired in 2017 as a succession purchase, comprising 55ha of flats and the balance in medium to steep hill country. Further up the road is 905ha block which has 200ha of rolling tops, with the balance in medium to steep faces. From 2012 to 2017 both properties were run as one farm. From 2017 until this year the farms had their owns flocks and herds, but the stocking model has returned to the original system of having the older ewes on the home farm on the early, drier country and the younger ewes on the later higher altitude blocks which rise to just over 1000 meters above sea level. The station supports 4400 ewes and 1000 hog- gets of which 930 were in-lamb this season. The sheep are a mix of traditional Romney, Richard’s fathers Borderdales, Perendale, Romdale, modern Romney, and most recently Taihape Tiger composite rams have been mated to the ewes. A 65kg to 75kg ewe is the ideal weight for Rim- rock, being an efficient size for the hill country. The key differences between the two Romneys are that the modern breed is more fecund, an ef- ficient size for the hill country, have an open face, less wool on the legs and yield more at processing. Hoggets are mated with Suftex rams at 38kg and above over 30 days with a teaser ram being used for 13 days prior to the ram going out. Hoggets are mated with Suftex rams at 38kg and above over 30 days with a teaser ram being used for 13 days prior to the ram going out. This year they scanned 108% and last year, when only my hoggets were mated, they achieved 119% (pregnancy scanning) and I guess we’re really hop- ing for an 85 to 90% lambing percentage.” Last year the ewe flock scanned 175% and the lambs recording 154% percent at docking brought a smile to Richard’s face. “It was a record for us and we basically put it down to the weather because it was such a dry year. “We usually dock around 145%.” Genetically the focus is on a meat yielding lamb which is the reason for moving to a composite. Richard is very impressed with the results to date. “Last year I noticed that we probably killed the best lambs we’ve ever had and stored the least amount of male lambs and it was not an easy year, it was a pretty standard dry year.” Rimrock runs Angus and Angus/Hereford cows which are grown for their hybrid vigour. The farm has both Angus and Hereford bulls. Calving starts late on the grass growth curve and the hereford/angus yearlings are wintered on-farm with the aim of capturing the spring store market, especially the yearling steers which are usually sold at Fielding. “What we usually see is that the best money per head is for Angus Hereford cross steers because they have the weight and seem to be sought after; we sell our yearling steers at around 320 kilos.” If there is sufficient spring grass the yearlings are held over until January/February when they are closer to about 400 kilos. Recently Richard bought two Charolais bulls which were initially mated with the cull cows. “When we sell the cull heifers the Charolais are top money per head.” While the Charolais/Angus cross steers are a great animal with good growth rates, the straight Angus reach the best price per kilo liveweight. He aims to grow a 480kg to 500kg cow which is most suited to the hill country and, like in many farm systems, pasture maintenance is an important part of their role. The nature of the property means dogs also have a vital role, especially with some paddocks covering 50 to 70 hectares with broken bush through them. Richard is an active member of the Moawhango Dog Trial Club which has its courses and clubrooms located on Rimrock Hills. “What we usually see is that the best money per head is for Angus Hereford cross steers.” FERTILIZER, LIVESTOCK, GENERAL CARRIERS, WOOL P: 06 382 5828 F: 06 382 5824 M: 021 741 463 | 027 449 8773 E: dispatch@raycoles.co.nz accounts@raycoles.co.nz A: P O Box 21, Mangaweka 4746 Enough Veterinary Excellence to Fill Your Gumboots! 24 hours a day, 7 days aweek! Here at Taihape Veterinary Services we pride ourselves on a ordable, high quality care for your livestock, working dogs and pets. 06 388 0863 / Fax 06 388 0657 taihapevets@xtra.co.nz Emergency Contact: 06 388 0863 • 24-hour service Proud to be supporting Rimrock Hills