16 | Texels conversion 10 years ago paying off Texel’s are great grazers that eat lower, do well on roughage and keep pastures in good condition. Russell Fredric Conquest Texels owner Jock Bieliski is as delighted about the performance of his flock as he is deeply disturbed about the potential decimation of the industry he loves. The Bielski farm, which converted to Texels about 10 years ago, is part of the bigger New Zealand success story in which meat production has exponentially increased in relation to the size of the national flock. “I’ve been [pregnancy] scanning for 28 years and we’ve increased our scanning rate from 127% to 180% and the weight of the lamb carcasses has lifted from, say, 13 to 18.5 kilos,” Jock says. Jock farms 330 hectares/200ha effective bordering the Ruahine’s in Manawatu; the property ranges in altitude from 600 to 900 metres. It supports 800 Texel/Texel cross breeding ewes, 260 to 300 hoggets and 30 R3 Angus steers. While the farm’s carcass weight gains in its lambs have been significant, cattle weights have remined static, consequently Jock sees sheep as the best and most profitable option for the farm’s system as well as for the topography and climate which can include heavy rainfall. “The sheep are amazing in the genetics now, but the cattle are basically the same as what they were 20 years ago.” Another factor is that the Texel’s are great grazers that eat lower, do well on roughage and keep pastures in good condition “so, really, we don’t need the cattle for anything”. Jock started with a Romney flock, but when his nephew Hamish Bielski started working at Mount Linton Station in Western Southland who were breeding Romney/Texel rams, he bought some then took the gamble of going to full Texel using genetics from Blackdale stud, also in Western Southland. In tandem with his brother, Steve, he subsequently started to source the best available semen from the United Kingdom. “That was the big jump, where you can get the top 1% of the rams in the UK. In one year I could have the new lambs born from the AI and then next April as ram hoggets they’re used over all the sheep and the difference is amazing, it’s mind blowing actually. “What we lack in the wool we totally make it up in the meat.” Although the carcass weight of Conquest Texels lambs at 18.5kg is the norm for many farms, the altitude and hardness of the country the Bielski farm is on and the fact the sheep are purely grass-fed makes this a respectable figure. Jock is extremely grieved about the Government’s recent announcement about imposing an emissions tax from 2025 and that despite his farm RURAL PEOPLE » Conquest Texels “They are trying to tell me that all the native trees and riparian planting on my property don’t do anything. I find it very hard to believe.” SPRAYING, LIFTING, FERTILISER, FROST CONTROL, HUNTING & FISHING, FIRE LIGHTING/FIGHTING, TRANSPORT, SCENIC FLIGHTS, WEDDINGS, AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY, POWER LINES P 06 376 8000 E o ce@tararuaheliwork.co.nz W tararuaheliwork.co.nz having 130ha of native bush, none of this qualifies for a carbon emissions credit. “They are trying to tell me that all the native trees and riparian planting on my property don’t do anything. I find it very hard to believe that none of our grasses or trees are doing anything to help.” He believes the proposed tax will cripple many farms due to the tax equating to potential reduction in income of up to 20%, but does not yet have any hard data to know exactly what the impact will be on his own farm. So what breed is right up there? What is making sheep farming profitable? It is meat combined with growth rates. Consider Highland Texels, who have introduced four top UK genetics: Increase in Length, height, growth rates and carcass-meat percentage. See www.texel.co.nz for further information. Ph. Steve Bielski 0274 842822
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