40 | RURAL PEOPLE » Parengarenga Incorporation Hot & dry summers The stock units comprise 8,000 breeding ewes, 1600 Angus breeding cows plus replacements and 2800 to 2900 two-year old Angus bulls. Russell Fredric LIME MILLERS & BLUE METAL QUARRY OPERATORS 09 408 1340 • bellingham.quarry@xtra.co.nz www.bellinghamquarries.com Crushed Road Aggregate & Concrete · Metal · Lime Portable Crushers · Cartage “Proudly supporting Parengarenga Incorporation” Based in Te Kao, 70 kilometres north of Kaitaia, Parengarenga Incorporation’s far north station is an impressively large operation. Parengarenga is a Maori incorporation established nearly 50 years ago; it manages $52m of farm and forestry assets on behalf of 3000 shareholders, employing a total of 36 staff. The station carries 42,000 stock units on 5100 hectares effective and has been managed by its general manager Julian Peter for the past two years. The stock units comprise 8,000 breeding ewes, 1600 Angus breeding cows plus replacements and 2800 to 2900 two-year old Angus bulls. The sheep are early lambing ewes which are a composite of Romney/Perendale/Poll Dorset. “We draft 92% of available lambs straight off mum to the works, starting late October and finishing by the end of November,” Julian says. To achieve this, ewes are lambed through July. “The reason for it is that we can’t finish lambs, it’s the heat and it’s a matter of getting the ewe back in condition in time for mating again. We simply can’t flush our ewes like lots of farms can. In February/March we are hot, we are dry and feed quality’s going back at the rate of knots.” Going forward, the genetic focus is to lift the current lambing of 120% and to breed some hardiness back into the ewes by reducing the amount of Poll Dorset genetics. “The composite breeds, while they produce fantastic carcasses, it’s the same in the cattle, you don’t quite have that hardiness with them. We are actually looking at ram sources at the moment.” Parengarenga’s lambs typically average 18.6kg carcass weight. A key factor in the overall operation is the soil types, consequently the sheep are run on the more environmentally sensitive land close to Parengarenga Harbour and on some of the wetter soils. “The production is actually quite impressive given the fact that aren’t on the better parts of the farm.” The station does not import feed and the only supplementary feed provided is from the 450 bales of grass silage produced each season. Its cattle operation mates heifers as yearlings and cows must produce a live calf every year otherwise they are culled. All male calves are retained for fattening and left entire, while the female replacements are kept and the balance sold store or for live export. Julian is aiming to minimise the degree of North American genetics and to breed back in hardier New Zealand Angus traits. “I think we are starting to see some of those genetics coming through now, we’ve got some pretty impressive bulls that finish early. We see a massive difference in our carcass yield between the straight Angus and the beef cross dairy cattle.” There is also a focus on selecting for intramuscular fat and eye muscle area, while the foundational traits of good feet and good teeth are also important in the males with the addition of good udders in the breeding cows. Parengarenga employs 14 staff who are vital to the success of operation. With such a large property and so many livestock, one of the biggest challenges amid the busyness is to foster a good work/life balance. “It’s about how to bring fun and enjoyment to the job as well, that’s why you do it, it is about the lifestyle.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=