| 61 It’s a lot easier to control expenses than to control income, Mark says. Belgian Blue genetics ‘fascinating’ Woodleigh yearling sale bulls already up to 600kg live weight. Eleven year old Woodleigh cow (below) with her eight month old bull calf. Rachel Graham Sir Lockwood Smith has held many high-profile roles in his time, including Speaker of the House and Minster of Education, Agriculture, Tourism and International Trade. Throughout his long public career, however, he was always also a farmer. His family were the first European settlers in Matakohe in the mid-1800s, and after first building a major kauri timber business, the family has farmed there ever since. For much of that time it was a sheep and beef farm, with Romney and Angus studs. Sir Lockwood says from a young age he was interested in breeding stock, looking after his father’s stud sheep from about age 10. He entered parliament in 1984 as MP for Kaipara, and then Rodney, when the electorate was changed with MMP, leaving Parliament in 2013 to serve as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ambassador to Ireland until 2017. He was knighted in 2013, by the Queen, for his services as a Member of Parliament and Speaker of the House. Through it all he ran the farm at Matakohe, and he says that link was invaluable. “Running a small business meant I was one of the few politicians, and indeed one of the few cabinet ministers, who actually saw first-hand what government policies were actually doing,” says Sir Lockwood. Since the late 1980s a focus of the farm, which is about 330 hectares, has been breeding Belgian Blue cattle. “I was fascinated by the genetics of the Belgian Blue breed,” says Sir Lockwood. “They have an interesting genetic modification, a natural mutation, whereby their myostatin gene has been knocked out. The myostatin gene is something we mammals all have in our muscle cells, and it suppresses muscle growth. Belgian Blues don’t produce as much myostatin in their muscle cells, so their muscles grow bigger more quickly.” At Sir Lockwood’s farm, Woodleigh Belgian Blues, the myostatin gene modifications from pure bred Belgian Blues have been introduced into New Zealand bred cattle with an Angus/Friesian background. RURAL PEOPLE » Woodleigh Belgian Blues ‘I’m proud of my sheep’ • from page 64 their own flock are those any farmer might be looking for, this year Sabine decided to go more formally into business with her Waldheim Wiltshires and, picking her top 50 from 1600 ewes, started recording their progeny for the first time. “I’m not a stud breeder with all the information yet, but I’m proud of my sheep and the people who have bought my rams in the past have kept coming back, so I’m starting the Waldheim Wiltshire Stud with whatever that requires,” says Sabine. The first lot of recorded lambs will be for sale as 2tooths next year but in the meantime Sabine will be selling 25 of her top twin born rams as usual, privately on farm, from November onwards. Born and bred on rolling hill country 20 minutes out of Dannevirke they’re sheep used to thriving in weather that is often wild and windy. “They are not pampered my sheep,” says Sabine, “and I guarantee them and will replace them. If somebody has a problem I’d like to know so I can do something about it,” says Sabine. Sabine’s dream is that others might realise that with a breed like Wiltshires there’s an easier way of farming, and that you can have a high meat yielding sheep without the work that usually comes with a fleece. She’s looking forward to meeting her potential customers on farm in a few weeks time. One of Sir Lockwood’s aims has been to breed cattle which can calve easily and are polled. The pure-bred Belgian Blue calves in Belgium are so big they are usually delivered by caesarean. Woodleigh’s Belgian Blues aren’t as bulky as the Belgian purebred, which are housed and fed inside. They couldn’t cope with hilly New Zealand pastures. Sir Lockwood says Belgian Blues could have real benefits for New Zealand farmers. “The carbon footprint of these animals, the carbon efficiency, is better than for traditional beef cattle. They produce more muscle, more quickly, so the emissions intensity of their meat is lower.” “Also, in the future, we’re going to have to use the dairy herd to produce more of our beef because of welfare issues around Bobby calves. People just don’t like the thought of three or four-day old calves being sent to the works. What’s more, by sourcing beef cattle from the dairy herd, we reduce the emissions intensity of our beef still further”. He says a Belgian Blue sire probably produces the best beef animal from a dairy cow. Phone Mark 027 682 1186 MarkTurton For all your post driving & fencing requirements DESIGN AND BUILD — Cattle & Sheep Yards Contract FENCING Spreading Northland The precise way to grow • We apply what you need, where you need it • Ravtrak advanced guidance • Proof of placement maps • Application history stored online • Experienced local operator • Options for all terrain NORTHLAND Call us today: Jason Williamson 027 499 2530 Ravensdown Customer Centre 0800 100 123 Teamplayers make for better results Thanks for having us as part of that team. Dargaville | p. 09 439 8385 www.myaccountants.co.nz Joanna Ewenson CA | Joanne Biddles CA | Jo Bradley CA | David Cutts CA
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=