18 | Being open to change key for resilient farming Andrew Russell runs a sheep and beef trading business at Sherenden, near Napier. He is the current Federated Farmers Hawke’s Bay forestry representative. Russell Fredric RURAL PEOPLE » Andrew Russell “I think that resilience is something that farmers have got to think about quite carefully in their business. There needs to be some real honesty with what they’re doing and how they’re doing it and whether what they’re doing is actually sustainable.” Creating a resilient farm business means facing reality and potentially considerable change in order to survive and even thrive, Andrew Russell says. The current Federated Farmers Hawke’s Bay forestry representative, Andrew, and his wife Pip (Philippa) own a 1000 hectare generational farm in Sherenden, about 40 kilometres northwest of Napier. Despite suffering land, track and fence damage in Cyclone Gabrielle in February from having an estimated 500 to 600 millimetres of rain dumped overnight, the arrival of 30 millimetres of rain in the third week of September was very timely, Andrew says. “We were getting a bit dry actually, even though we have had a cyclone. We are very happy that we got a bit of moisture, that’s for sure. We were starting to sell and kill store stock a bit earlier than we wanted, but we will be able to get back on track now.” Before that, the farm had just 23mm of rain in August and 9mm “and a lot of wind” until the third week of September. The farm is a sheep and beef trading unit on medium to rolling country with 100 hectares in pine trees for plantation forestry and carbon credits, as well as abundant amenity plantings. It supports about 1000 R1 and 600 R2 Friesian bulls and trades about 2,500 to 3,000 lambs which are bought in after rain late March or early April and carried for six months. Until six years ago,the farm was a traditional sheep and beef operation that carried commercial stock. The reason for converting to a trading operation was very simple. “We were sick of going broke,” Andrew says. “I think that resilience is something that farmers have got to think about quite carefully in their business. There needs to be some real honesty with what they’re doing and how they’re doing it and whether what they’re doing is actually sustainable. “I think a lot of people, they live in hope that next year will be better, and how many years is it before you actually realise that maybe we’ve got to change what we do. We have just been through huge change here.” This conversion has been extremely successful, resulting in a doubling of the economic farm surplus (EFS) per hectare. “That’s not an incremental change, that’s a quantum leap.” It is also a hugely positive psychological change to get up each morning and not to have a sense of futility about the reason for farming, Andrew says. On the subject of forestry, Andrew agrees that this is a dynamic and sometimes controversial space. Rule changes means plantings in some areas that were previously off limits were now allowed and he has seen an example of this locally. This highlights that investors who had made “a rational economic decision”have sometimes drawn flak for where they had planted, he says. “They are just logical business people, I don’t blame them at all. I’d do the same.” “I think there’s got to be less pointing the fingers and actually looking at the rules that are put in place that let them do it. “There needs to be some thinking around where we allow trees and what sort; there just needs to be a bit more thought.” For some farmers, planting trees on marginal or unproductive land for carbon credits and plantation forestry is the difference between making a profit or a loss, he says. HAWKES BAY FENCING LTD For all your fencing requirements Conventional • Electric Temporary Fencing Hire Deer Fencing • Security Retaining Walls • Tennis Courts Earthmoving • Bulldozing Call Gordon 027 450 5230 www.hawkesbayfencing.co.nz Proud to support Andrew Russell For all your Hay - Silage - Cultivation Phone Mike 021 733 918 mike@mikekettle.co.nz | www.mikekettlecontracting.co.nz On-farm damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
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