| 33 RURAL PEOPLE » Collier Farm Small steps bringing incremental gain Ben and Julia Collier. Another string to Collier Farms bow is Julia’s honey making enterprise ‘Bee & Flow. Sue Russell Nestled 30 minutes east of Eltham, in the great farming region of Taranaki is Collier Farm, a substantial multi-generational farm, and home to Ben and Julia Collier and their two children Bruno and Cameron. The couple have been on the sheep and beef property nearly 10 years. Ben describes the current market conditions, impacting hill country store farmers as challenging. “Our lambs haven’t gained quite the prices of the past. I think there’s been a lot of store lambs on the market this year and we’ve had some worm challenges, given the warmish winter and wet summers of late.”He also carries some concerns about drench effectiveness, with traditionally a heavy reliance on drenching as a preventative.“It’s hard to move away from that reliance on regular treatment with drench, especially when there are lots of lambs grazing the same pasture throughout summer that they were born on. I’ve also seen that the lambs on crops had more vigour about them so we’re thinking about more cropping as a summer forage, to get lambs off the hills at the right time of year” Ben says. Collier Farm lambs 5,500 mainly Romney ewes and 400 mixed-age Angus and Freisan Hereford cows. The 2,500 ha farm also has forestry stands covering 400ha.There’s also a significant QEII covenanted native block generations of the family have tended to.“We’re hoping to hear the sound of kiwi in the block one day. Another 400+ha block, adjoining our boundary is already home to our national bird.” The sheep breeding and lambing part of the business has benefited over many years from rams sourced from Piquet Hill. A focus of Piquet Hill has been breeding in natural tolerance to facial eczema. Collier Farm’s river flats are prone to high levels of the fungus Pithomyces chartarum growing on pasture. The fungus thrives on dead litter at the base of warm moist pasture. “Many ram breeders these days are working hard on breeding in natural FE resilience and we’ve certainly benefited from this focus. We’ve been fortunate to have enjoyed a great relationship first with Peter Jackson, from Piquet Hill which my Dad established and now with Will Jackson.” When selecting rams to introduce into the breeding season Ben says he looks for stamina and an ability to get the job done for several years. “Rams work pretty hard out there and we need to know they have the vigour to perform.” Ben says ram selection is first based on how the animal looks, followed by reference to its genetic data, including that of its mother and father, growth rate, how easily the ewe lambs. And the way the whole wool industry is these days, Ben says there’s more and more focus by sheep farmers in breeds that naturally shed their wool. It is something which is hard to ignore. “It’s a pretty sad situation now for some years on the wool side and farmers are having to adapt to this. Another string to their bow is Julia’s honey making enterprise ‘Bee & Flow’ which she established following beekeeping courses she undertook as a way to contribute to the business’s income streams. Ben says they’ve been pleased to have established a network of health food retailers to sell through and the honey is also available on-line. “We’ve got some product available now in the United States as well, which is great.” Approximately 100 hives are scattered throughout the property and generally not moved on the belief that bees are happiest in the one situation. All in all, as they look toward 2025, Ben says he and Julia are aware of the need to adapt to the challenges being faced in farming. “That’s the thing about farming, no matter what you do, it’s about small steps bringing incremental gain.” 027 446 0443 19a King Edward St, Eltham o ce@gernhoefercontracting.co.nz At Lloyd Gernhoefer agricultural contracting, we o er you a wide range of Agricultural services. Call Lloyd now for your 2024/2025 season requirements. We’ve been helping farmers get the most out of their sheep and beef farming operations since 1966. • Maternal composite • Romney • Sheddmaster • Suffolk • Angus Stud • FE testing for 36 years, & above FE Gold Standard for 9 years • Romney sires tested at 0.72mg of Sporidesmin/kg of live weight & Maternal Composites 0.68mg • Ewes run in commercial conditions under no drench policy • Modern & prolific ewes lambing between 140-150% on hard hill country • All rams guaranteed for soundness & structure for 2 years • Romney & maternal Composites have a lifetime guarantee against FE www.piquethillfarms.co.nz william@piquethillfarms.co.nz Will Jackson 027 739 9939 Building Better Bloodlines. “Our Romneys & Maternal composites come with a lifetime warranty against Facial Eczema.”
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