Business Rural North Winter 2021

44 | Fifty years of breeding behind popular Virginia Wright W ayne and Gaynor Lambeth have been back on the farm Wayne grew up on in Tangiteroria, halfway between Whangarei and Dargaville, since 1990. Wayne’s parents Bill and Wilna bought the 850 acres of flat to rolling hills back in 1965 and began the Arahou Hereford stud in 1971. Fifty years of breeding later Wayne’s confident that the potential buyers who come to their next bull sale on the 27th July will find what they’re looking for. “We put about 35 heifers to the bull each year and then we pick out the 10 best of their progeny to keep. Every year since we began, we’ve put the 10 best back into the herd as three-year-olds. We keep another four from the sale so we keep about 14 every year, always the best ones, which is how you improve your animals. Obviously, you breed the best from the best.” The four from the sale that Wayne refers to are a part of the auction that his parents began in their fourth or fifth year. While a lot of people don’t sell their female stock at all Bill and Wilna decided to include a few using an American auction feature they’d come across. With the bulls sold, the last four lots of the day offer eight vetted in-calf heifers. The winning bidder gets the one of his or her choice and the other goes back into the Lambeth’s herd. As Wayne explains: “That way it’s pretty clear we’re not selling culls and that they’re good enough to keep, and it gives other people a chance to buy in-calf, registered heifers. They’re pretty pleased generally. We start calving the heifers in early July so quite often there’s a nice little Hereford calf at foot.” Over the years the numbers of stock have reduced as the Lambeths concentrate on being able to withstand whatever nature might throw at them. “We find that less is better,” says Wayne. “If you have a bad winter or a really dry summer you suffer otherwise, and although our stocking rate’s relatively low we’re producing top quality animals. We don’t keep anything that’s not good structure, easy calving and so on. We breed for all the right cosmetics like eye pigment and white manes as well as quiet temperament, so anything that doesn’t want to come near us while we’re feeding out, male or female, is gone.” While Wayne’s mother Wilna died 15 years ago, 91 year old Bill is still active on the farm, setting up the gates, and doing whatever jobs come to hand. “Every year my father says the calves are looking better than last year’s calves so we must be doing something right,” says Wayne with a laugh. Although their numbers have also reduced over the years, the Lambeths still lamb 450 Romney ewes every year. While they currently cost money to shear they’re still useful to graze the three hay paddocks, the air strip and the flat paddocks in the winter. RURAL PEOPLE » Arahou Herefords Wayne is a self-confessed old-fashioned sheep farmer. “ I do a lambing beat on the bike every day for three months while lambings on. You’ve just got to save one caste ewe with a couple of lambs and that’s around $400 dollars. Or I’ll find a ewe with twins that has one lamb then goes over the hill to have the next one and wanders off, so I put them back together. It’s well worth it.” And while the Lambeth’s wait for the tide to turn on the wool market the meat still comes in handy, not least for the lunch they offer to everyone that comes along to the bull sale. Provided by Gaynor and a couple of her friends, the hot, home-grown, mutton sandwiches with coleslaw on a cold, win- ter’s day sound like a good enough reason to attend all on their own. “We put about 35 heifers to the bull each year and then we pick out the 10 best of their progeny to keep. Every year since we began, we’ve put the 10 best back into the herd as three- year-olds.” Photos: Arahou Herefords’ next bull sale is scheduled for July 27. With the bulls sold, the last four lots of the day offer eight vetted in-calf heifers. TANGITERORIA TRANSPORT LTD Ambie - 021 733 267 Jan - 09 433 2675 3292 State Hwy 14 Tangiteroria