| 39 RURAL PEOPLE » Rangedale Farm Breeding for resilience at Rangedale Rangedale is a 1320ha hill country sheep and beef breeding unit in northern Wairarapa. Kim Newth On the exposed hills of Pamu’s Rangedale Farm in northern Wairarapa, the Romney ewe ock performs well but conditions can be tough come spring lambing. The farm has a proactive breeding strategy in place to help lift resilience in the ock and optimise weight at weaning. Simon and Lisa Hull and their three children – Charlotte, 13, Josh, 11, and William, 7 – moved to Rangedale in February 2019 from Brooklands Station, east of Pahiatua. The couple managed sheep, beef and dairy grazing there for ve years, before taking up the farm manager role at Rangedale. “Our kids are going to the same primary school where Lisa and her father went to; we both grew up in this area, so it is a bit like coming home for us and it’s an awesome local community,” says Simon. “It has been a great experience coming to a Pamu farm too. Pamu has let us do what’s needed to get the farm performing - we feel it is a win for them and for us.” Rangedale is a 1320ha effective hill country sheep and beef breeding unit. The couple is pleased they acted early this summer when drought conditions were looming, along with processing delays at the works. “We got our lambs off early this year – in early January – and they weighed in at 33kg on average, which was good for us. In February we got 260mm of rain here and that changed things dramatically. We were able to grow more grass in two months than in the whole of last year!” Simon and Lisa run a ock of 6800 Romney ewes, of which 1800 go to a select terminal sire “We got our lambs off early this year – in early January – and they weighed in at 33kg on average, which was good for us. In February we got 260mm of rain here and that changed things dramatically. We were able to grow more grass in two months than in the whole of last year!” Transport Ltd 4 Short Road, Pahiatua • Phone: 06 376 8128 • Fax: 06 376 6644 Dean’s Mobile: 027 444 7413 • Email: fitsy.trans@xtra.co.nz We are proud to work with Rangedale Farm Proud to be Providing Shearing Services to Rangedale Farm. SPRAYING, LIFTING, FERTILISER, FROST CONTROL, HUNTING & FISHING, FIRE LIGHTING/FIGHTING, TRANSPORT, SCENIC FLIGHTS, WEDDINGS, AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY, POWER LINES P 06 376 8000 E o ce@tararuaheliwork.co.nz W tararuaheliwork.co.nz • from page 38 Cadet scheme important through Landcorp. Genetics for replacements are sourced through the nationally recognised Goudies Romney stud. The Rangedale ock is already a high performer on fertility. “We’re scanning at 200% for the mixed age ewes and 170-180% for the two-tooths. The number of lambs born is not an issue – it’s more the exposed conditions and survivability that holds us back at times. We’re working with Tim Bowron (Manager, Goudies Station) to get more carcass in them so they’ll have a better weaning weight.” Another key goal is to lift parasite resilience and resistance across the farm operation by running a fully integrated farming system. That means sheep and cattle are grazed together, with cows and calves run in front or behind the ewes depending on what feed is available and stock condition. “We’re in the middle of doing a reduction test [for parasite resistance] and the early results show we have it covered.” In 2018, Rangedale’s entire cattle herd had to be slaughtered because of mycoplasma bovis. Since 2019, Simon and the team have built an entire cow herd, numbering 400 calving cattle last season. The plan now is to trim that back and cull out any under-performing cows in the predominantly Angus herd. In Simon’s rst year, a large number of sheep with faults were culled, and the business has seen the bene t of that over the past three years. Working with Simon on-farm is full-time general/shepherd Brent Goodgame and casual stockman Brad Jones. Lisa is very involved with the farm on the administration side and when needed out on the bigger jobs. a Charolais bull to achieve fast growth rates to enable killing at 15 to 20 months, especially the bulls. “By 18 months we try to kill the top heifers, or otherwise we put the rest through to target the hand-picked market in the spring.” A cornerstone of Pukemiro’s operation is its two year cadetship programme which provides both hands-on and academic training, with cadets living on-site in their own cottage. The programme starts from rst base with cadets learning cooking, keeping their living quarters, time management, goal setting and leadership. Practical training covers the full range of seasonal farm operations. The station has four staff, including Mark working directly with the cadets, plus a tutor for one day a week. One senior cadet, Fergus Casey of Cambridge, made his mark by being placed fourth in the highly competitive East Coast FMG Young Farmer of the Year in March. “He was 14 months into his course so it was a pretty good result,” Mark says. The winner, 30-year-old Mark Wallace had spent ve years as a veterinarian and is now a farm worker on a sheep, beef and cropping farm.
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