| 21 Balancing family and farm in rural Taihepe Kim Newth RURAL PEOPLE » Mairi Whittle Taihape farming couple Mairi Whittle and Hayden Topp, who have both returned to their rural roots over the past five years, each have their own farm businesses to run. Sharing the journey together with their young children – Tad, almost 3 and Lachie, 17 months – requires careful management of time and resources. Mairi grew up at Makatote, a 600ha hill country farm northeast of Taihape, and this land has been in her family for four generations. Mairi worked in rural banking years after studying at Lincoln and travelled overseas before ultimately deciding to make her future back on the family farm. Encouraged by her father Jim – and after honing her shepherding skills with local farmer Rob Stratton – Mairi took over the running of Makatote five years ago before buying the property outright last year. Hayden works full-time at Makatote and also separately leases one of two farm blocks owned by his parents. Mairi continues to oversee Makatote as closely as possible with their two sons in tow. Last summer the couple employed an au pair to help free up Mairi over the busy months of October through to February. “It is all working quite well,” says Mairi. “We have our own businesses to run and do our own books. Things are still coming up that are new to both of us but we both like learning and working out solutions together. 96171 Stewart Morton 06 328 5772 / 0274 453 110 • Andrew Morton 06 328 2856 R D 54, Kimbolton, Manawatu • pakiroms@farmside.co.nz paki-iti.co.nz to view our breeding programs Stewart Morton 06 328 5772 • Andrew Morton 06 328 2856 PAKI-ITI SUFFOLK PAKI-ITI ROMNEY & ROMTEX • 160 clients last year purchased or leased Paki-iti rams • Bred on a 870ha hard hill country property rising up to 637m asl (2090f asl) • • Romtex rams sold as 22th rams PAKI-ITI SUFFOLK & SUFTEX • Over 550 Suffolk, Suftex rams and ram hoggets sold and leased last season • Breeding for constitution, longevity, structural soundness and then performance • 13 years of wintering ram hoggets on hard hill country = constitution • Suftex rams bred for darkness Suppliers of Romney and Suftex rams to Mairi Whittle FERTILISER, LIVESTOCK, GENERAL CARRIERS, WOOL P: 06 382 5828 F: 06 382 5824 M: 021 741 463 | 027 222 3431 E: dispatch@raycoles.co.nz accounts@raycoles.co.nz A: PO Box 21, Mangaweka 4746 Stephen Harris Livestock Ltd is pleased to be associated with Mairi Whittle i i i l i i Local Agent: Mark Anderson 0274 691 004 www.stephenharrislivestock.co.nz We take care of your accounting needs, so you can focus on the everyday business of running a farm. Proudly supporting Mairi Whittle www.ruralca.co.nz | (06) 322 8359 “He buys my dry ewe lambs and takes them back to his block; they’re all terminals on his block. It’s a really simple system and the two blocks complement each other very well. Their hard work was acknowledged at this year’s Wairere Central Districts Red Meat Farm Business of the Year Awards, where the couple were named as runners-up. Mairi says her parents did the hard yards before her at Makatote, which has made the job of running the farm much easier. Today the flock is comprised of some 3800 ewes and 1200 hoggets. Her father first introduced Paki-iti genetics to the flock six years ago. Paki-iti Farms is a nationally recognised ram supplier and specialist breeder of Romney, Romtex, Suffolk and Suftex. Those genetics are now strongly influential in the Makatote flock. “It all comes back to growth rates, fertility and survivability. The sheep I bought off Dad were an amazing line too. They perform very well so I haven’t had to tweak much there. The main changes I made were to start lambing hoggets and putting a terminal ram (Suftex) across the five-yearolds, whereas with Dad everything was maternal. “We also introduced breeding cows to the farm; hill country like this needs cows to help with pasture quality. We now have 150 Angus breeding cows and 40 R2 heifers calving each year. The weaner steers are kept for one winter and sold as yearlings.” Ideally, Mairi’s preference is to finish the lambs but if conditions are too dry, they sell into the store market. “We’re aiming for a 150% lambing which is around 12 lambs/ha, therefore we aren’t afraid to sell store. We like to get all the trade lambs out by March so we can concentrate on capital stock and set up for tupping.” Stock condition heading into ram-out was satisfactory. “I’d describe the overall condition as average to good. Managing all the extra grass this season has been a challenge.” Taihape farmer Mairi Whittle moving a mob with son Lachie. The farm now also runs 150 Angus breeding cows to help with pasture quality.
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