24 | Greater loss is felt beyond the farm gate Rod who is in his tenth year as manager, works the farm with two staff. Bernadette Cooney RURAL PEOPLE » Te Uranga B2 Inc The more sheep and beef farms are converted to pine, the greater the loss is felt beyond the farmgate. Not just in production, but in people and opportunity says Rod Walker, farm manager at Te Uranga B2 Inc in the King Country. A 1130-hectare Maori Incorporation owned sheep and beef farm, just north of Taumarunui, at the foot of Mount Hikurangi, the farm runs 4500 facial eczema (FE) tolerant Romney ewes, 1500 hoggets, and an Angus breeding herd of 400 cows and heifers. Rod who is in his tenth year as manager, works the farm with two staff - Niveea Wade, a fifth-year shepherd with her own dogs, who’s achieved her ITO Level 4, and Reef Hicks, a younger recruit learning on the job. While ITO training is available and funded, it’s up to individuals whether they take it on. Rod himself left school at 16, learned on the job, and still trains horses and dogs like he did back in Gisborne. The on-farm learning model is still strong, but fewer young people are entering the industry. Not helped by the fact some remote stations were being sold and planted in radiata for carbon credits. “Take Waipoua Station in Gisborne for example, once a farm cadet training place, has recently been swallowed up by pine trees,” says Rod. “They had the facilities, the scale and the quarters, ideal for training. Now it will make way for trees. Waipoua Station held the last dog trial they’ll ever have on the place, just a few weeks ago.” It’s a pattern that leads to stock shortages. The knock-on effects of which had already seen the closure of meat works nationwide, he says. Te Uranga B2 Inc has no plans to follow suit. While 650 hectares of forestry bound the property, and the incorporation also owns two nearby dairy farms, the core of the farm remains dedicated to livestock and food production. Te Uranga B2 Inc Proudly supporting RUAPEHU FENCING • Conventional • Deer • Electric • Post & Rail • Sheep & Cattle Yard’s • Repair Work • Post Ramming • Residential • Lifestyle • Security & Gate’s | Extensive Steep Hill Country Experience | | Excavator and Bulldozer for all fence lines and tracks | | Tree felling and Removal, Chainsaw work | Fully Insured FOR ALL YOUR LIVESTOCK CONTAINMENT NEEDS PH: WAYNE 027 RUAPEHU 7827348 Proudly supporting Te Uranga B2 Inc CTSHEARING PROUDLY SHEARING TEURANGAB2 INC ctshearing@hotmail.co.nz 027 446 1800 / 07 878 6765 Servicing TheWaikato&King Country Te Uranga B2 is a 1130-hectare Maori Incorporation owned sheep and beef farm, just north of Taumarunui, at the foot of Mount Hikurangi, the farm runs 4500 facial eczema (FE) tolerant Romney ewes, 1500 hoggets, and an Angus breeding herd of 400 cows and heifers. While sheep numbers have dropped slightly from its peak of 6500 in recent seasons, the focus on quality breeding and finishing remains. Lambs are mostly carried through to finishing weights, with a few sold as store lambs. Rams are sourced annually from Hildreth Romneys, with 12 new rams brought in last December to maintain strong FE resistance, a genetic trait that has proven effective. Lambing results were steady this season, but the dry made things tough in the back half with the King Country seeing less rain than usual. On the beef side, it’s all Angus. Around 400 cows are calved each season with the herd consistently hitting around 90% calving rates. Steers are sold as two-year-olds and every year Te Uranga B2 Inc sources bulls from three main studs: Kaharau Angus, Tangiahua Angus and Black Ridge Angus. “Beef prices have been strong, which we’re really pleased about.” But again, weather is the swing factor. “The cows are picking up a little bit now that we’ve weaned the calves off them, but they were sort of doing it a bit hard with hot, dry spells putting pressure on pastures.”
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