14 | Strong returns with careful planning At Riverhills 550 cows are calved annually run alongside 5500 ewes and around 1800 hoggets. Karen Phelps In the hill country of Ohura, the Gower farming business is enjoying what can only be described as a standout year, combining strong financial returns with careful planning for the future of the family operation. Spanning two properties across central King Country, the business runs a large-scale sheep and beef system that has evolved over decades. The home farm, Riverhills, covers 1600 hectares and operates primarily as a breeding block, while the 500-hectare Pukerata finishing block sits 30 kilometres away in the Tapuiwahine Valley. “It’s a hell of a great year to be a farmer. Our sales of lambs has increased by about 40% on last year and a 30% lift in cattle prices,” says Dean Gower. “We are 22% down on lambs to sell due to a drought last year but that’s probably the only negative.” Despite rising costs across the board, the strength of livestock markets has underpinned what Dean describes as the best year the business has experienced. “It’s about trying to maintain an efficient and sustainable management policy that is profitable in our forever changing weather cycles,” he says. At Riverhills 550 cows are calved annually run alongside 5500 ewes and around 1800 hoggets. Young stock are wintered on a cell grazing system with approximately 600 rising one-year animals rotated through one to two-hectare cells on the easier hill country paddocks. Pukerata complements this system as a dedicated finishing block. All terminal lambs from Riverhills are sent there, where the cooler summer climate provides reliable finishing conditions. The property also lambs 1500 ewes in winter, runs 300 two-year-old bulls and winters a mix of heifers, including around 100 in-calf animals. Genetics play a key role in performance. The cattle herd is Angus with a strong emphasis on low birthweight. RURAL PEOPLE » Dean Gower Beef and Lamb “With our free range calving we can’t monitor the cows calving, they are very spread out amongst hill paddocks so our cows must calve on their own,” says Dean. “That’s worked well and we are achieving 87 to 92% calving rate.” One of the highest SIL FE recorded flocks in NZ Members of the Marchant Farms Dimmock Road, RD1, Pokeno, Maramarua John & Jan Marchant 09 232 5613 or 027 442 3130 marchant.farms@farmside.co.nz Greg & Angela Marchant 0272 815 386 gregm@farmside.co.nz ∙ FE Testing 0.60 ∙ FE Testing 0.62 ∙ FE Testing 0.65 2003 2004 - 2006 2007 - 2018 ∙ FE Testing 0.67 ∙ FE Testing 0.69 ∙ FE Testing 0.70 2019 - 2021 2022 2023 - 2025
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=