20 | Cows also tidy up the maize paddocks Jamie Blennerhassett came back to run the farm with his brother Michael four years ago as part of the succession plan put in place by his parents Kay and David. Virginia Wright RURAL PEOPLE » Jamie Blennerhassett The Blennerhassett family have been farming 400 hectares on the coast between Te Puke and Whakatane since 1942. Jamie Blennerhassett came back to run the farm with his brother Michael four years ago as part of the succession plan put in place by his parents Kay and David. They’re still living on the farm and while Jamie and Michael run the day-to-day operations their parents have stepped into more of a governance role with an eye on the bigger picture. Michael’s been part of the day-to-day running of the farm for many years whereas Jamie followed a PhD in soil science with a 20-year career in the fertiliser industry before coming back to join him. In 1977 0.3 hectares of the original sheep and beef operation were turned over to kiwifruit, a young industry in a promising growth phase. With the block fenced off they planted a maize crop to protect the shelter they were growing for the young vines, which also gave them a cash crop. Over the next 25 years or so both the kiwifruit and the arable side of the farming operation grew such that of the 400 hectares around 30 are now kiwifruit, and 210 are maize with the remainder in pasture for the livestock. The Blennerhassetts used to bring in beef to fatten but as the maize operation grew so did the challenge of keeping their stock out of the crops. Today they run 500 mixed breeding ewes with the lambs finished on farm, and through the winter they graze around 400 breeding beef cows from May through to July before they go back to their home farm to calve. The cows are a multi-purpose part of the farming system, explains Jamie. “Obviously it’s good from a cash flow perspective but they also tidy up the maize paddocks, helping to break down the stover or stubble from the maize which provides a good balance to the pasture which the stock like, and we have lots of fallow sidelings that we can’t graze in summer when the maize is growing so the cattle do a good job of cleaning that up as well. Then in our wider pastures we only have sheep through the summer and with the kikuya you can start to get rank pasture so we really need the cows in the system to tidy that up through the autumn and winter and keep the pasture quality up.” Thanks to that diversification today the farm operates on a 60%, 30%, 10% split with respect to the revenue coming in from the kiwifruit, the maize and the livestock. There’s no doubt that the overall success of the kiwifruit industry, despite its ups and downs, has also meant success for the Blennerhassetts. Similarly with the maize industry which has overall been positive albeit going through a rough patch currently. They’re concentrating on running a fairly simple system and they’re mindful that they have the advantage of soil that can handle years of cropping without becoming overly dense and unproductive. “We’re on very young volcanic ash soils that are only about 700 years old since the last major deposit so it’s sandy and pumicey and free-draining so as long as it gets moisture it grows good crops like the maize which thrives on it,” explains Jamie. Developing more land for horticulture is one thing the future might hold for the Blennerhassetts, and in the meantime Jamie’s taken on a role once held by his father. A long-term member of Federated Farmers David spent time as the Arable representative for the Bay of Plenty. When Jamie went with him to a meeting he soon found himself not only the local representative but the Arable rep for the North Island. He’s part of giving arable farmers a voice not only to Federated Farmers’ National Council but also to parliament when relevant issues are being discussed. CONTACT US TODAY 027 449 2950 or 07 5333 356 | office@pikowaicarrierslimited.co.nz Proud to support Jamie Blennerhassett Specialising in livestock and bulk cartage HIGH-PERFORMING, KIWI-GROWN MAIZE HYBRIDS. Alan MacDougall Northland & Waikato 027 204 4418 amacdougall@nzsh.co.nz Barry Smallridge Bay of Plenty & East Coast 027 801 9992 bsmallridge@nzsh.co.nz Paul Weeks Taranaki, Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay & Wairarapa 027 293 8833 pweeks@nzsh.co.nz www.vpmaxx.nz
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