| 37 More cows, less sheep for Rimrock Hills The NZFAP Gold Accreditation, earned through an exhaustive series of on-farm tests and inspections, brings real benefits to Rimrock Hills. Hugh de Lacy RURAL PEOPLE » Rimrock Hills Boosting the ratio of cattle to sheep has been the main strategy Lucy and Richard Batley have implemented at their Rimrock Hills station on the Napier-Taupo Road, while three other developments have been highlights of the past couple of years. The most notable of these was the Batleys gaining Gold Accreditation from the NZ Farm Assurance Programme (NZFAP) founded in 2017 by the Red Meat Profit Partnership – later extended to wool - between the Government and industry partners to set independently audited national standards for the country’s two main non-dairy exports. NZFAP sets the highest possible standards in animal welfare, food safety and traceability, as well as implementing and monitoring its 9000 certified member farmers’ on-farm environmental and sustainability factors. These extend to nutrient and land-and-water management, and to greenhouse gas auditing. The NZFAP Gold Accreditation, earned through an exhaustive series of on-farm tests and inspections, brings real benefits to Rimrock Hills and the Batleys beyond the prestige. “It’s really opened up a whole range of direct financial benefits to the farm business,” Richard says. “For a start we can get into mutually beneficial arrangements with the freezing works, including a premium on our lambs, and then our proof of sustainability has enabled us to get discounts on our bank interest rates.” Gold accreditation earns an extra 10 cents a kilogram carcass weight on eligible in-spec meat products, and access to sustainability-linked loans promising 0.2% financing rate reductions. It requires both the implementation and monitoring of the farm plan to address soil health, nutrient management, greenhouse gases and biodiversity. Another development last year at last gave the Batleys full cellphone coverage on their two steep hill country blocks, after years of being able to get coverage only from the hill-tops. “We were approached a couple of years ago by the Rural Connectivity Group with the offer of a cellphone tower at no cost, bringing 3G and 4G access to remote areas, and it’s meant that we’re not so isolated now,” Richard says. Emergency Contact: 06 388 0863 • 24-hour service Proud to be supporting Rimrock Hills 06 388 0863 / Fax 06 388 0657 taihapevets@xtra.co.nz Enough Veterinary Excellence to Fill our Gumboots! 24hours a day, 7 days aweek! Toget Creat Soil a Proud to support RimrockHills by helpingmatch fertiliser inputs to their systemand farmgoals. Our Firm has provided Richard and Lucy with a range of services, including succession planning, financial and taxation advice. Phone: 06 357 0746 | Email: office@dch.co.nz Devlin Cameron & Hayes Limited Level One 165 Broadway Avenue PO Box 1595 Palmerston North 4440 Proud to support Rimrock Hills “I can do administration throughout the day – take calls and make decisions – rather than being tied to the phone every night talking to stock agents and the like.” Richard’s love of working dogs saw the 1320ha Rimrock Hills host the North Island Dog Trial Championships in May last year, attracting nearly 200 shepherds and 460 dogs. The championships have been running for more than 70 years, trialling about equal numbers of heading and huntaway dogs, and attracting competitors from throughout both main islands. Last year’s event introduced a technical innovation in the form of a digital scoreboard, keeping competitors and spectators up with the results. Over the past couple of years Richard has spiced up his management by keeping his Romney ewe numbers at 4200 and hoggets at 1200, while boosting the breeding cow herd to 350 (with their progeny grown to 2 year olds) and planting 30ha of kale.“It’s been a game-changer, getting weight on the lambs easier through February March, and in late winter grazing the two-year-old cattle,” Richard says.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=