54 | Ballance Farm Environment Awards » Otorohaea Farming Major turn around for Otorohaea Farming Over the past two years, around 220 hectares of hard hill country has been converted to controlled grazing. Karen Phelps Once under financial stress, in a few short years Waikato farmers Jon and Fiona Sherlock have transformed their farm into a model of profitability. Otorohaea Farm was named Regional Supreme Winner in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards in recognition of the rapid transformation from a traditional sheep and beef operation into a high-performance, technologyenabled grazing system with a strong environmental focus. The couple also won the Hill Labs Agri-Science Award, Norwood Farming Efficiency Award, Rabobank Agri-Business Management Award, Waikato Regional Council Water Protection Award and NZFET Innovation Award. “Otorohaea Farm was once under real pressure with low commodity prices, high input costs and then interest rates increasing sharply over COVID,” says Jon. “That was the catalyst for us to step back and fundamentally rethink how the farm needed to operate.” That rethink led to a combination of debt reduction via the sale of a secondary property. At the same time they began exploring how the steepest and least productive land could be better used or retired and converted around 150 hectares of the 660ha Otorohaea Farm into carbon forestry under the Emissions Trading Scheme. The rest of Otorohaea Farm is now being reshaped into a mosaic landscape, where 20 to 30 per cent of land is retired or protected for environmental outcomes, including riparian areas, waterways and steep sidlings, and the remaining pasture is managed for significantly higher productivity. Virtual fencing technology and Halter cow collars have been central to enabling that change. Over the past two years, around 220 hectares of hard hill country has been converted to controlled grazing without the need for permanent fencing, allowing stock to be tightly managed while sensitive areas are excluded. “We’ve been able to protect our waterways and steep country in a way I never thought would be possible in my lifetime,” says Jon. “Virtual fencing has completely changed what is achievable on this type of land.” A key proof point came from a winter 2024 trial, where 20 hectares were subdivided into 33 half-hectare cells and stocked with rising one bulls. Managed under a 75-day rotation with shifts every two to three days, the system delivered strong performance gains. “In that first trial those bulls were putting on around 1.5 kilograms per day during spring,” says Jon. “We were blown away by the efficiency and how well the system performed on hill country.” Following that success, the system was expanded on the home farm. A further 170-hectare finishing block near Huntly has also been purchased and will operate under the same system. Stocking strategy is also changing, with sheep numbers reduced from 3,500 ewes to around 1,000, and further shifts under review as the farm transitions towards a more cattle-focused system. AgResearch is now monitoring two separate catchments on the property, comparing a traditional sheep and beef system with the new technologyenabled grazing model, focusing on water quality, soils and biodiversity outcomes among other things. FARMit Accountants are proud to support Otorohaea Farming (07) 307 7245 team@farmit.net.nz www.farmit.net.nz GOLD PARTNER Company Restructures Succession Planning Financial Accounts Tax Planning Equity Partnerships Budgeting and Forecas�ng 07 825 4805 / 07 826 3666 office@teakautransport.nz Livestock - Fertiliser - Aglime - Metal - Animal Feed Adrian Tucker and BYL would like to congratulate Jon and Fiona on their well-deserved award. SHEEP & BEEF | REPLACEMENT STOCK | BULLS | WORKS STOCK | VALUATIONS Call Adrian Tucker for all your livestock requirements Ph: 027 243 7501 Email: adrian@byl.co.nz www.byllivestock.co.nz “Maximising your return through personal livestock management” ZENFIRMA FARM FENCING Practical lasting solutions to new fence lines, specializing in fencing maintenance. our business is built on it. Proud to fence for team Sherlock. Fencing from South Auckland to South Waikato and West Coast to the Kaimai's Hadley Mora 027 202 1960 | hadleyjmora@gmail.com “We want to be able to show clear, evidence-based results for the industry,” says Jon. “It’s important that we understand both the environmental and production impacts properly.” Environmental restoration is also expanding, with retired land being planted in a mix of natives and exotic species. “Exotics have income earning potential through the ETS. So this way it gives options to retire land but not make it totally unproductive from an income earning potential.” The Sherlock family, who have farmed the property since the late 1940s, see the transformation as both a legacy project and a potential blueprint for wider hill country farming. “The cool thing is we’ve gone from not knowing how to make farming work for us financially to doubling production in a few years as well as retiring land. I think that’s an awesome story because there is a lot of class 6 hill country across New Zealand and that means lots of opportunities for farmers. People often think that high production means worse environmental outcomes but this is a clear case of high production resulting in better financial and environmental outcomes.” • BULK FERTILISER APPLICATION • SPRAYING & LIFTING Contact us for your Ag related flying needs - Elliot Kent - 027 473 2199 admin@heliagwaikato.co.nz KNOW THE LAND, KNOW THE NUMBERS. OUR BANKERS ARE FARMERS TOO. BACKING BUSINESS. GROWING AOTEAROA.
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