| 59 Focussing on positive environmental change Hamish and Hannah took over the farm from Hamish’s parents in 2020 after leasing it in 2017. Russell Fredric MEAT & WOOL » Blakely Farming AI improves herd genetics • From page 58 AFFCO and South Pacific Meats are proud to support Blakely Farming changer for the beef side of their business. Hugh says the cost of bulls was a big factor in their decision to AI a proportion of their Angus cow herd. They calve around 300 cows per year and AI 150 – 30-40 heifers and rest mixed age cows. He says they are averaging a 60-65% conception rate in the AI animals and last year the AI heifer rate was 75%, which is a farm best. “It’s been a big step up in terms of herd genetics. We’ve had a huge increase in the quality of calves and our weaning weights have lifted in the AI calves, which are 30-40kgs heavier on average compared with our other calves. I’m big on medium framed cattle with plenty of meat on them so type has also really gone well.” Hugh and Lucy run Koromiko with the help of a stock manager and general farmhand. The couple have three children - Harry, 10, Gretel, 12 and Lily, 14 – who all like to get out on the farm on their ponies and motorbikes. The adventures continue off farm. Hugh has just been to the Mongol Derby, the longest and toughest horse race on earth. It is based on Genghis Khan’s horse messenger system and sees participants ride 1000km of Mongolian steppe on semi-wild horses, changing steeds every 40km. Riders must navigate and survive on their own wits and skill, living among the herders and provided a great test of Hugh’s horsemanship skills and a unique challenge. Like most of their peers, Northern Southland sheep and beef farmers Hamish and Hannah Blakey take an active interest in caring for the land and waterways in their stewardship. “I guess we’ve always been quite interested and followed the process closely with the environmental reforms,” Hannah says. The Blakely farm, Tomogalak Run, has the Tomogalak Stream on its boundary and other tributaries of the Mataura River running through it . For Hannah, who describes herself as community focused, this involvement helps in her role as co-Leader of Ardlussa Catchment Group (ACG). “It’s around managing change. We know that there’s change required within farming, and we know that it’s not sustainable to keep Southland on the same journey that we were on. I guess for us on our farm it’s around how we can manage our sediment loss and our nutrient budgeting to make sure that we are farming in a sustainable manner and being recognised for the things we are doing like sequestering carbon.” The catchment group started in November 2020 and has 15 members who are sheep, beef, deer and dairy farmers and rural professionals. The geographical area the group operates in covers the Tomogalak, Ardlussa, Longridge North and Upper Mataura catchments. “We’ve got a lot of really proactive farmers that are really moving forward in the environmental space and we’re really lucky; there are some great role models in our catchment.” Hamish and Hannah took over the farm from Hamish’s parents in 2020 after leasing it in 2017, but Hamish has been working on the farm since graduating from Lincoln University. It covers 1650 hectares of rolling to steep hill country and supports 4800 breeding ewes and 1300 hoggets. The sheep ock is currently being transitioned from Perendale to Romdale with the aim of improving fertility and having an easier sheep to work with. “We are breeding a ewe with a stronger bone density, better fertility and better overall structure and composition. The farm also carries 347 Angus and Simmential breeding cows, using the Angus genetics as a maternal breed and Simmential as a terminal. “We are looking for a less rangy, more compact cow that’s more suited to the harder hill country, that’s why we are going to the Angus.” About 600ha of the farm is rolling to steeper cultivatable land with the balance being hill country and larger hill blocks. Although the Government has relaxed some rules around winter grazing, arbitrary resowing dates, and pugging metrics, the ability to sow winter crops on slopes of more than 10 degrees has been restrictive and without the certi ed farm plan option being available by the govt the need for a resource consent remains a thorn in Hamish and Hannah’s side. “They’ve really missed the point with slope. They’ve said anything over 10 degrees is going to be a consented activity so that does have quite a huge impact for us in our farming operation and won’t change what goes down the stream. We feel with our mitigations including buffer zones, sediment traps, wetlands and natural ltration systems, we would rather focus and invest in positive environmental changes we can make including our major goal of putting in a stock water scheme”. 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