4 | ARABLE » Russell and Malcolm Laughton Leasing land for flower production Of the farm’s 200 hectares in arable crops, 12 hectares has been leased for the past three years Russell Fredric Leasing land for growing tulip bulbs has added to the spectrum of crops on the Laughton family’s farm helping to mitigate the past season’s low lamb schedule and higher interest payments. Of the farm’s 200 hectares in arable crops, 12 hectares has been leased for the past three years to Norana Bulbs, Malcolm Laughton says. “What they’re paying for a lease is very good money; I would struggle to gross that with doing anything else. The only one that would come close to it is the mustard, and the flowers are very nice before Christmas.” Purchased by Russell and Dawn Laughton more than 50 years ago, the 294ha effective farm is largely run Malcolm who is married to Rachel with their son Brayden also working on it. Daughter Courtney works off-farm as a shepherd but enjoys helping when home, especially during the harvest season. The arable operation comprises 88ha of autumn sown wheat, 20ha of peas, 12ha of tulips and the balance sown in ryegrass, barley and peas and mustard, plus oats depending on the season. “With the mustard we’re trying to get away from dairy-based supplying and grew mustard this last year. We’ll have about 12 to 14 hectares of it this year and because it’s quite a good paying one and its good for the soil, it’s a good break crop as well as the peas.” “It’s a win-win; every third month we are getting a fair chunk of our interest bill paid for.” The tulips have also provided a boost to the soil fertility which benefits the follow-up winter wheat sown as a catch crop to take up the residual nitrogen applied to the tulips. Improve site safety, don’t just tick a box. Introducing “The winter wheat after the tulips last year was 15 tonne to the hectare. We were averaging 10 to 11 [tonnes to the hectare]. Because the bulbs are lifted in the end of January you can get in winter wheat nice and early. While the low lamb schedule has been the cause of angst among sheep farmers during the past season, the Laughton’s have been able to take some comfort in their impressive lambing percentages. The farm supports 540 Texel / Romney breeding ewes that scanned at 182%, while the two-tooths scanned at 190%, with only singles and twins identified. The genetics are sourced from Meadowslea, Fairlie, but there is also the influence of the Inverdale gene which has contributed to the fecundity of the flock. For the terminal flock, Beltex rams have come from Ashton Glen Farms, Clinton. The overall meat yield for lambs of all breeds is 56.5% while the carcass weight of the first draft of this year’s lambs processed before Christmas averaged an impressive 22.5kg. “The lamb weights are up a wee bit but the price is definitely back.” For the 2022-2023 season, the Laughton’s lambs achieved $160 to $170 per carcass, but this year the amount fell to $130 resulting in the “overdraft taking a hiding.” Dairy farmers shutting their cheque books also had an effect. “Normally we have 200 tonne of barley gone in the autumn before the end of the season whereas I’ve still got it.” For the past three or four seasons the Laughton’s have been hosting chemical trials for Bayer Syngenta and Adama in collaboration with Advance Agriculture and are happy to help with the research. Increase profit + tackle sustainability Add 1000 to 3200 kgDM/dose 0800 66 88 100 info@magnifynz.co.nz www.magnifynz.co.nz Proudly supporting Russell & Malcolm Laughton “At the end of the day the chemical companies have got to trial them somewhere, otherwise we don’t get this new chemistry that’s coming through and it’s always nice to see the results firsthand.” “It’s always nice to know that you’ve been involved in the background by supplying a piece of ground for them to trial these on.”
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