50 | Iconic station a mixed bag for manager Texel over Romney is the breed of choice at Craigmore Station. Sue Russell These past seven years David Bielski has been manager at Craigmore Station, an iconic part of New Zealand’s farming history stretching back to 1864 when the Elworthy family established it. Since that time, the Elworthy’s have remained owners and guardians of the land, with the help of many who have taken up roles working on the property day to day. Before stepping into the role David was a technician at Mt Linton Station. He lives on the station with wife Miriam, who hails from Ireland. “I couldn’t go any further in the role at Mt Linton so I looked for new opportunities,” David says. At 4200 ha (10,300 acres) Craigmore Station straddles a whole mixed bag of terrain and especially interesting are the famous ‘Craigmore Sinkholes’, which on first inspection almost look like they should belong on the moon. Formed by water escaping down through limestone, the sinkholes are farmed around, with stock prevented from falling into them by fencing and tree planting. “They range in size from five to ten metres wide and deep so they’re something you have to be very careful around. We plant native trees in them as well.” Craigmore Station is home to sheep, deer and cattle. The sheep are grown for lamb meat production as well as wool. Deer are mainly grown for venison, however velvet antler is harvested and exported into Asian markets where it is used in traditional medicine. Staff are engaged across each of the main farming divisions with a manager responsible for each operation. Interestingly enough, growing stock isn’t the only income-bearing activity on the land. MEAT & WOOL » Craigmore Station Craigmore Station also opens its doors at certain times of the year for guests to stay and enjoy hunting and claybird shooting experiences. Those who do, are encouraged to experience all elements of farm life. With such a sizeable property with good farm management structures and policies, David’s key roles are to link with the managers of each farm activity. “I help advise and organise all the cropping and more of the strategic stuff.” Redevelopment of paddocks has been a key activity to increase production and get better results per livestock unit. “One of my priorities on arriving was to develop paddocks. Back then we had 7900 ewes and now we are down to 6000 and we’ve also increased our cow number from 300 to 600. We also finish all our deer with hind numbers staying about the same. We are also down to about 100 stags.” Other changes in stock management include discontinuing buying in replacement two tooths. Today all replacement stock are reared on the property. David’s focus has been on getting the best out of each individual stock unit through improving pasture quality. If its an exceptional season in terms of pasture growth then David says additional income is derived from finishing lambs. Last year, 12,200 lambs were finished at 20.9kg carcass weight. Cows are distributed over the rougher areas and pasture is never over-grazed. “Focussing on constantly renewing pasture so we can get the best feed into our stock is number one priority.” Especially considering the station is in a summerdry zone. It means focussing on growing as much in the spring as possible. “This winter was really tough with the ewes coming out a lot lighter. We had 300ml of rain and the ewes struggled a bit but because all of our new grasses we managed to feed the ewes pre-lamb.” Lambing has been very good at 146% and though the ewes are lighter than he would like Dave says he’s very happy with the lambs. A future aim is to use less nitrate and build a good biologically healthy soil and this will be achieved by mixing up different grasses and a lot more direct drilling, with pasture renewal down from every 8 years or so to every 4 or 5. Owners Forbes and Brigid Elworthy live in England and visit once or twice a year. The couple have a strong bent toward improving their environmental footprint, growing trees and beautifying the place. “We spend about $50,000 each year planting natives and we have 50ha of native plants on retired land.” The sheep breed of choice is Texel over Romney. Dave says they are a great all round breed suited to the environment Texel, he says is very good for meat yield. Son of Vorn Yardstick Son of Vorn Aberystwyth UK rams with their semen used over Highland Texel ewes — among the top Texel UK indexed sires. . What is making sheep farming pro table? It is meat combinedwith growth rates. So what breed is right up there? Consider HighlandTexels, who have introduced fourtop UK genetics - increased length, height, growth rates & carcass-meat percentage. HighlandTexels Steve Bielski 027 484 2822 | www.texel.co.nz . , , , . | . . . Main Road, St. Andrews PO Box 137, Timaru Cell: 027 4329 555 Phone: 03 612 6605 Fax: 03 612 6614 Email: www.standrewstransport .co.nz satrans@xtra.co.nz Proud to be associated with Craigmore Station Jess Williams (03) 684 5184 jess@turnbullgrainandseed.co.nz
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