64 | Two breeds blend best of both worlds Matarae Station supports Merinos and Romney crossbred sheep between Outram and Middlemarch. Karen Phelps Having two breeds of sheep helps the Jones Family from Matarae Station enjoy steady income over most of the year. The family runs Merinos and Romney crossbred sheep on rocky hill country between Outram and Middlemarch on a 6700ha property. “By having both breeds we can see the benefits of both. The wool coming off the Merinos and wintering merino lambs and killing them at 10-14 months of age and the Romney crossbreed with good lambing percentages and off to the works at 3-6 months of age with low animal health inputs. It gives us diversification depending on where meat and wool prices are at. “The Merinos pay dividends August to December and the Romneys give us income January to April and we have a wee bit of cattle and venison trading on the shoulders,” says William Jones. William is second generation on the land and runs Matarae with wife Emily. William’s parents Ron and Juliet Jones still live on the farm and are both actively involved in its running. William and Emily have been building up equity since they came to the farm in 2009 and now own the majority of the farm, leasing around 2000ha off Ron and Juliet. The family runs 6500 crossbred romneys, approximately 10,000 merinos, 240 red hinds and 270 predominantly Angus Hereford cross cattle. There are around 350 ewes in their merino stud and in recent years they have started DNA testing all stud merino ewes to better breed target traits including fats, muscle and growth. There has been a big focus on WormFEC and footrot resistance by incorporating breeding values MEAT & WOOL » Matarae Station “The merinos pay dividends August to December and the romneys give us income January to April and we have a wee bit of cattle and venison trading on the shoulders.” and taking part for a number of years in central progeny testing. They also have some cull ram lambs in a footrot trial at Matakanui Station in Central Otago run by MerinoNZ and Nextgen Agri. The result has been Matarae sheep that are highly footrot resistant. Around 60 merino rams are sold by private treaty each year. The other big focus is producing a fine micron stylish woolled sheep. The flock is averaging 15.5-17.5 micron. They supply to Italian mill Reda through Merino New Zealand. William says that this has led the family to also invest in a new wool shed in order to better deliver the high quality wool required. In the Romney crossbreed side of the business the family has focused on producing a good basic sheep that gets in lamb easily, has no lambing trouble, produced predominantly twins and doesn’t have a lot of wastage from scanning to lambing – scanning around 175% and lambing to the ram at 155%. Wool is 34-35 microns. The family sells around 180 of its Romney rams each year privately. With a young family – Archie 9, Digby, 7 and Hudson, 5 – the Jones family is kept busy. Looking after the land for the next generation is a passion and 14ha has been put into a QEII National Trust covenant to protect the endangered Otago skink that lives there. William and Emily will continue to buy into the farm as the family’s succession plan reaches completion. John Eaton Agricultural Spraying John Eaton Agricultural Spraying is proud to support Matarae Station 9 Proud to support Matarae Sta�on For a personal approach to all your business advisory and accoun�ng requirements, contact CEG today p 03 479 0400 e admin@cegnz.co.nz w www.cegnz.co.nz 033587988 hazlett.nz Hazlett Ltdareproud tobeassociated withMataraeStation Weareabusiness built on thebelief that people come rst. Our commitment toyou is toprovidequalityadvice, timelydeliveries andextremelycompetitivepricing. Giveus a call andwe’ll prove it. › Hazlett Agri-Supplies - 03 358 7988 › Hazlett Livestock - 03 358 7988 › Hazlett Insurance - 03 358 7246 › Hazlett Funding - 03 929 0317 › Hazlett Procurement - 03 929 0317 WYNYARD TRANSPORT LTD For all your livestock cartage requirements, give us a call
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