| 9 ARABLE » Strathern Farm Strathern Farm perfecting the craft Mary and Steve Blain with kids Benji and Chester. Randall Johsnton Strathern Farm has won the UWG Ruralco Grand Champion Award and Feed Wheat Award at the 2024 United Wheatgrowers Awards. The awards were held at the Wigram Airforce Museum on August 15, bringing together growers from all around New Zealand. Speaking from the home farm at Flemington near the coast south of Ashburton, Steve Blain says while he knew they were in the running, the award was rather unexpected and it turned out that their Dawsum feed wheat crop really impressed the judges with a nice balance of high yield and exceptional quality. “We are really pleased about it obviously. Growing conditions were pretty much ideal for the crop of wheat that was judged and we knew it was a great example of that variety but we didn’t really expect it to be recognised in this way,” he explains. “It was an exciting event to be a part of and many of the top operators were there.” Steve attended along with his wife Mary and mother and father Peter and Glenys. Father Peter still works on-farm pretty much full-time and the two have developed a streamlined system that also allows them to reduce labour requirements. While still an important element of the business and one they have managed to refine well over the years, wheat is only about a quarter of what they grow. They like to experiment with growing new and emerging varieties. They also grow ryegrass, cocksfoot, clover, red beet, brassicas, peas and lease a paddock for potatoes. “We don’t just deal with one seed company, we work closely with a lot of agronomists and they have been invaluable over the years. It’s also handy having some great friends and neighbours in the industry. We share tips on how to get better yields and for the most part, everyone is trying to help each other.” The winter has been kind this year and the lead up to summer has been superb weather wise. “We have a few creeks running through the farm and when we get big rainfall events, we flood quite badly, thankfully we haven’t had any of that this year.” “We are always trying to refine our irrigation. Rainer Irrigation in Ashburton has done our three centre pivots and we also have RotoRainers. It’s just so important with these crops, if you’re a few days late getting water to crops at important growth stages, it can result in a huge difference in yield. We have some oddly shaped blocks of land which makes irrigating them difficult.” www.ruraltransport.co.nz Ashburton (03) 308 4079 Waimate (03) 689 6100 Kurow (03) 436 0849 Fairlie (03) 685 8911 T R A N S P O R T L T D • Stock Cartage • General Freight • Fertiliser Spreading •Bulk Cartage • Hiab Hire • Cool Storage Brophy Knight are proudly supporting Strathern Farm For accounting and business advice, contact: Greg Wall, Brendon Adam, Marcus Schoonderbeek, Angus Lindsay or Emma Hastings P SRS 03 302 8115 email: nzoffice@spsnz.co.nz Proudly supporting Strathern Farm SOUTH PACIFIC SEEDS (NZ) LTD SOUTH Specialists in Hybrid Vegetable Seed Production EXTENSIVELY TESTED, WORLD LEADING CEREALSEED FDUUƫHOGV FR Q] &DUUȴHOGV VNLOOHG DQG SDVVLRQDWH DJURQRPLVWV DUH FRPPLWWHG WR DGGLQJ YDOXH DW WKH JURXQG OHYHO WKURXJK WDLORUHG VROXWLRQV XQLTXH WR \RXU IDUPLQJ RSHUDWLRQV Discover our award winning range. Over 50 years experience in Electrical and Irrigation Solutions • New Homes • Solar Installs • Smart homes • Electrical Repairs • Audio & Visual • Commercial • Alterations & Renovations • Industrial & Irrigation • Heating, Cooling & Ventilation United Wheatgrowers Grand Champion and Feed Wheat award winners, the Blain family. The team do just about everything on the farm themselves, except for spreading base fertiliser, baling and trucking where contactors are used. “We also own shares in a spray company with a few neighbours called Spray Care Limited, with just one modern self-propelled sprayer and a local operator who looks after about four farms in the area,” Steve explains. With these two awards under their belt and the summer season shaping up well, production and quality is looking good as the team proceed into 2025.
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