12 | RURAL PEOPLE » Craigmore Station Craigmore Station’s solid scanning figures Craigmore Station is an historic property straddling 10,300 acres. Sue Russell Some 30 minutes inland from Timaru sits Craigmore Station, a historic property straddling 10,300 acres, owned by the Elworthy family since 1864. David and Miriam Bielski have been managers of the property 10 years now with Forbes and Bridget Elworthy, who live in England visiting regularly. This season 6,300 ewes were mated, along with 1,800 hoggets. “We also fawned 900 hinds and carry 600 Angus cows, wintering 460 R1’s and 93 R2’s, and have 3000 store lambs.” David says it has been a kind year, with stock numbers across each class at about the right level for the station’s management systems, confirmed by solid scanning figures. He’s very pleased with the performance of the sheep operation, focussing on individual performance and ensuring a good percentage of trading animals. Too often, Spring can be tough, too cold or dry, so having a certain amount of trading stock allows him to reduce stocking rates when feed covers are tight. “It’s very hard to sell capital stock when your covers are short – and so often it’s the capital stock that get pinched, especially on the shoulders of the season. If you under-feed them at lambing, it can severely affect your overall stock performance,” David explains. One good indicator David uses to see whether they have achieved good results for the year is the condition of ewes at tailing. He says it sums up the whole year. The aim is for them to be in a condition score of 3. If below this figure then they have previously been under-fed. “We’ve also continued to do well with the deer side of the business. One of the key things we have changed over the last couple of years has put Italian in the autumn for weaners in the spring – they grow really well on Italian, even in August. If you can reach good weights earlier, you can finish them when the schedules at the highest, taking paddocks out earlier for summer/winter crops.” When Rural South spoke with David early October, winter lambs and yearling deer had just started being sent off for processing, while R1 steers and cull R1 heifers were being sold store through Temuka. “Prices for stock whether being sold store or finished are very good. The aim is to move 4000 stock units off farm through cattle, lamb and deer in four weeks.” With this achieved, paddocks can be sprayed early to conserve moisture late spring and summer. David says there’s a current frustration in genetics available for breeding purposes. One of the problems, he feels, is the focus on producing good looking stock for sale. “To achieve this they are treated very well, not to the types of conditions commercial farmers have. We find when they come here they never look the same as when we first bought them. Within a year they’re not looking good and I’m thinking why would I put these over my breeding stock.” David still places value in EBV’s, but to him what is more important is the actual breeder and their breeding philosophies. The focus is to look for breeders that have similar farming systems to those practiced at Craigmore. He doesn’t mind a bull, ram or stag looking a bit average, so long as I know they have had some pressure, such as minimal drench. “I really appreciate an animal lifting when they come onto our property rather than going the other way.” On the flip side, David does understand that there is an ‘expectation’ from farmers that stud animals are to look in good condition when being sold so sometimes its hard to challenge them or under-feed them. “Feeding is most important as far as performance is concerned. I would prefer to go out and buy a bull at a reasonable price and spend the rest on re-grassing.” The team working with David has remained the same for a number of years bringing the stability that comes with understanding the property and stock management systems well. Each stock class has a manager who liaises with David regularly with frequent informal contact and more formal monthly meetings to make future decisions. Jess Williams (03) 684 5184 jess@turnbullgrainandseed.co.nz Sam Thacker (03) 684 5184 021 0839 3321 Anna Hayward 027 434 4116 (03) 684 3674 anna@turnbullgrainandseed.co.nz (03) 684 5184 sam@turnbullgrainandseed.co.nz Spraying - Cultivation - Drilling For enquiries Phone Robert 0276142633 Proud to support Craigmore Station “My main concerns on a daily basis is the quality of what we’re growing and ensuring there’s sufficient feed for our stock numbers. I also link, of course with Forbes and the board over the more strategic decisions.” Looking after water quality has always been important for Forbes and David. Over the next 10 years, their aim is to fence a lot of the creeks off from stock and plant them with natives. One of the projects on the go currently is the Moa Valley enhancement project which is a cultural significant area. Craigmore received some Government funding to fence off all the water-ways and plant out 15ha of wetland area. With very good prices and the weather-gods so far behaving, David says he’s pleased with the overall situation of Craigmore Station. “It’s a case of always being open to how the market is performing and to adjust our focus accordingly and applying the best stock management practices to optimise individual performance.”
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