| 37 Maurice King embracing technology Zoe with a trophy Swede. Charlotte counting 1st calving heifers at marking time. Sue Russell RURAL PEOPLE » Parawa - Maurice King Maurice King and Rosie Hore, owners of 1800ha Parawa Station, nestled between Lumsden and Kingston in north Southland, introduced Halter®technology to some of their herd in May 2024. Maurice says it is a decision he doesn’t regret, having seen the benefits that directly flow from the smart collars. “We did a few numbers about the cost of shifting break fences time/labour and we estimated from what we were doing that we would make economic gains, justifying the purchase of the technology,” Maurice explains. The plan originally was to introduce Halter® to the mixed-age cows and calves, however it soon became clear – a ‘no-brainer’ as Maurice describes it, to apply the Halter® capability to the 400 cattle set aside for finishing stock. When Rural South spoke with Maurice in October, the collars were being attached to the third ‘crop’ of R1 steers and heifers. Back when the thought to invest in the collars was seriously being investigated, there were not many herds where they were being used for fodder beet finishing purposes. “We made enquiries at Fieldays and decided, given some challenges we were then facing with system changes and Rosie becoming unwell at the time, that we would invest.” As it turns out using collars on finishing stock was not something Halter® were very experienced with, so Parawa Station, and Halter® aligned to help offer valuable learnings to both businesses. “We’ve had tremendous support from Halter® staff ever since the collars and necessary infrastructures came on to the property. They’ve been available any time, day and night, to help us bed down our system here.” And the stock took to wearing the collars and responding to the pulses and sounds they make when approaching a ‘no-go’ zone, very well. “We didn’t hurry the stock with the training time, expecting it would be a 5-7 days process for them to understand how the system worked in terms of where they could and couldn’t move, but the reality was that most had it sussed after a couple of days. They’re intelligent animals, able to learn and understand the tech very quickly. The same as electric fence training with visual barriers.” Now Halter® is firmly entrenched in the farms stock management practices Maurice has crunched the numbers with his farm consultant and the results have been impressive. “Our return on investment was tremendous, with a 50% plus return as a conservative estimate.” Maurice is also impressed with the level and depth of knowledge he can gain from Halter’s app chat support. “It’s not all been beer and skittles there has been some trying times but having access to a wide range of tech support has been unreal.” Parawa Station is split across flat, rolling and steep topographies in equal measure and is currently home to 7000 ewes, 200-odd hinds and 650 calving cows. Maurice is responsible for production of crops and ag side of things, in the self-sufficient operation. “Like most of Southland, we’re working all the daylight hours just trying to get crops in on time in the small dry spells we get. It’s a busy time.” Working with Maurice and Rosie is an essential team of Charlotte, Zoe, Georgia, Charlie and Will. “Charlie is here on a Gateway Programme. He’s been with us for well over a year now and is doing really well. He does all the school holidays here and loves it.” We have the odd cadet through Telford Agricultural College who have also been a fixture on and off over the years. There have also been students from Lincoln University and other learning programs, that have worked at Parawa over their breaks from study, to gain valuable practical experience of a large sheep, beef and deer operation. With respect to Halter® as a tool on the farm, Maurice stresses it is no replacement for stock- manship describing it as an aid and a tool. “You need to keep your stockmanship discipline as you do when employing any new technology. You still have to put your animals first and see it as a tool, not an excuse to ignore animal observations and responding when necessary. It’s as revolutionary in our system as the electric fence itself.” Parawa Ltd Phone Robert 021 090 45608, James 03 614 7080 or Donald 021 187 8186 963 Cleland Road, Pleasant Point www.sternangus.co.nz Southland Drones Aerial Spraying and Spreading Aerial Spraying and Spreading Services Southland Wide. Contact Us 0278495130 southlanddronez@gmail.com www.southlanddrone.co.nz Proudly Supporting Parawa Station
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