Business Rural Winter 2021

| 35 Pamu partnering to add value to wool Kim Newth CAMPAIGN FOR WOOL » Riverslea Farm N ew Zealand Merino is recognised the world over as a premium product. Strong wool growers are hoping some of the same strate- gies that made Merino a success may ultimately help add value to their sector too. Pamu’s strong wool clip is today being marketed and sold in its entirety through the New Zealand Merino Company. In fact, that arrangement has been in place since 2014. Both Pamu and New Zealand Merino are com- mitted to quality, sustainable wool production and robust animal welfare standards. Many farmers now recognise the benefits of twice a year shearing over annual shearing but are also having to balance that against the low price wool environment and rising costs of shearing. The timing of shearing lambs and hoggets can be manipulated to optimise wool quality with much of the wool making NZ Merino contracts. “Our largest challenge is the timing of shearing the ewes,” observes Pamu’s livestock commercial manager Andrew Hall. “Pamu Farms have tradition- ally shorn their ewes once a year in the Te Anau Basin. The challenge with pre-lamb shearing to maximise wool quality is getting full wool ewes dry. Many ewes are therefore shorn late summer/early autumn, sometimes compromising wool quality.” At Riverslea Farm, a 1038ha Pamu sheep breed- ing and cattle finishing property near Manapouri, farm manager Tim Salter has recently made the shift to six monthly shearing, partly to get a more desirable shorter staple length wool clip but also to improve animal health as he says too much wool can be problematic for young ewes with lambs. “Our sheep do grow a lot of wool!” says Tim. “Shearing takes place straight after weaning and then again in early June, which can be challenging as we are subject to the weather. We can get six weeks of fog in winter but we need the sheep to be dry for shearing.” With the farm’s changeable conditions bringing sometimes very wet but also very dry periods, he says the risk of leaving wool on too long is it can get discoloured. Tim has been leading a small, close-knit team at Riverslea since 2017. He grew up on a Southland sheep and beef farm and has worked as a sheep and beef farmer for 20 years in Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa. In spite of today’s tough market conditions for wool, his faith in its intrinsic quality remains unshaken. “It is still an awesome natural product,” he says. “We need the world to wake up and realise that shearing sheep is the right thing to be doing because wool is a viable product that is biodegrad- able and renewable, and has all these other great properties.” Around 10122 stock units are wintered at Riverslea, including 4000 Romney ewes and 1500 replacements with the rest being trading cattle. The farm has recently moved to a store lamb role, transferring lambs for finishing to another Pamu property – Wilanda Downs – with the goal being no lambs left on farm by February. While low wool prices are challenging for the sheep and beef sector as a whole, Pamu has the benefit of a diverse portfolio that includes deer and beef – “plus we do a lot of lamb finishing,” says Andrew, who adds that wool price alone does not affect Pamu’s decisions around sheep farming. “We need the world to wake up and realise that shearing sheep is the right thing to be doing” All your shearing, crutching and tailing requirements. Winton | 027 345 0963 | 03 236 1401 | grantmoore08@hotmail.com Southland & South Otago The team from Steve James Contracting andWalsh Contracting Te Anau are proud to be associated with Riverslea Farm For all your Agricultural Contracting requirements Cultivation, Ag Spraying, Direct Drilling, Hay & Baleage. Please phone Steve James 0274 907 552 or Kane Walsh 027 316 1103 www.stevejamescontracting.co.nz www.walshcontracting.co.nz OWNER / OPERATORS • GRANT & ANGIE NEWTON Phone 03 249 6644 After Hours 027 352 1689 Riverslea Farm is a 1038ha Pamu sheep breeding and cattle finishing property near Manapouri.