4 | Labour an issue for Hugh de Lacy With 5000 sows in its breeding herd, Patoa Farms of North Canterbury is one of the country’s biggest pig-farming operations, raising its free-farmed stock across 450ha of Hurunui River terraces inland from Rangiora. Launched in 1998 by Steve Sterne and Jens Ravn, Patoa farms produces around 100,000 animals for pork a year in an environment that’s as close to the pigs’ natural habitat as possible. These days run by Steve and his daughter Holly Sterne, it employs straw-based shelters for farrowing, and large eco-barns with deep-litter straw for finishing. Straw topped up every day in the eco-barns is a big item for Patoa Farms, which uses around 18,000 large square bales a year. All waste is composted and sent out to the arable farms that supply the straw to use as natural fertiliser. The sprawling Patoa farm employs 55 staff led by specialist managers, two for the breeding stock up until weaning, and two more for the growing stock from weaning till slaughter. “The breeding stock forage on grass, but we also feed them a palletised diet – about 500 tonnes of it a week across both the breeding and grower units – which is produced in Rangiora in nine different formulae to cover the different demands of the stock at different stages of development,” Breeding Division Manager Tjaart Grove says. Tjaart and Alby, a growing unit manager, are responsible for recruitment, a key role in an area plagued like much of the country with labour shortages. RURAL PEOPLE » Patoa Farm “We really set out to make working with us as attractive as possible, offering staff good wages, flexible work hours if needed, and a positive company culture built around events like barbecues every three months or so. “It’s an attractive working environment, outdoors in a beautiful part of the country with a great deal of diversity of work, and we also offer and pay for educational courses run by the Primary Industry Training Organisation,” he says. The ITO runs two levels of pork industry courses, and at the conclusion of the latest round eight Patoa employees qualified. Nor are those staff just looking after the animals: the company also employs a full-time engineer, a mechanic and a carpenter whose responsibilities range from repairing and maintaining the farm’s vehicles, machinery and equipment, to building new yards on a recentlydeveloped block of land. Two companies handle the processing of Patoa Farms meat, about two-thirds of the stock going to the Ashburton Abattoir, then onto the shelves of supermarket chain Countdown. The rest go to the Cheviot, North Canterbury, works of Harris Farms, recently re-branded from Harris Meats, which both markets and distributes their products to various supermarkets, retailers and hospitality outlets. Their labelling includes the Made in North Canterbury brand. Between 1600 and 1900 pigs go to the processors every week, all of them covered by the SPCA’s Blue Tick company accreditation scheme, as well as by the Pig Care quality and animal welfare system run and independently audited by New Zealand Pork, the industry’s statutory board. Patoa Farms is one of New Zealand’s biggest pig-farming operations, raising its free-farmed stock across 450ha of Hurunui River terraces. “It’s an attractive working environment, outdoors in a beautiful part of the country with a great deal of diversity of work, and we also offer and pay for educational courses run by the Primary Industry Training Organisation.” Proud to be the sole supplier of quality pig feeds to Patoa Farm. www.wan-nz.co.nz
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