44 | MEAT & WOOL » Carter Farms Diverse Southland A couple of tough lambs born in the snow with mum keeping a close eye. Courtney Carter putting her pet lamb Rolly back in his paddock. Feeding winter crop to beef X cattle. Hugh de Lacy The droughts that have plagued Southland over the past couple of summers left the Carter family’s group of farms relatively unscathed, thanks to the soft soils, formerly swampland, just a few minutes out of Mossburn. The area’s altitude of 350 metres also ensures that “the farm goes really well when there’s not much rain about,” says Ryan Carter, who runs the family sheep and cattle business. “This year it did dry out a bit in February, but not to the extent that it affected our stock’s performance.” The sheep and beef block Ryan runs comprises 800ha of rolling hills supported by some nice flats, and the family also operates two nearby dairy farms, all supported by two run-off blocks of respectively 140ha and 190ha, and employing up to 15 staff. The dairy farms carry 540 and 520 cows on 310ha and 180ha respectively, and these are run by Ryan’s older half-brother Marc Carter and their father Rex Carter. Jersey bulls service the 30 yearling and 30 twoyear-old dairy heifers. The overall operation is run as a single enterprise, but the dairy and sheep-and-beef blocks are effectively run separately. The sheep and beef farm carries 3300 Romney ewes with 800 hoggets, and its beef herd comprises dry stock from the dairy operations in the forms of 370 yearling heifers, 350 rising two-year-olds, 35 yearling and 35 two-year-old Hereford bulls used on the dairy farms and also leased to neighbours. Covering Otago & Southland 0800 227 226 www.advance-agriculture.co.nz Proud to support Carter Farms Specialist Suppliers of Agricultural Chemical, Seed, Spray Equipment & GPS Precision Ag WHY FARMLANDS? Farmlands Co-operative was formed by farmers for farmers over 55 years ago, with the aim that everybody should prosper. Farmlands is the largest buying group of it’s type in New Zealand. Buying power helps reduce the input costs of more that 70,000 Farmlands shareholders nationwide. You’re never far from the products or advice you need either. Whether you’re a farmer, grower or lifestyler, our local Farmlands staff are trained to provide assistance and technical expertise in the field. 03 248 4040 | 12 Bath Street, Mossburn | www.farmlands.co.nz As well, Ryan has 200 red hinds under his care, in part because he likes working with them and in part because he can see their prices going up over time. He sells the weaners locally to fattening farmers and buys in replacements. Ryan’s aims with the sheep are to improve their meat-producing capacity – wool’s not a major consideration – and he puts 800 of his ewes to terminal Sussex-Beltex rams to produce killers with carcase weights of about 18kg, though he’s trying to push this up to 19 or 20kg. The Southland winters can be severe at this altitude so getting the stock through until spring is a challenge. All cattle and the younger sheep are wintered on kale, backed up by 15ha of swedes. The kale gets a hammering through the winter on this damp land, and after two winters it’s re-sown in late spring. On the dairy blocks the 1250 cows get all-winter grazing between the farms themselves and the run-off blocks where the grass starts growing again early enough to also accommodate 350 cows brought in from outside, and 200 dairy-cross beef cattle. “Our dirt is a lot different from what you find in northern Southland, or over the hill in Te Anau, where the effects of the droughts have been worst,” Ryan says. Ryan, 30, runs the property with one other labour unit, allowing him time to play rugby for the Mossburn club, being called in on a couple of occasions to play for the Southland Stags, though a torn Achilles tendon is keeping him out of the game this winter.
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