22 | Lumina lambs part of diverse operation David Harper with Pet in chicory. Kelly Deeks Now gaining real traction in the New Zealand lamb market, farmers fattening Lumina lambs for the Headwaters breeding programme have this year made market returns for their lambs, receiving $27.50 a head above schedule for their lambs killed last year, with hopes that price will rise to $30 next year for their lambs just killed. Dave and Millie Harper of Braided Waters Farming count themselves proudly amongst this group of forward-thinking farmers. They run a diverse and complementary business at Rakaia Gorge in Canterbury, where they finish lambs, cattle, and deer, graze dairy cattle, and grow winter feed. “We try to make sure our income streams complement each other and don’t compete against each other,” Dave says. “The deer come on in the autumn, and they have gone before the lambs come on after Christmas, and the cattle amalgamate into the system, coming on as 100kg in early December and we always try to get rid of them before their second winter.” Targeting quality over quantity, Dave and Millie joined Headwaters eight years ago. The farmer-owned breeding programme focuses on finishing lambs on chicory to provide higher levels of Omega-3 and intramuscular fats, for healthier, tastier lamb. Over the past 20 years, Headwaters has developed a top performing ewe with high fertility and resilience, that produces lambs with good growth rates and unique fat constitution. “They have put the fat back on to the sheep, because it was bred out for so long,” Dave says. “These sheep have been bred to be hardy, with readily available intramuscular fat that gives more consistent flavour, colour, and tenderness, and is easier to cook.” The resulting Lumina brand of lamb is now sold to high-end fine dining restaurants around the world, and is contributing to the growth of the New Zealand lamb market. As part of the programme, Dave and Millie have got to know some on New Zealand’s top chefs and gained an understanding of what they are looking for in a lamb product. “In all my farming career I’ve never really talked to chefs. It’s about consistency, and how they can make more money out of a good product so can afford to pay more for it.” In the interests of running a complementary system and maintaining quality, Dave and Millie are now using their deer to control the now 50ha of chicory they are growing every year. “The chicory grows in the spring before we get lambs in on the last week of November, so we’re using the deer to control it and set it up for the lambs. The deer grow really well on chicory and faster than on grass, and the deer schedule has been reasonably good so it’s working really well for us. MEAT & WOOL » Braided Waters Farming The two are working together rather than competing with each other.” Dave says $27.50 is a really nice return and this success is down to many long years of hard work, FERTILISER SPREADING | FARM MAPPING GPS TRACKING | VARIABLE RATE SPREADING LIVESTOCK CARTAGE | DAILY FREIGHT CONCRETE SUPPLIES | GRAIN CARTAGE SHINGLE SUPPLIES | FERTILISER SUPPLIES Leeston: 03 3248 070 | Dunsandel: 03 3254 039 reception@ellesmere.co.nz OFF-ROAD LIVIN’ ashburtoncanam.co.nz 445 West Street, Ashburton, 7700 james@ashburtoncanam.co.nz 64 3-307 4846 time, and money from the Headwaters and Alliance teams. “We are finally getting to a position where we’re seeing a return for all that hard work. Our market premium keeps rising year on year rather than following the commodity prices which goes up and down. All this work is starting to pay off.” Ewes in front of Mt Hutt.
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