Page 44 - NZ Herefords Magazine 2018

LEFT, TOP TO BOTTOM: The Donalds look for good
temperament, self-replacing cattle that are very fertile, have
longevity and are good doers; Bruce likes the challenge of
breeding the complete Hereford package.

The partnership was with Don and Doreen Goodall of
Braxton Stud and Karen Arnett of Cascade Stud in Australia.
“Don was the brains, Bruce was managing the operation and
coordinating it all. Don and Doreen lived in the South Island
and Karen was in Australia,” Chrissina says. Sadly, six months
into the partnership, Don passed away, but they carried on for
the next six years. It proved to be the foundation and stepping
stone to farming in their own right.
From there, they entered a second equity partnership in
Norsewood. Unfortunately, after two years, that partnership ended.
With small children and stud cattle to find a home for, it wasn’t an
easy time. They had taken their stud cattle through both equity
partnerships and were lucky to find grazing for the cows locally.
Timing was on their side and, soon after the farm sale,
the Donalds moved to Mironui to manage the station. Part of
the deal was that the stud cattle came too. “We were allowed
to graze them here when we were managing; we were very
fortunate. We did have to downscale but that was a negotiating
point [to taking the job]. It’s a lesson on knowing what you want
and waiting to find the opportunity and right person to deal with.
Until those things line up, there’s no room for compromise.
“You could say we jumped back a step but it was the best
thing that could have happened. We sat on our equity and when
the opportunity came up we were able to buy here. That two-
year timing was impeccable because the market was on the
dive,” Bruce says.
“Patience was something we really learned, not to rush out
and buy something because we thought we had to,” Chrissina
performance for us is linked with good doing ability, not says. “In those circumstances you learn a lot about each other
necessarily high numbers; we want to grow moderate sized and and what’s important to you. You grit your teeth and ride the wave.
highly efficient cattle on average tucker, which I think replicates “Don’t be afraid to take a side step or one back if you know
a lot of commercial conditions.” you will eventually take 10 steps forward. The path isn’t always
They have a large focus on intra-muscular fat (IMF) and milk straight and be prepared for wiggles along the way.
figures. “The theory is, if we can breed quiet animals moderately “We had our long-term goal and we got there. We learned
framed that are good doers and of great meat quality, we will be about being resilient and backing ourselves, standing on our
rewarded with sales of our seed stock.” own two feet, but also the value of relationships with people.
Ngakouka was founded in 2000 with Braxton, Huihui and We had so many people willing to help and that’s the great thing
Ngarewa cows, when the Donalds were given the opportunity to about a farming community.”
enter an equity partnership and purchase a property in the Wairarapa. Bruce says it was a true testament to the area they live in and
“We bought the property with the idea of sending embryos of top the people in it. You get back what you put in to a community
New Zealand genetics to Australia. The A grade embryos went to and, when they needed it most, they found people were willing
Australia and we kept the B and C embryos to breed with.” to go the extra mile to help them.

A FLEXIBLE FARMING SYSTEM never compromised. “If the season changes you haven’t got

That mindset is evident now in the way the Donalds approach your arse against the wall. It avoids a potential sticky situation
their business, with a large portion of trading stock. “High value and puts you in control.
trading stock, as the season allows. If the feed and margin is “People would say capital stock, you are running nothing, but
not there over a short period, up to eight weeks, we don’t trade. we have that buffer zone. We know we will get that advantage
We wait until the opportunity arises.” later on, you just have to be patient.”
For example, this season it was scanned-in-lamb ewes, All the hard work paid off and the family held its first on-farm
which returned a $5.50/week margin. sale in 2017. “That was a really exciting moment in time and now
They operate on a 30% trading stock buffer zone, which has we can look at increasing the numbers we offer,” Chrissina says.
built flexibility into their business and ensures capital stock are For their first sale they sold 18 out of 20 catalogued R2 bulls
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