Page 64 - NZ Herefords Magazine 2018

On Farm

Herefords

deliver

hybrid vigour

at Paparata

WORDS REBECCA HARPER
PHOTOGRAPHS SOPHIA McKENZIE / OVATION

Seymour Spence manages the Heao block. He has been at
Paparata for 20 years and has responsibility for the Paparata
Elite Romney sheep stud.
PAPARATA STATION, KING COUNTRY
OWNER:TREVOR JOHNSON
CATTLE PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE at Paparata Station, but a
changing climate has prompted a rethink on management and KING COUNTRY:
marketing in recent years. • 7100 hectares (effective) farmed in the Tokirima/Ohura
The large scale station, located on the Forgotten World district. This block is farmed in four management
Highway in the King Country, runs a ratio of about 50:50 cattle units – Heao, Paparata, Tokirima and Te Moata – with
to sheep, and hosted the 2018 Power of the Beef Cow field day. four managers.
Cattle at Paparata are a Hereford-Angus cross with a focus
on utilising hybrid vigour and maximising growth rates. WAIKATO:
“Cattle play an important part in grooming the hills for the • Castle Rock – 300 hectares (effective).
sheep and they complement each other,” says Paparata owner,
Trevor Johnson. CONTOUR:
“We went to a Friesian-Hereford-Angus cross in an effort to • About 5% silt flats and 10% terrace country between all
grow the calves better, but the Friesian was dropped out about blocks, with the balance medium to steep hill country.
five years ago, especially when it started to get dry.
“It hasn’t got the ability to store fat and they were hard to keep SOILS:
going when it got dry. They have horns and produce so much • Hills mostly mudstone with Mairoa ash terraces and river
milk; the bigger udders were a problem, and the progeny is harder silt flats.
to sell store. We have continued on with our cross-breeding.”
Digby Brice manages the Paparata block, having been at RAINFALL:
the station for 13 years, and looks after 22,000 stock units • 1800mm annually (though this has not been the case in
(SU), while Seymour Spence manages about 17,000 SU on the recent years).
Heao block. He has been at Paparata for 20 years and also has
responsibility for the Paparata Elite Romney sheep stud. STOCK:
Between the two of them they take care of the two largest SHEEP:
blocks at Paparata. Each block has its own herd of cattle and • 24,000 Romney ewes
when the three-way cross ended, each block ended up with a • 2,000 Recorded Romney ewes
slightly different influence in its cattle. • 500 Ram hoggets
Anything by a Hereford bull is identified by a blue tag. “It’s • 6,000 Ewe hoggets
not just a matter of looking at it and saying it’s got a white face, CATTLE:
it must be Hereford. They are separated into different mating • 2,700 Cows
mobs,” Trevor says. • 2,300 Rising one year cattle
The policy at Paparata is to breed and fatten progeny, though • 1,100 Rising two year steers
cull heifers are sold at 12 months. Culls are anything that didn’t • 100 Bulls
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