Page 65 - NZ Herefords Magazine 2018

make the target weight to go to the bull and are mostly sold store A CHANGING CLIMATE
in December, coinciding with when the feed demand is coming on Although Paparata is traditionally regarded as summer safe,
from twin ewes. All remaining heifers are kept as herd replacements. this has changed in the past 10 years, with a tendency to
Some blocks fatten their own steers and the remainder head be drier, and several bad droughts.
to the Castle Rock property in the Waikato, which is the main “I reckon it’s been 10 years since we have been ‘summer
finishing block. About 75% of cattle are finished there and they safe’. In the past 10 years we have had two or three bad
target 620 kilograms or more live weight, killing them as rising droughts. There’s no real consistency to the seasons, the
two-year-olds. This produces an average carcase weight of climate has become more extreme,” Trevor says.
about 330kg. They start killing in November with the aim of This has prompted them to be more flexible in their
having most out the door by March. marketing. “When feed covers are lower we sell store. We
Trevor attributes the success of the operation to his team. like to finish all our lambs, but that hasn’t been possible.
“It’s the skills of these guys, who have been here a long time. My “We have been running into a feed deficit, which we
philosophy is I owe people more than just a salary at the end of haven’t experienced before. We always had a surplus
the month. They need some satisfaction and skills too.” over summer but that has changed. We are modifying our
He grew up nearby and that was a driver for purchasing the system to reduce the feed demand over the January to
original Paparata block, along with his brothers, when he was March period.”
younger. “We started clearing the scrub and ring fern off that. Large paddocks and steep country mean cattle are vital
I’m a bit old to be climbing the hills now,” he laughs. to the operation.
Trevor likes a ratio approaching 50:50 cattle to sheep.
“To graze it correctly and grow the most grass you need a
“CATTLE PLAY AN IMPORTANT PART IN good percentage of adult cattle. That’s my philosophy and
GROOMING THE HILLS FOR THE SHEEP it goes back to when I started farming here and used big
AND THEY COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER.” cattle to clean up fern. I maintain you will grow more grass
and sheep will perform better, and therefore you’ll be more
profitable, with that mix.”
CLOCKWISE, BELOW: Paparata purchases about 30 bulls He admits it has been a struggle over the past six or
annually, all yearlings; The majority of Paparata is medium to seven years with the droughts, as the cows are the first to
steep hill country; Paparata Station is 7100ha, comprised of four
management blocks; Hereford bulls are purchased from Craigmore suffer, and one downside with large cattle numbers is the
and Kokonga Hereford Studs. pressure it puts on the water supply.

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