Page 124 - 2020 NZ Hereford Magazine

weaning last year we had sold almost 5200. It has been the of the hills, when they’re normally in the gullies, because their
making of the place and is reflected in the increase in income narrow leaves mean they’re less susceptible to the dryness of
from lambs sold. the Martinborough wind.
“All the male lambs have to be off the place by December. If we The farm has nine QEII National Trust blocks (totalling about
have a week of hot dry wind the property goes brown very quickly.” 100ha) plus another three areas of fenced-off native bush. The
Stuart says the two-tooths go to a Dorset Down ram, the oldest blocks were done around 15 years ago and the most
others to a Texel/Romney cross. recent was two years ago. “Closing them off has definitely
“If anything goes wrong, like with the feet, they’re straight out brought all the native bush and birds back,” Caroline says.
the gate. So now they have better feet than they’ve ever had. Caroline works as an accountant in Martinborough and
They’re the best sheep I’ve ever farmed. We’ve basically got a they have one daughter, Charlotte, who has just completed
stabilised breed now because I’ve been doing this since 2012.” her second year of studying viticulture and oenology at
With the lambs making up the bulk of the station’s income, Lincoln University.
the cattle have to keep up their part in pasture management. TOP TO BOTTOM: Stuart Ross with and huntaway Richie and
“The cows had it pretty cruisy last season; we had so much heading dog Gemma; Heading dog Gemma keeps an eye on some
feed and it was such a mild winter. But having said that, we’re of Birch Hill’s cows.
growing a lot more grass than we used to because of the extra
fertiliser, so the cows have to keep things topped.”
The farm does one paddock of baleage; this is fed to the first
calvers behind a wire and also to the Angus/Hereford heifers to
gloss up their coats ready for sale.
The Hereford weaner heifers are fed a winter rape crop.
Stuart has also started putting in cocksfoot grass, which he’s
found has performed well in Wairarapa when other grasses burn off
in December. It will be green all the way through summer, he says.
“I was reading about it in a magazine one day. Professor
Moot thought cocksfoot would be the saving of the hill country
farmer. So I thought I would try it here. It’s great stuff for our dry
conditions. Shame I haven’t got enough country to put it on.”
The farm is part of the Greater Wellington Regional Council’s
annual pole planting programme. They’ve planted about 400
poles for 20 of their 22 years on the farm, with willows at the top
122