Page 48 - 2020 NZ Hereford Magazine

Industry Focus

Hereford Prime suits

Te Anau cell grazing system

WORDS NATALIE CAMPBELL
PHOTOGRAPHS SUPPLIED

PICTURED: Some of the pure Hereford steers being finished under
the Takitimu Mountains. On average the cattle gain 1 to 1.5kgLW/
day in the cell grazing system.

THE HEREFORD PRIME PROGRAMME fits the finishing goals “We have a short window with long winters here.”
of a recently developed techno grazing system at the foot of the The calves are bought in weighing about 200kgLW and
Takitimu Mountains near Te Anau. are selected from some of their bull buying clients farming on
The cell grazing unit was established a couple of years ago by tussock country. The aim is to have the calves finished before
the Douglas family, who also run the Monymusk Hereford Stud. the second winter. Some heifers are also finished, and these
Chris and Jayne Douglas, alongside son Henry and daughter are typically the cull heifers from the registered Hereford herd.
Amanda, run the farm day to day and are supported by eldest Typically the steers will hit 300kgLW over their first winter
son Ben, who is a chartered accountant based in Nelson. while the heifers will reach about 260kgLW.
Chris says the Te Anau basin is unique environmentally, in The Douglas’ cell grazing system has equal sized cells split
that it is summer-safe half the time. It has a typical annual rainfall into lanes, and several mobs of cattle that move down the lane
of 1000mm fairly evenly spread throughout the year, but with using a poly wire.
clay soils the low-lying ground is prone to being heavy and wet The rotation lengths can be altered and pushed out to 100
in the winter. To prevent soil damage they utilise the steep faces days if needed, but because the ground gets wet during winter
for wintering cattle. Regular snowfalls are another characteristic the trading cattle are taken out of the cell grazing system and
of the area. wintered on kale with daily break feeds and hay. They are grazed
“In winter we expect some snowfalls from early May to mid- on kale for about 100 days.
October. Falls of six to eight inches [150 to 200mm] are not Henry says during the winter kale feeding, the cattle are
uncommon and we can get up to a dozen falls.” gaining on average 0.7kgLW/day and on average under the grass
The family business has grown in recent years with the techno system they are gaining between 1 and 1.5kgLWg/day.
addition of 404ha to the home block the family has run for the The top cattle are sold off in March and kill out at 300kgCW,
past 35 years. The farm now totals 980ha. the top end of the weight scale for the Bowmont Wholesale
Carrying 5000 breeding ewes, 1200 hoggets, 280 breeding Meats’ local trade Hereford Prime programme, with the others
cows and calving 80 heifers, the family is now also buying back drafted off as they reach target weight.
about 100 calves from some of their bull buying clients to finish Henry says the tail-enders, often the heifers, are carried
on their newly developed techno grazing unit. a second winter, but it’s their preference to not carry them a
Run separately from the registered breeding cattle, the second winter. He acknowledges it is season dependent.
finishing platform has been developed by Henry and spans Henry runs two mobs (about 25 to 30 head in each) in two
40ha of rolling terrain. different cell systems. The mobs are moved every second day
Henry says when they took possession of the new block and this includes the drag/nose plate water troughs towed
three years ago it was characterised by lots of 20-plus hectare behind the four-wheeler.
paddocks and it got them looking at the options for using those “We run a maximum of five to the hectare and the return per
paddocks without having to invest too much in additional fencing. head is impressive.”
The services of Sandy Campbell at Ag Design were Henry says they haven’t planted special pastures and the
employed. “He’s really passionate about techno grazing.” fertiliser policy is minimal, with no nitrogen used. This is because
Henry says his preference is to finish steers because they under the cell grazing system the cattle are not transferring
grow out quicker. nutrients and soil nutrients are actually building up; rather than
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