Page 116 - NZ Hereford Magazine 2023

Crossbreeding and

coastal lamb at Tunnel Hill

Coastal lamb might be a priority for Richard and Suze Redmayne, but they’re
proud of the weight gains in their white-face beef progeny as well.

Photos: Kate Taylor/Supplied

“It’s pretty clear the environment is going to take centre stage
in all our businesses,” Rangitikei farmer Richard Redmayne
told people at his Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA)
field day in November.
“We’ve always taken the approach that we’d rather be first
off the mark and being fully involved than being disciplined
and told what we were doing wrong.”
Richard and Suze Redmayne won the 2022 supreme award
for the area covered by the Horizons Regional Council.
Tunnel Hill is a 1005-hectare coastal property at Turakina
with sheep and cattle farmed alongside 220ha of forestry
continuously planted since 1992, mostly on fenced sand
dunes, and 95ha of maize yielding 14.5 tonne average over
the past 13 years. There are also large areas of riparian
planting and a 25ha regenerating wetland.
The farm’s soil type ranges from river silt to sand dunes,
so it is set up to utilise its strong winters – lamb in June, calve
in July, and plant maize in late September. Forestry can be
harvested throughout the year.
Average rainfall has been 1090 millimetres for the past
29 years. Heifers weighing more than 500kg at 14 months.
The farm has 320 Angus cows mated to Koanui Hereford
bulls that are within the top 10% of the breed. Replacement station, Tunnel Hill is now finishing them. Last year’s crop
heifers are bought as rising two-year-olds to avoid the farm killed at 260kg carcass weight at 14 months (534kg live weight).
carrying too high a number of young stock over the summer, Cattle are wintered on sand in calving systems with
which is its weakness if it gets dry. extensive calving beats to tag calves at birth. They are
The average steer weight at sale is 285 kilograms carcass then weighed at weaning and related for efficiency to their
weight. They have been sold as weaners to the same regular mother’s live weight.
clients, Richard and William Brewer, since 1997. The cows are an integral part of Tunnel Hill’s lamb finishing
Up until last year, heifers have gone to a Gisborne station operation, which is the product of 3000 Romney ewes mated
as breeding replacements, but due to a policy change at the to Poll Dorset rams. Lambing is staggered to reduce risk and

114 HEREFORD MAGAZINE Year 2023