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Case Study

CASE STUDY: INTENSIVE, YET LAID BACK

Southern Waikato property Waerenga runs a mix of sheep, cattle and deer – some bred on the property and others bought in, depending on the season. Waerenga is owned by William and Karen Oliver and, for the past three seasons, has been managed by Mike Ferrier. We talk to Mike about the property’s management and why they have signed up to Farm^IQ.

I’d describe Waerenga as intensive but laid back. Our 10,000 stock units are split evenly between sheep, cattle and deer and the property is well sub-divided, with an average paddock size of 3.5-4ha.

Lambing pushed back
We’ve just pushed lambing back two weeks, to 1 September, to fit our feed curve more closely.
We lamb about 140%, but it can be nearer 145% in the better seasons. Traditionally, we haven’t scanned for multiples – just wet/dries – but this year we are going to split the multiples out.
The lambs are mostly finished on grass – generally spread out below the bulls and hinds, whereever the best feed is available. About 30% are finished on crops. Depending on the crop, that may be the lighter lambs or the top end.
We normally work towards finishing lambs at 17kg, but this season, they were more like 18-19kg, because the lack of store lambs and the schedule. We like to keep a few through winter – usually around 500-600 head.

Waerenga:

Size/topography: The property is 730ha effective, of which 410ha is in deer fencing. There are also about 25ha of native bush. The topography is essentially an even split of easy, medium and steep land.

Climate/rainfall: Rainfall averages 1800mm annually and falls throughout the year. The climate is relatively forgiving, with moderate summers and generally mild winters.

Sheep numbers and policies: 2300 Landcorp Romney ewes, bought in as five-year-olds from other Oliver family farms. These are mated to Lamb Supreme rams and the resulting lambs are finished on the property. Up to another 2000 lambs may be bought in, if the season allows.

Beef numbers and policies: About 150 to 200 100kg Friesian bulls and up to 100 yearling-to-two-year-old steers – all bought in.

Deer numbers and policies: The hind mob at present totals 850 head, made up of 385 Reds and 465 hybrids. The herd is transitioning from a hybrid base to a Red base. All fawns are finished on the property.

Details of crops: 25ha of swede and kale as a winter crop; 21ha of straight plantain; 15ha of plantain and rape.

Stock numbers: Winters 10,000 stock units.

Bulls through one winter
The bulls are bought in spring as 100kg calves, purchased from two rearers and a couple of agents. These are grazed as mobs of 20-35 head in 1ha blocks and taken through one winter, before being processed at about 600kg liveweight by autumn.
We buy in steers when they’re available at the right price and as the season allows.

Deer herd transitioning to Red base
The deer herd was 100% hybrid, but we are just changing to Red at the moment. The hybrids are a bit later maturing and have low yearling conception rates at an average of 80%. We started the change over two years ago and we should get there within the next five years, aiming for 1000 head in our hind mob. We’re keeping replacements and buying in good Red hinds when they come up at a reasonable price.
The hinds are wintered on swede and kale and put back on grass before fawning in early November. The young stock are finished on pasture, processed at 100 to 110kg liveweight from early September. We don’t carry any store deer through a second winter.

Experimenting with crops
We’ve been experimenting with the crops during recent seasons. Instead of coming straight out of the winter crop of swede and kale into grass, we’ve been playing with crops that could follow on for a year or two. We have tried triticale, chicory and are now trying plantain and a mix of rape and plantain.

Grazing system
The bulls, ewes and hinds tend to stick to their own areas, with lambs, fawns and calves given priority and ewes and hinds used to clean up as required. Lambs graze “underneath” the bulls and also go in front of the hinds on pasture.

Why Farm^IQ?
With NAIT coming on stream, we thought “why not make full use of the information and kill data?”.
We’re monitoring growth rates throughout the year on different classes of land, breeds and sexes and crops – then using the information for planning our kill specs and filling contracts. It will be good to see what we learn and use that information well.

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