Trial hemp seed crops provide a taste of success
Technology and the environment are working hand in hand at Ludlow Farms in Central Hawke’s Bay. finds out more.
Arable crops have been grown on the White family’s Otane farm for almost four decades but there’s always room for the next generation to find a new addition.
Simon White has introduced hemp to the cropping regime at Ludlow Farms and the first threeyear trial period has proven so successful he’s increasing the size of the crop from three hectares to 10ha.
This will be the 34-year-old’s 10th season back on the 625ha family farm. It is described as mixed arable with sheep and beef – winter trade lambs and bull beef finishing – but its main business is cropping.
A range of different crops are grown – wheat, malting barley, cereals and processed vegetables, including sweet corn and peas for McCain, squash for the Japanese market and small seed crops such as grass, coriander, carrot and hemp.
The carrot seed, bound for France, is a 13-month crop, planted in February and harvested the following year.
‘‘Each crop has its pros and cons in terms of management but everything finds its own slot in the system,’’ he says. ’’We have planted for McCain for a long time. The peas are good – they fix nitrogen back into the ground and give a good grass crop afterwards.’’
Ludlow Farms has been New Zealand GAP certified for 12 years.
‘‘We have a range of crops grown under that certification. It comes down to good agricultural practice – we have to be sustainable, monitored and clean with no contamination. It’s all about food health and hygiene. That’s where things are heading in the world these days and we have to keep ahead of the game for the products we produce.’’
Hemp, planted in November and harvested mid to late summer, is still in the development phase. In partnership with Isaac Beach, the Whites have just finished a three-year project looking at how to grow it and are testing the market.
‘‘It’s not easy. It’s challenging because there are no chemical weed control measures. Birds are also an issue – they like the taste. You can lose your crop in a week if you’re not careful. That comes down to knowing when to harvest, knowing the optimum moisture levels.
‘‘The reason we produce good quality oil is Hawke’s Bay’s climate, which is preferable for this sort of crop. We have good peat and silt soils as well. Hemp loves heat and loves a little bit of moisture and nitrogen.’’
The result has been the successful launch of Kanapu Hemp Seed Oil with the potential for more products to come. The amount of land taken up by the hemp will expand from the 3ha trial crops to 10ha this coming season and he is considering bringing in outside growers to supply more seed.
The cold-pressed Kanapu oil contains a 1:3 ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6, has a ‘‘nutty flavour with a smooth texture’’ that holds well with red meats or seafood dishes and can also be used as a dietary supplement. Kanapu Hemp Foods already has arrangements with a dozen chefs in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne as well as Michelin three-star restaurants in Auckland and Taupo.
The farm attracts many visitors, especially from Japan and Korea.
It has also been visited by Wellington craft brewery the Garage Project as malting barley is another of the crops grown.
Simon’s great-greatgrandfather won a cup in 1890 for growing wheat in the area, not long after the nearby town of Otane was established.
The original 120ha Ludlow Farm was bought in 1960 by Eric and Tiny White, before being taken over by Neil and Gwen White, who won the Hawke’s Bay Farmer of the Year title in 1999.
‘‘Dad took over after Eric died early and proceeded to sell all the breeding ewes and put it straight into crops. He had a little bit of irrigation but nothing to the extent of now. That was 36 years ago. Our average crop yields are getting better and our soil organic matter has been increasing over time as well.’’
Ludlow Farms is now made up of a number of other blocks, including two bought since Simon has been home.
Simon and his wife Lou, who grew up on a farm in Wairarapa, lease the land from the family trust. They have three children – Millie, 4, George, 2, and Oscar, 1.
‘‘The children love being on the farm and the oldest two are always out on their bikes or riding their ponies. So many kids grow up on farms but aren’t encouraged to be part of farm life,’’ says Lou.
‘‘These guys feed their lambs and help look after their ponies and we also milk a cow. We have a little electric pump and share milk with her calf so she doesn’t have to be milked every day.’’
Simon’s brother Daniel is farming a similar property in Canterbury with his wife Tash and his sister Anna owns the nearby Paper Mulberry cafe.
‘‘We’re in the middle of succession conversations,’’ he says. ‘‘We’ve been having meetings since I came home to the farm. The main thing is for the farm to stay profitable to help them with any opportunities that arise, like Anna’s cafe, and to make a smooth ownership transition to the next generation.’’
Part of that profitability are two other income streams on the farm – beef and lamb.
The farm buys 4000-5000 winter trade lambs in autumn and they’re all gone by October when cropping starts.
‘‘They do a valuable job within the cropping programme,’’ Simon says.
‘‘The autumn grasses are grazed by the lambs and essentially put back into the ground. The lambs are also good for controlling grass seed crops at a certain height for when we shut them up about October 10. So they do a vital job for us and leave here weighing 20-23 kilograms [carcass weight].’’
About 400 rising one-year-old and rising-two-year-old friesian bulls are finished as the market and season allows.
‘‘We carry the bull beef on particularly Class 4 soil types where it’s free-draining. No bulls are on cropping ground. We kill half of them before their second winter at 18 months. The rest we carry through on a cell system on rotation and kill them the following spring at a target weight of 300-330kg on the hooks.’’
Simon says this season has been extremely challenging because of the wet conditions.
‘‘The ground can only take so much water. We’ve had to increase the rotation to mitigate possible damage to the soil. We ended up not buying as many bulls and also spread some of the lambs over the bull areas, especially the new permanent grasses. We’re almost at our annual 750 millimetre rainfall and there are still three and a half months of the year to go.’’
Two large dams store 120,000 cubic metres of water for summer use. The farm has two pivot irrigators – 520 metres and 315m.
‘‘Irrigation gives us certainty and quality and is better for the environment as it allows plants to take up the nutrients from the soil,’’ Simon says.
A large number of fenced riparian strips and drains are features of the farm, and all dams are fenced and planted as well.
The farm is under the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Tukituki Plan Change 6. With the help of the Foundation for Arable Research and Ballance Agri-Nutrients, the Whites have completed their farm environment management plan well before the May 2018 deadline.
‘‘At the end of the day it’s all about good farm practices. We have the technology to make that a simple process.’’
Many of the main crops have cover crops that are ‘‘melted down’’ into the ground.
‘‘They conserve soil, hold the moisture and give a blanket of grass. They help with evapotranspiration from the sun, feed the ground with organic matter and store the carbon in the ground.’’
Simon says his father has always been at the leading edge of technology available to arable farmers.Squash and sweet corn crops are strip-tilled and all other crops are direct-drilled.
‘‘We haven’t put a plough in the ground here for years. Dad was one of the first and I’ve done more as technology has become available – GPS guidance, yieldmonitoring and variable-rate fertiliser, irrigation and seeding.
‘‘We also manage paddocks in different zones, by way of EM mapping and yield data, which has huge environmental benefits. We have soil moisture probes under the irrigation and can prove no nutrients have been leached throughout the past few years of hot summers.
‘‘Farm nutrients are spread ourselves – we use spatial soil sampling in grids to get an indication of needs. For example, in one 26ha block the pH ranged from 5.2 to 6.4. We came in with a prescription map and spread lime only on the areas that were low. That’s a cost saving as well as environmental.’’
Simon says he is proud of what they do and is positive about the future of the farm.
‘‘I’m thrilled to be here – carrying on what Mum and Dad have done over the past few decades.’’