Kaiwera beef conversion showcased
A Kaiwera sheep farm has been converted into a sole beef farm carrying almost 4700 cattle. A recent field day held on the property showcased the conversion which took just a few months to complete. Diane Bishop reports.
Kaiwera farm manager Sam Woodford is pretty good at staying calm under pressure.
He’s had to be. At any one time he’s taken charge of up to 30 contractors who have helped convert a Kaiwera sheep farm into a sole beef property.
‘’It’s been a huge project, but we’ve just made things happen,’’ Woodford said.
The 1230 hectare hill country property, originally owned by Neil and Margaret Jackson, was bought by the NZ Super Fund in March this year and the investment is being managed by FarmRight. More than $1 million ($1250/ha) has been spent on the conversion which has included turning the covered sheep yards into cattle handling facilities.
One hundred kilometres of fencing has been erected, 35 paddocks have been subdivided into more than 200 paddocks and a new water system (mostly gravity fed) has been installed with troughs in every paddock.
The conversion started in March and by May most of the work had been completed, except for the cattle yards which were finished in early spring.
FarmRight investment manager Tony Cleland described the conversion as a ‘’win-win’’ for all parties.
‘’It’s one of the most exciting projects I’ve been involved with.’’
Cleland said there had also been a major environmental focus on the property with input from Environment Southland.
Not only had all the waterways and wet areas been fenced off, but about 90km of waterways had been retired.
‘’We’ve gone beyond what needed to be done, but it was important to take charge on this.’’
Woodford and his wife Renata look after the day-to-day running of the property which includes managing almost 4700 cattle, although this will reduce to about 2800 cattle over the winter.
This currently includes a mix of heifers, steers, bulls, carry-over cows and calves.
A major part of the business is the calf-rearing operation which includes rearing 1450 calves from three weeks of age while another 450 calves have been dam reared.
Most of the calves will be finished at around 20 months, before the second winter, and the rest finished at 30 months.
Some of the heifers would be mated and calved and then killed at around 30 months.
Cleland said it was important to do the cattle well and finish them early as it was costly to winter them a second year.
Heifers and steers were the preferred finishing option rather than bulls.
‘’We want to produce a premium product.,’’ Cleland said.
The calves will be supplied to the property from other NZ Super Fund dairy farms of which there are 12 in Southland.
‘’By keeping it in-house we will reduce the risk of disease,’’ Cleland said.