It wasn’t easy locating a farm with enough scale, suitable for deer and with deer infrastructure but they found it at Oparau, near the coast of Kawhia, just three days before the tender closed. It was a sheep and beef farm with no deer infrastructure except a 60ha ring deer fence but it had the scale they were looking for.
Shabor took over the property in June last year and the pair quickly set to work transforming part of the new farm into an operational deer unit.
Bob manages the velvet block while Steve moved to the farm at Oparau to oversee its development alongside son Chris and sheep and beef stock manager Rhys Hughes.
In his sixties, Steve admits it isn’t exactly what he had envisioned for this stage of his farming career. He said it had been difficult to create and run the company and not easy for two farmers accustomed to being sole operators to work in partnership.
It was important to keep communicating and consulting with each other and to take a step back occasionally to remind them of what they were trying to achieve – farm succession and a future for the deer industry. They meet monthly with their accountant to discuss progress and approve bill payments.
“I wouldn’t do it again. I would have elected to retire and let the kids fight over what is left,” Steve says.
“You can see why these company structures don’t work in the farming sector because farmers are individuals.”
The shareholding structure has a certain number of shares allocated for family members to buy in but any shareholding must be approved by the two directors, Steve and Bob.
This gives their children an opportunity to achieve some form of farm ownership.
Chris Borland has returned to New Zealand after 10 years overseas to help his father Steve develop the deer farm.
Farm facts
Deer farming partnership Shabor Ltd – owners
- 982ha (800 ha effective) at Oparau, an hour’s drive west of Te Awamutu and 27km inland from Kawhia Harbour
- Annual rainfall – 2000mm
- Altitude – 200-400m asl
- Currently running 550 Red breeding hinds, 100 first fawning hinds, 220 weaner hinds and 18 sire stags
- Developing a 200ha deer breeding block and breeding stags for the 193ha velvet block at Whakamaru
- 3700 self-shedding breeding ewes
- Building up beef cow herd
- Development will increase stock numbers from 6000 stock units to 10,000su
Future focus
Bob and wife Jackie Sharp have three children while Steve and Judy Borland have two.
Steve and Judy’s daughter and son-in-law Monique and Ross Moore own their own deer farm at Matamata. Buying into Shabor could be an option for them in future, funded either by selling the Matamata farm or borrowing against it.
- To read more go to Casting a wide net
