Saturday, March 30, 2024

Strong performers on South Canterbury hills

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When your cull ewe lambs are sought after as breeding stock, you know you must be doing something right. Richard Patterson has been selling his cull Perendale ewe lambs to repeat buyers for several years, reflecting the quality of the stock produced on the South Canterbury hill-country farm he runs with his wife, Anne. Something of a micro-climate exists on their 986ha (886ha effective) on the Hunter Hills near Cannington. An alignment of weather and topography means cloud hangs around the hills, protecting the farm from hot summer temperatures. While this may have an advantage with feed supply (not necessarily quality), Richard and Anne point out that stock need to be able to tolerate dull days, a damp climate and mixed terrain.
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The Perendales have proven their worth on White Rock for over 40 years. Richard first came across Perendales when he was at Telford House in the 1970s. He persuaded his father and brother Graham to change genetics from the Romney Halfbreds they were running and they began by buying Perendale rams and breeding their way to pure-breds.

They bought those rams from David Ruddenklau from Newhaven Perendales (who was also at Telford with Richard), and have stuck with the stud since.

This has meant the Pattersons’ commercial flock has progressed in parallel with the stud’s progress; and fertility, wool weights and carcase yields have all increased exponentially over the years.

Richard says he like the Perendales’ ability to move freely, especially on their hill country that climbs to over 900m.

Farm Facts: 

  • White Rock
  • Cannington
  • Richard and Anne Patterson
  • 986ha-886ha effective.
  • Winters: 3600 Perendale ewes, 1000 replacements, 350 coloured ewes and replacements, 200 breeding cows and their progeny.
  • Lambing 130%
  • Lambs finished to 16kg CW

While the damp climate is a challenge – it can get really wet in winter – one of the strengths of the farm is the balance of country that runs from high country to stony river flats.

It also has good tracks which makes stock movement and feed utilisation so much easier.

Richard says that when they first bought White Rock early in the 1970s the farm was covered in gorse. The family made use of the development subsidies available at the time and through a programme of burning and, three years later, spraying, the gorse has been eliminated.

In 2000-2005 Richard and Anne undertook a hill-country development programme, double spraying blocks and over-sowing with rape, Italian ryegrass and red and white clover.

Richard says a primary aim of this development was to provide quality feed for the two-tooths over summer and therefore lift the productivity of these ewes. This had a spin-off effect for the rest of flock.

The couple don’t mate hoggets as they are a safety valve in their system. After being wintered on kale feed crops the ewe lambs are run on to the steeper hill country over spring and therefore are not competing for feed with lactating ewes. The aim is to have the hoggets weighing an average 40kg by the end of winter and 55-60kg by the time they go to the ram around April 20.

The ram goes out to the mixed-age ewes for a month and after the first cycle a terminal sire is put out as a follow-up.

The ewes are all-grass wintered, but some balage was fed this year due to an unusually dry autumn reducing pasture covers. 

Snow hits farm hard 

Being at altitude the farm was hit hard by snow in the June storm, but sound weather forecasting combined with the free-moving nature of the Perendales meant there were no apparent losses.

Richard was congratulatory of the Met service for its forecasting because it allowed them to shift both ewes and breeding cows to more sheltered blocks.

Wind meant the snow built into 2m drifts, but also left clear patches. The ewes managed to stay together and find these clear areas. The nor’west winds that followed the storm quickly cleared the snow so no raking was needed.

The ewes are scanned 85 days after the ram goes out, then spend the rest of winter on the easier country before set-stocking for lambing over the first 10 days of September.

Richard jokes that the breeding cows are more intensely shepherded than the ewes, and while he and Anne go round the lambing ewes once a day, they rarely intervene. Cast ewes can be a problem, so the ewes are on an eight-month shearing pattern which means a proportion of old ewes are pre-lamb shorn, mitigating the problem.

Weaning takes place early in January and while they normally get 25%-30% of the lambs sold prime off mum, this year it was a disappointing 15%. Richard believes this was possibly due to a growthy season suppressing clover. He firmly believes legumes are critical to growing lambs.

“The main aim is to get as many lambs away as possible at weaning.

“They are your cheapest lambs to produce and getting them away means there is more feed available for remaining stock.”

Richard has been sowing AberDart and is finding the high sugar grass to be particularly clover friendly as well as being a good-quality pasture that stock do well on.

Wallabies are a huge problem on White Rock. About 300 of the pests are shot every year.

The development of the farm and subsequent increase in fertility has benefited stock, but it has also benefited wallabies, a costly pest in the district.

Each wallaby eats the equivalent of what one ewe would eat, and pollutes a lot of ground with faeces comprising lumps of undigested grass. They also love winter feed crops and what they don’t eat they smash with their tails.

Richard says wallaby control is a big expense and comes close to their rates bill. They shoot between 250 and 300 on White Rock every year, which is only a proportion of the numbers coming and going.

Richard and farm staff do regular night shoots and also allow recreational shooters, provided they kill rather than scare off the wallabies.

Richard’s real concern is their spread and while they have been contained within a small area of South Canterbury, their numbers have been building and they are now spreading across the Aviemore dam.

“If they get into Dansey’s Pass they would be very difficult to access and control.”

In the past wallaby numbers have been controlled by drops of 1080, but its use has become unpopular. Richard is pinning his hopes on the efficacy of Feratox, a poison that has virtually wiped out possums in the district.

He is full of praise for the Animal Health Board and the work it has done in eradicating possums and the associated risk of Tb.

It was while using Feratox to control possums that it became apparent that it also killed wallabies, so Richard is hoping farmers will take the opportunity to get a licence to use the poison.

“We’ve got to stop the spread and keep them contained in this area.”

Richard is on the liaison committee with the regional council which is putting control strategies in place.

As White Rock lies next to a native bush reserve, pigs are also a problem and in a bad year can account for 7-10% of the single lambs.

Richard suspects pigs have been released in the district by recreational hunters who probably don’t appreciate the carnage wild pigs can do.

Running in the front paddocks of White Rock is a mob of coloured sheep which are Anne’s enterprise.

She runs 350 black and coloured ewes plus their progeny and sells their 33 to 36-micron wool for $8-$10/kg to the spinning wool and handcraft market.

Anne does point out the fleeces need to be specially prepared for that market so while they make good money, they take a lot more time and effort to prepare.

The damp weather does compromise wool weight (they clip 5-6kg) and can affect quality, so Anne will card out parts of the fleece that are muddy or weather damaged.

The black ewes are a Perendale and Perendale Romney cross which under Anne’s careful management lamb 175%. Sourcing black rams can be struggle and means she is buying from all over the country to get the style of ram she likes.

Anne says she really likes the Perendale wool because it is bulky and lighter to use.

Skirtings, bellies and pieces are sold to a wool buyer.

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