“The whole business is based on the efficiency of working together. There’s a diverse range of properties and soil types. Each farm was trying to do everything but not doing it as efficiently as we do now we are working as a team.”
Rob’s focus is strategy and growth while Mark manages the financial side of Spring Farms and all supply agreements. The third director, Mark’s brother Richard, takes the lead on production and managing three full-time staff.
In April, 2003, Mark and Richard’s parents retired to Taupo and the brothers went into partnership, farming four Chrystall family properties. Mark explains that with low debt levels, a desire to grow the business, and no obvious opportunity to expand locally the realisation dawned that they would have to think outside the square.
Rob was farming Ngata in the same district and Mark had worked for Rob for several years. In 2008, the decision was made to work together to set up Spring Farms.
Mark explains that one of the philosophies driving the shift has been a desire to separate the real estate side of the business from the trading component.
The stock and plant from the four Chrystall brothers’ farms and Ngata were sold to the new company in 2008. Spring Farms now leases those five farms, as well as Kawhatau, an 896ha breeding property which became available in 2009 and was added to the business.
Richard, Rob, and Mark manage the blocks they live on within the business. Mark farms 148ha at Tikirere on the Napier-Taihape Road, Rob runs 580ha Ngata with Brian Bird, and Richard is on 300ha at Marua.
Wayne Severinsen manages the Kawhatau block and Hugh Moore manages the 274 ha Opaea/Ngawaka blocks. In total, the business covers 2200ha (effective) and runs 21000su.
Spring Farms’ first season was challenging, with the 2007-8 drought making life tough. Mark says that all replacement ewe lambs were sold and a lot of cows were grazed off farm in an effort to survive the feed shortage.
“We used a lot of nitrogen in hill country, we had a high stocking rate, and we realised ‘This is just not sustainable’.”
'We have a philosophy of really wanting to be careful with the environment so we set a policy around the natural resources we’ve got – rather than trying to make the resource match the policy.
A blank-canvas approach to evaluating the assets available to Spring Farms saw the business shift to a new system.
All Class I land was targeted for cropping, using lucerne, chicory, plantain, red clover, brassicas and an area of fodder feet. Stock numbers have been dropped from 25,000su to 21,000su in an effort to ensure flexibility in pinch times.
This means all cattle and lambs can be finished within the business and Mark explains that the addition of Kawhatau provided further scale as breeding country.
“We have a philosophy of really wanting to be careful with the environment so we set a policy around the natural resources we’ve got – rather than trying to make the resource match the policy.”
These values are highlighted through the concentrated effort to graze cattle away from wet areas, steep hill country, and soils prone to pugging. Several gullies have been fenced and waterways protected.
There has been a move away from nitrogen use in hill country while the targeted use of deep-rooted species such as lucerne, chicory and red clover stands has acted as drought insurance.
Nearly all crops are direct-drilled by local contractors with either an Allen or Cross Slot drill. Mark is a great believer in direct-drilling and hasn’t used a plough or cultivator on Tikirere for eight years. Use of contractors is seen to be time and capital efficient.
“None of us really has diesel in our veins. Farming in the last 20 years has become very specialised in terms of gear and we can’t justify a $120,000 drill sitting in the shed.”
The focus on good practice extends to nutrient management, with Overseer used annually and annual soil testing. Every block is soil tested every two years.
Spring Farms’ 10,000 breeding ewes are all crossbred with a Romney base.
Mark is a great believer in crossbreeding and has been moving the flock towards a composite made up of half Romney, quarter Texel, and quarter East Friesian, using Motu Nui rams from Jason Le Grove near Masterton.
The introduction of a range of crops to the best land in the business has facilitated the establishment of a more efficient system.
Aerial cropping with a swede and kale mix on the steep Kawhatau block has been a breakthrough, with 40ha sown this way each year. A further 20ha of the same mix are aerially sown on Opaea. Mark says the results have been fantastic.
“With aerial cropping you’ve got to target moisture. Last year it worked well for us with a good spring, but when we were running 25,000su and we had a slow spring the crops were late and then you get behind.”
High-quality summer feeds have seen a shift from aiming to finish lambs before weaning to an early weaning system and finishing lambs on crop. Weaning is mostly early in December with Richard’s block, with Kawhatau weaning in January.
While yield is not a lot higher than grass, the weight gain advantage gives the red clover an edge, with an average lamb growth rate of 250g/day.
Ninety-five percent of lambs are sold prime off crops now, with last seasons’ lambs averaging 18.5kg carcaseweight, including hogget lambs.
Mark says that the lambs sold off crop are achieving higher yields than they were when sold at weaning and with a more even spread of weights. Lambs yield between 45-47%, with the first drafts by late in December.
By March this year, 87% of lambs had been drafted, which Mark says is becoming crucial in what was traditionally summer safe country but which now faces droughts.
The red clover is sown at 10kg/ha as a pure sward and hoggets are used strategically to control quality before it’s needed for lambs.
The oldest red clover crops in the business are three-years-old, with a target lifespan of 4-5 years. Annual flowering means some natural reseeding helps lifespan. Careful management over the winter extends the lifespan of the crop.
Ryegrass in red clover stands is treated as a weed because it is yield limiting. Mark says one of the key attractions of red clover over lucerne is that it offers more spray options to keep stands weed free.
“Lucerne is our lowest weight-gain feed for lambs but it has its place. It’s got the deepest root in a drought and it gives us flexibility because you can put it in a bale.”
Chicory has an important place in the Spring Farms system but even though it is a high weight-gain feed to rival red clover, it lasts for only two years.
