It’s a good example of the lengths Hugh and Sharon and their team at Otane will go to in order to protect the soils and ensure a sustainable cropping operation.
It’s one of the reasons why the mixed cropping farmers recently won the Silver Fern Farms Hawke’s Bay Farmer of the Year award for 2014.
Altogether they farm 2050ha in their family business.
There is a mix of intensive cropping to make the most of the flat country, and livestock finishing to optimise production from the hill country and the off-season grass between crops.
Cropping returns tip the scales at 60% of the business profit, with 40% from the winter lamb and beef finishing.
Of the crops 60% of the return comes from contracted process vegetables – the rest is from cereals.
The farm is run in two blocks 25km apart – the home block Drumpeel is 653ha and includes 340ha added last year right next door.
The second block is 1400ha at Horonui on the outskirts of the Heretaunga Plains near Pakipaki and includes a 100ha lease.
Hugh’s parents David and Sally and his two sisters Muff and Miranda are involved in the governance of the family farm.
‘Of the crops 60% of the return comes from contracted process vegetables – the rest is from cereals.’
Hugh says they have very good support from them to ensure they can grow the business: “It’s a really good team.”
This teamwork has enabled them, since 2000, to double the size of the land the family owns and manages.
“We’ve been very fortunate, starting with the bank,” Hugh says.
It was their banker, ANZ’s Adam Stoddart, who pushed them to enter the competition which they won on their first attempt.
They didn’t aim to win the competition and were very surprised on the night.
“We have been blown away by the well-wishers and support – it’s been pretty humbling, really.”
Team work wins out
The Ritchie family – back row: Megan, Hugh, Sharon and Sarah; front row: Hannah and David.
Hugh Ritchie did a bachelor’s degree in agriculture at Massey University – he says his father was happy to try innovative things on the farm, some of which worked and some which didn’t.
In 2000 he won a Nuffield scholarship, going overseas to look at irrigation management and minimum tillage.
“I have been very lucky being exposed to more people and new ideas through the scholarship.
"We have to keep on looking outside our own boundaries. I like to test ideas and I have an affinity with machines.”
When he came home he used the internet to pick up affordable second-hand strip tillage gear from the United Kingdom and the United States.
Just before he went on the scholarship the farm moved to irrigation.
“This gave us control over one factor and the confidence and comfort to try minimum tillage,” he says.
‘We have to keep on looking outside our own boundaries. I like to test ideas and I have an affinity with machines.’
They haven’t looked back and are focused on keeping their soils in good order.
The irrigation allowed them to grow high value process vegetable crops alongside standard cereals.
Now they have a mix of carrots, peas, beans, sweetcorn, and squash, and they are looking to grow beetroot in the future.
These vegetables are all contracted – the cereals are not, giving the arable operation more flexibility.
Onfarm storage and a drier lets them hold the arable crops of wheat, barley, maize, oats, and ryegrass for seed so they can be sold later. Maize silage is sold to local dairy farmers.
Now they irrigate 400ha using one fixed pivot, one linear irrigator, a towable pivot, and three hard hose machines.
They also use a lot of technology, including GPS for driving gear, and are starting to level out land to even up cropping slopes for irrigation.
Sharon and Hugh say their goal on the farm is to make sure the business can enable shareholders and future generations.
That’s why there is a long-term focus on sustainability, both financially and in looking after their soils.
For now, they are putting their heads down and trucking on.
Carrying on
Contracts and relationships are a big focus at Drumpeel Farms – the Ritchies try to create lasting relationships with suppliers and consumers.
“Working with customers and being flexible helps to give the inside running to get good contracts,” Hugh says.
He says they don't shop around each year. For example, they have used the same carriers, Stephenson Transport, since 1966.
