The South Canterbury couple took over in May 2013, not long after a family-based equity partnership bought the freehold and a former lease off the neighbouring farm.
The deal expanded The Kowhais from 350ha to nearly 650ha effective, giving Tom and Samantha licence for a series of deer-based improvements. Hind numbers have gone from zero to 850.
Lifting the deer breeding and finishing component boosted the financial performance of the whole farm, he said.
“The aim is to produce over 500kg of product per hectare and have an EBIT per kilogram of product of over $2 from a combination of sheep meat, wool, beef, velvet and venison.
“Obviously, venison and lamb are less efficient converters than beef but have a higher value so it’s all about the balance.”
His over-riding goal for the deer was increasing carcase weights at slaughter from 59kg into the mid 60s, targeting an average kill date of mid-November.
The deer industry’s South Canterbury/North Otago Advance Party had been watching the overhaul at The Kowhais with a keen eye, helping Macfarlane and his team to move from weaner finisher on a small scale to breeding and finishing on a much larger scale.
The farmer-led group was one of 25 around the country and Macfarlane and his team are regular contributors.
Party facilitator Justin Geary said Macfarlane had a strong data collection and analysis system that allowed the group to have detailed discussion about performance and challenged the expectations in the group, particularly with weaner growth rates.
In return, the party had offered The Kowhais advice from fodder beet management to practical steps to make weaning, weighing and drenching easier.
As part of the refurbishment, the farm added about 60km of new fencing in the past few years and overhauled pasture and crop rotations.
Much of The Kowhais was previously in high-endophyte ryegrasses or brown-top pastures. Macfarlane now maximised weaner growth rates on a host of specialist crops, like red clover, chicory clover and plantain, both under irrigated and dryland systems.
He had completed a significant amount of over-sowing on broken country with plantain and clovers to ensure hind performance was also nearing its potential.
The farm had also been making red clover silage for a high protein supplement to feed with fodder beet. It was exploring the opportunities of modern cocksfoot and fescues for drought tolerance and summer production while maintaining animal performance.
As a keen user of fodder beet, Macfarlane and the party had been monitoring liveweight gains to manage the risk of deer “tanking” with low levels of protein in the fodder beet.
Other party members had reported deer getting sick of it after 60 days of grazing, leading to a check on weight gain. But fodder beet worked well for The Kowhais, Macfarlane said.
Geary said fodder beet had proved its value on The Kowhais’ steeper faces where 15 tonnes of high-quality, direct-drilled feed was a significant improvement on the previous pasture-based system.
“Fodder beet is the big game changer on this property and more work is going into complementary feeding to reduce the instance of tanking at day 60-70 where it appears the weaners run out of protein,” he said.
In 2016 the farm bought 1000 weaners for finishing. Weaner supply was tight at the time and sale prices were high.
Around the time, the visiting party suggested Macfarlane increase his hind numbers to give a better balance to the external supply of weaners. Taking the advice on board, he increased breeding herd numbers to 770 hinds in 2016, with good venison production genetics.
This year numbers lifted again to meet the 850 head of mature breeding stock he had estimated The Kowhais could carry because of contour and country type balance.
He had bred a lot of his own replacements through AI and bought good-quality hinds to build up the herd, basing his genetics on 12-month weight BVs, which were indicative of good weaner growth rates.
The farm held its first in-calf hind sale in June, offering 550 pregnant mixed-age hinds that were surplus.
“We sold everything for an average of $665 a head and we will definitely be doing it again. Next time will be exciting as most of the breeding will be our own,” he said.
Some of the sale results indicated good demand for quality venison breeding hinds.
“I didn’t think the R2s would have been so highly priced. I will likely offer more R2s and R3s next time but this should suit our system anyway with breeding all hinds to red stags for replacements.”
Next time he might hold the sale a little later.
Some buyers said they might have needed stock but couldn’t be sure as they hadn’t scanned yet.
“I think it could be an option for people with smaller herds to buy in all their replacements as specifically bred hinds and terminal sire their whole herds to keep things simple.
“Eliminating a stock class and not having to grow out replacements in a summer dry environment could be an advantage for some farmers.”
The changes to the deer herd represented a significant shift on the farm, which only four years ago carried 2500 ewes, finished 3500 lambs, 300 R2 bulls, 500 R1 bulls and about 500 weaner deer.
Now, The Kowhais was brimming with 2100 weaner deer and 850 hinds, including pregnant R2s. It was also running 350 R2 cattle and 550 R1 cattle. The sheep contingent was down to a modest 500 ewes.
Macfarlane says the party’s input has been reassuring as the farm implemented its development, finishing and breeding and retention policies.
The party’s contribution had included advice on pastures and rotations and the best animal health regimes.
“There is a lot of experience around the table with our AP. The advice has been valuable on lots of small fronts rather than one big one.
“A lot is reassurance that you are on the right track and to carry on,” he said.
He saw the partuy as being important for the farm’s staff, none of whom had farmed deer before going to The Kowhais.
“I try and get them to as many meetings as possible and find it gives them perspective on our farm versus others. Staff are a big part of our operation so we need them to have buy-in to the system and be progressive with us. We’re lucky to have young motivated staff who are keen to learn and adapt.”
