Friday, March 29, 2024

LambEx shows kiwis the future

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Home from the 2018 LambEx conference in Perth, Beef + Lamb New Zealand-sponsored sheep industry ambassadors Katey Craig and David Ingham are firing hot. The young generation farmers are excited to share their lessons with fellow farmers and looking forward to being a part of their home country hosting LambEx 2019.
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While in Australia the pair also visited several farms to study new systems on a road trip from Melbourne to Adelaide.

They shared sheep industry experiences and learnt from other LambEx ambassadors from Australia and America.

It was an unreal experience, an opportunity to learn and share so much, they said.

They found in some ways NZ is ahead but in others they learned a lot to can bring back to the sheep industry here.

With a thirst for knowledge and specific interest in technology Ingham is especially keen to advance the use of EID tagging in maternal mob selection.

“We visited a Merino farm running 10,000 ewes and here they had really embraced EID and were using it to get results. 

“In five years NZ may be heading down this path with the whole need to know where animals are, who’s moving what between farms, marketing ability and biosecurity.

“While we can relate to every individual animal on our farm, how long it has been here, what it has eaten – once it can be tracked through the chain at the works these future technologies will be a big turning point for NZ,” Ingham said.

A shepherd on the 9300 hectare Linnburn Station in Central Otago, Ingham’s skills and interest in technology and analysing production data are a key part of his job. 

He was also blown away at the LambEx attendance.

“It was quite mind-blowing to see 1000 farmers sit down in the same room together and that’s a real credit to the organisers in presenting such an interesting programme.”   

The advancing technologies aligned with some of the work Ingham has been involved with on Linnburn, where they have been establishing lucerne with novel cover crops such as sunflowers, sorghum and buckwheat and using the mixes for finishing stock.

With a real interest in agronomy, livestock nutrition and technology the unconventional crops have been fascinating, made more interesting by the fact all 10,000 ewes and hoggets on Linnburn have EID tags, which means they can analyse the impact the crops are having on growth rates and performance.

Ingham was also instrumental in getting the farm set up on FarmIQ and with such a large flock of recorded sheep the management team has been using the farm management software to its full potential.

“Part of the attraction of the job is the willingness of the owners and management team to challenge the status quo and try new management techniques and the (LambEx) experience has given me a lot more knowledge of what can be done,” he said.

Learning about new technologies and developments and gaining an understanding of the factors that will shape the future of the sheep industry both in NZ and overseas was the highlight of the trip for Craig, who has her own career path well mapped out.

Passionate about the sheep industry she grew up on her grandparents’ sheep and beef farm near Stratford and after leaving school went to Otiwhiti Training Farm as a cadet. 

“This was a good training ground that helped me develop the skills I need to progress through the industry.”

After graduation she was employed on the station as a shepherd when she won the honour of representing NZ at the World Young Shepherds competition in France in 2014.

At 25 years of age she is now a full time shearer earning the dollars she needs to sustain the running of the 200ha sheep and beef farm she leases at Te Popo in Taranaki.

Home from LambEx she is now also lambing the 1000 ewes she runs on the property, along with the 40 Hereford-Friesian weaner cattle she reared herself.

While she is 18 months into the three-year lease on the property she has a clear aspiration for farm ownership.

“I am hopeful in the next three years I will own my own property.

“I’m shearing as well as farming as that’s the best way to make money and give me capital to buy the stock and get the bank in behind,” Craig said.

What she learned in Australia will play a key part in how she plans to move ahead in her own business while also sharing her knowledge with the wider NZ sheep industry.

“All the farm visits, processing company and the conference were very inspiring and what we are doing here in NZ is the beginnings of where we can get too and it was a real opportunity to actually see what results can be gained through innovation and advancing technologies.

“While I am basic farming at this stage because I have to keep to a very tight budget, it’s where I want to be going and where the NZ sheep industry needs to be going so this was a real insight into how and where we can go.

“It really is quite an exciting future for the NZ sheep industry and I’m looking forward to being a part of that future.”

While it sounds like a juggling act keeping everything running, Craig takes it all in her stride.

“To fit it all in I do have to be organised as far as the farm and shearing is concerned but it’s what I love and it will all be worth it when I get my own property.”  

B+LNZ international trade manager Esther Guy-Meakin said the sheep industry ambassador programme is an important mechanism for building relationships with other industries.

“Strong relationships with farmers and industry leaders from NZ’s key trading partners are really important.

“We are really proud to have these two talented young farmers represent our sheep industry overseas.”

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