Medal winner’s diverse farm enterprise

Press, 9 June 1978, Page 14

Medal winner’s diverse farm enterprise

Sheep, cattle, deer, thoroughbred horses, crops and trees all have a place on the Aroha Downs property of Mr John Austin in the View Hill district of Oxford county. This week he received an A. C. Cameron memorial gold medal at the annual conference of the New Zealand Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs.

These medals go annually to an outstanding farmer in each island who is under 45 years of age and who is, or has been, a member of the Young Farmers’ Club movement. In the 1960 s the emphasis on the 521 ha (1304 acre) property was on increasing stock numbers associated with development. Since then it has been on raising per head performance of stock and increased efficiency and cost saving and diversification. Tbe success of this policy is strikingly reflected in the fact that although stock carrying capacity has not increased since the early 19705, gross returns have more than doubled. Following in the footsteps of a number of men in central Canterbury who have won this coveted award, Mr Austin, who is 37 years old and married with a daughter and two sons, was born when his father, Mr C. L. Austin, was farming a property in the Staveley district in Mid-Canterbury. Out of Christs’ College, where he was a member of the Young Farmers’ Club,

John worked on the stud sheep property of the late Mr Frank Chittock at Lincoln for two years before in the early 1960 s returning to the property at View Hill which his father had purchased in 1956 following the sale of the Staveley farm. Aroha Downs was undeveloped when it was taken over carrying about 1400 ewes and 600 hoggets. It is about 13km (eight miles) from Oxford and 59km (37 miles) from Christchurch. At the homestead it is at an altitude of 354 m (1150 ft and is mainly arable with about 60 ha (150 acres) of hill and includes a range of soil types — Ruapuna stony silt loam, Springburn silt loam and Kakahu hill soil. Annual rainfall is about 875 mm (35in) to 925 mm (37in). Initial development was by the time honoured courses of subdivision, drainage and fertiliser with accompanying stock increases. At first it was done out of income and then in 1966 a loan from the Rural Bank gave added impetus to progress. As already mentioned, by the early 1970 s carrying capacity had reached a level that has not changed much since. Today the property carries 3200 Border-Romney and Romney ewes, 1500 ewe hoggets, 130 Charolais cross and Angus breeding cows and 120 other cattle, 20 hinds, 18 fawns and a stag, and some 24 ha (60 acres) are sown to wheat, 4 ha (10 acres) to 6 ha (15 acres) to barley, and 12 ha (30 acres) to 16 ha (40 acres) to oats. And since the mid 1960 s about 35,000 trees have been planted in both shelter belts and woodlots on waste ground, such as damp gulleys. Only about a year after returning to his father’s property in the early 1960 s John was taken into partnership and two years later assumed responsibility for management. He regards himself as fortunate in being given this responsibility 7 when so young. Mention has been made of the fact that in recent years the emphasis has been on improving per head performance and greater efficiency and cost saving, together with diversification. Mr Austin notes here that while there is clearly a place for something like the livestock incentive

scheme to encourage increases in stock numbers, the sort of production increases that they have recorded of late are of equal value to the nation though not represented in extra stock numbers and have been obtained without the same sort of help. One of the factors involved in improved stock performance has been Mr Austin’s interest in all grass wintering — he was one of the first in this field. At first he tried mob stocking or rotational grazing and some set stocking also, and has now settled for set stocking with the ewe flock being distributed in about 25 mobs at about 20 to the hectare (eight to the acre), according to expected lambing date, and last winter big round bales were dropped in each paddock and self fed with little wastage in spite of the extremely wet conditions. The ewes remain in these mobs from about mid May until the beginning of August. The reason why this course has been adopted is that the sheep are much more settled and are not

subjected to a fluctuating feed supply and the competitive pressure of eating as much as they can when moved on to another block every few days; Because of this it is felt that for the same amount of feed intake the per head performance of stock has improved. It has been Mr Austin’s experience that there is also less poaching of pastures, pastures perform as well as under mob stocking and there is a lower labour input with the need to regularly shift stock being done away with. Some 15 per cent of the farm, which is not used in the set stocking, is shut up for use in the early spring. The all-grass wintering has been one of the factors in an improvement in both the quality and quantity of wool, with the clip per head of adult ewes being now about 10.6 lb. Lambing percentage is about 118 and Mr Austin says that the flock has also benefited from his membership for three years of the New Zealand Romney Development Group, which involved screening of the flock for higher performing sheep and emphasis on twinning and easy care. Along with this, performerance has also been improved by higher fertility conditions associated with greater stock numbers and also increasing provision of shelter. Also for eight or nine days rams with a harness are put out with the ewe hoggets and last year 450 were mated ind this year, apparently associated with the drought conditions, only 280. It has been found that it is mainly the larger young sheep that get in lamb. They are given some preference as far as feed is concerned and are drenched before lambing and again after weaning. The lambs obtained this way are looked on as something of a bonus. Although Aroha Downs is now highly diversified, Mr Austin still regards the sheep flock as the base of the farm and says that it will remain so. He looks on the sheep producing both wool and meat as a relatively efficient animal, deriving its energy from sunshine and grass and he sees a future for wool in a world where its synthetic competitor, with an oil by-product base, faces a

problem of growing scarcity and greater cost of this element. Mr Austin sees advantages in diversification, however, in not being committed to one form of production, which might become subject to processing problems or seasonal problems like the weather, and there is also the benefit of a better spread of returns and the advantage, with a crop of oats, for instance, in being able to convert it into hay in a poor season for feed or thresh it for grain which can be sold in a better season. Mr Austin was also early on the scene in taking an active interest in exotic cattle. Back in 1968 he began inseminating Angus cows with Charolais semen and he set up a separate company, the Aroha Downs Cattle Company, to handle the exotic cattle side, with an English shareholder with knowledge of the cattle there and also able to offer valuable advice and guidance in the early stages. There are now some 15 imported Charolais and Simmental cattle on his property and he has over the years exported a lot of stock to Australia. He says that he went into exotic cattle with the aim of raising the efficiency of his beef nerd and after travelling overseas to look at the role of the

Charolais and Simmental he decided to carry on with them. He says he feels that when confidence returns again in beef cattle that a lot more crossbreeding will be seen, still using Angus and Hereford dams but with the Charolais in particular and the Simmental being used as terminal sires. In the hill country, in particular, he sees that the smaller Angus and Hereford dams will maintain their position, because a dam of only moderate size is desirable in such circumstances because of wintering costs, but he says that when crossed with the exotics the progeny have the advantages of growth rate, cutability and leanness and increased profitability. This was something that had been well proved overseas and from their experience it also applied here with 18 months Charolais cross steers earning a premium of $25 to $4O over straight bred cattle of similar age. These sires would not have been used so widely overseas if there was nothing in it. He believes that New Zealand cattle men have just been a little slow in catching up. However, he believes that the message has got through to grass roots level and there is now a demand for commercial bulls. Incidentally, Mr Austin believes that New 7 Zealand may develop a distinctive strain of Charolais and Simmental for its conditions, hence the virtue of breeding up and selecting over several generations in comparison with importing purebreds. Mr Austin, who has not long given up the presidency of the New Zealand Charolais Cattle Society after three years in office, described as ridiculous the prejudice which has existed against the meat of the exotics, and says that factors of far greater importance in this respect are how they are fed, ageing and conditioning after slaughter and how the housewife cooks the beef. Happily he believes that the prejudice is now breaking down. One thing about the introduction of the exotic breeds to New Zealand that he has not been too happy about has been the interest of people outside the industry in them as a means of making quick money, which has also

pushed prices to unreal levels. About 15 months ago Mr Austin embarked on deer farming in a small way after seeing these animals reared in captivity on some of the larger properties and the excellent results that they were giving in these circumstances. He now has 6 ha fenced off and is running 20 hinds, 18 fawns and a stag. He is about to fence more country for deer and eventually may take in 120 ha (30 acres) and run between 700 and 1000. He is enthusiastic about them. He says that they appear to be efficient grazers and seem to have a reasonably low winter feed requirement. The fawns also seem to grow exceptionally well. And with fawning or calving occuring in December, he says that this fits nicely into management and labour inputs look to be low. As with sheep he likes their two product type of production. As an alternative to lamb and beef he believes that their lean type of meat must have a future, and while some believe that the present demand for velvets is a flash in the pan, he says that Asian peoples have long had a belief in this product. Mr Austin and his wife are involved in a small thoroughbred breeding project. He says that it is a hobby and an offshoot

of their interest in racing. John is a member of both the committee of the Canterbury Jockey Club and also the North Canterbury Racing Club. They like the sport as it brings them in touch with a wide cross section of people, quite a few outside farming. New Zealand, he says, has an ideal temperate climate for breeding and with modern jet transport there is a growing export trade in these animals, the ultimate test of which is their performance on the racing track. Initially the property was very poorly served for shelter but now Mr Austin expects that in two or three years time there will be some shelter in every paddock on the property. There are now some five woodlots. Waste areas have been planted for timber with the aid of farm forestry loans and this year some 5000 posts were ob’ tained from radiata thinnings, some of which are being used in the deer fencing programme with a considerable saving in costs being shown. It is expected that more posts for this programme will be recovered next year. Some six to seven miles of shelter belts have also been planted, which have been valuable in both regard to stock and pasture performance and have resulted in the saving of the lives of many lambs during cold snaps. In all, since the mid 1960 s some 35,000 trees have been planted and attention has been given to beautification in the plan-

ting, too, with varieties being used to enhance the surroundings. For timber radiata and oregons have been grown, for shelter radiata, Cedrus deodar, red cedar and arizonicas, and for beautification sycamores, oaks, elms and eucalypts. The judges for the medal award, commended, among other things, Mr Austin’s financial and business ability. He says that the fact that his father has been in business has possibly been a factor in this, but he notes that today a farm represents a large asset and is a large business. He uses a cash flow budget and also about three months before the end of the year, when most of the income has come in and it is possible to estimate what over-all costs will also be, he also has a trial balance done so that decisions can still be taken before the end of the year bearing in mind tax incentives and depreciation allowances on machinery. He uses the inc o m e equalisation scheme, but only to a limited extent. He is a great believer in mutual confidence between those with whom he works l.i the area of finance, and therefore believes in rasping a close liaison with his seasonal financier and accountant. Mr Austin’s wife, Elizabeth, plays an important role on the financial side, keeping the cash book and she also keeps stock records and does a considerable amount of typing, particularly in connection with the exotic cattle enterprise. She took courses both in typing and book-keeping at Darfield High School, and spends about eight to 10 hours a week in supporting in this way her husband, who says that he could not have achieved what he had without her. He is also very con» sicous of the big build-up in farm equity these days and the vital need for estate planning to avoid the next generation being placed in a position of difficulty and to that end he has been active in setting up structures to handle this situation. Because New Zealand agriculture provides basic needs of people and works in an ideal environment, he sees a good future 'or farming provided the various sections of the com munity pull together, but if selfish interests override the national good he believes that every New Zealander will suffer. He was glad to see the generous support given to the industry in the Budget, but is fearful lest the confidence that is engendered in the short term is not won at a cost of long term Government control of the industry because of the State’s involvement. To the young farmer he says that his advice is to plan carefully, obtain good financial advice, be prepared to look for and adopt new innovati.> is and work hard. A former chairman of the Oxford branch of Federated Farmers for two years and a member of the North Canterbury pro" vincial executive for that period, Mr Austin also represented the branch for six years on the provincial meat and wool executive.