Runholder shows how it’s done

Press, 9 March 1984, Page 20

Runholder shows how it’s done

Intensive subdivision of his Maheno, North Otago high country property, Mt Stalker, has raised stocking from 4600 to 21,000 in seven years, Mr Peter Walton told the Annual High Country Field Day at Tara Hills.

Mr Walton had the honour of presenting the only paper to be given by a farmer at the field day, which was organised and presented mainly by MA.F. personnel from the Research and Advisory Services divisions. When he presented his facts and figures it was plain to see what made him attractive to the organisers, who were stressing high country development throughout the day. He called his address, delivered three times during the day surrounded by cloud on the top of Tara Hills, “Utilise to Survive.”

Other speakers in the section entitled “Better use of Improved Tussock Country” were a Tara Hills scientist, Mr Bruce Allen, and an MAT. Timaru farm advisor, Mr Bruce Binne.

Mr Walton said that better utilisation through concentration on subdivision, stock, staff and control would result in increased animal production which, in many cases, was essential for survival.

“With the completion of

the Land Development Encouragement Loans and the Livestock Incentive Scheme, the need to service capital, maintain stock performance and numbers is something which concerns a lot of runholders.”

Other high country farmers may be motivated by a need to combat everincreasing costs, to improve ease of management or for personal satisfaction.

Mr Walton has embarked on a system of subdivision which, he said, has had a very dramatic effect on his property. “We get rid of the rubbish, clean up the country and start filling in the bare ground with pasture, largely clover dominant.

“We move large mobs of ewes, up to 11,000, on to as little as 12 hectares and we do this with fencing, all of which is five-wire electric. “We take down fences which range from two to six years old, relocate and turn them into two new fences. The gateways are six metres wide and access lanes up to 300 m wide.”

Because there is an initial

downturn as sheep adjust to being moved, Mr Walton suggests farmers keep to a regular pattern. He also points out that there is a need to take off “poor doers” and supplementary feed or set stock them on a special block. With good subdivision, Mr Walton believes control of blocks can be closely monitored to avoid depletion of ground cover, yet utilise the majority of material grown. Although there is no need for musterers, he says there is a need for shepherds with stockmanship, a good temperament and a few wellcontrolled dogs. He characterised musterers as people who stand on tops of hills and whistle to their dogs until sheep have driven themselves onto fences. Shepherds have a better feel for their work and must be prepared to understand electric fencing, he maintained.

Something like the proposed Ruataniwha Farm Training Institute was going to be needed to train the large numbers of stockmen required in the future if

high country farms developed more rapidly than they had in the past. By very closely monitoring the nutrient status of his paddocks, Mr Walton had been able to reduce levels of fertiliser application from 250 to 325 down to 50 to 105 kg per hectare per year and the saving has enabled even more development and fencing.

Mt Stalker has about 6500 ha effective, ranges in altitude from 500 m to 1155 m and has an 800 mm rainfall. Mr Walton said subdivision had reduced paddock size down to as little as 12 ha, but he still had more land at 200 ha and even 800 ha, although he left the distinct impression with his listeners that these large blocks would not remain for long in their present state. When he started developing the property seven years ago he had. a stock target of 20,000 units. Now that target has been reached he thinks 30,000 units are achievable. Mr Binne followed Mr Walton with practical advice to high country

farmers in how to get started with intensification of production on improved tussock country. His controlled and rotational grazing message was essentially' that presented to lowland farmers for many years. Improved pasture required hard grazing, usually during the winter, tq maintain improvements, he said. Then controlled grazing during spring and summer was required so as the ground that was gained during winter was not lost again.

On an area which was suitable for wintering stock and permanently subdivided into 10 to 20 blocks hoggets could either be grazed hard during the whole of the winter or ewes during part of the winter. But doing the job with ewes brought the advantage of a faster development job because they could be grazed harder without sacrificing production. Fences lines were determined by run relief and there was no ideal block size. Grazing density was clearly dictated by both mob size and block size and fencing had to be planned with future management in mind. Areas of the farm could be progressively brought into the new system.

In the meantime the farm could be managed under the principle: manage the developed area under the new management for as long as it allows and then revert to the previous systems until it is time for the new area to be grazed again. “Under sequential management of parts of the farm the impact on total farm profit may be slow at first, but as increasing proportions of the farm are brought in, a flywheel effect will develop with physical development and economic gains becoming faster and faster,” he said.