Understanding own farm is crucial

2010 New Zealand Herefords Herd of Excellence winners Robyn and Gray Pannett (right), with...
2010 New Zealand Herefords Herd of Excellence winners Robyn and Gray Pannett (right), with Australian Hereford breeder Richard Ogilvie during a recent field day at Millers Flat.
When it comes to breeding Hereford cattle, Millers Flat farmer Gray Pannett has a fairly simple philosophy - "I just want to breed as good a Hereford that I can breed, that makes money for my client."

Mr Pannett and his wife, Robyn, won the 2010 New Zealand Herefords Herd of Excellence award and a field day, organised by the Beef and Lamb New Zealand Central South Island Farmer Council, in conjunction with New Zealand Herefords, was held recently at their property, Limehills.

Herd of Excellence is a holistic award established to identify a breeder who, through focused breeding objectives and farm management, has achieved the highest standard with Hereford cattle and their total farming enterprise.

The panel of judges took into account farming with the resources available, the environment, contribution to the community, performance recording and overall farm performance.

New Zealand Hereford Association representative David Morrow said the environment at Limehills could be challenging but the Pannetts made use of their different types of country.

In their stud operation, they had identified their target market - hill and high-country herds - and used the tools available to meet targets.

The net return they achieved in the three years before judging was excellent and "blew the lights" out of the competition's two North Island judges, Mr Morrow said.

Mated heifers at Limehills viewed during a field day there. Photos by Sally Rae.
Mated heifers at Limehills viewed during a field day there. Photos by Sally Rae.
Mr Pannett said the couple found the Herd of Excellence process interesting and worthwhile and it made them "examine what you're doing and why you're doing it".

The Pannett family arrived in the area in 1907. Gray Pannett's great-grandfather farmed Hill Springs Station but lost most of it after World War 1 when it was compulsorily acquired for returned servicemen settlements.

From the 640ha that remained, the family gradually acquired land and today, both Gray Pannett and his brother, John, each farm nearly 3000ha.

Gray Pannett has been home on the farm since 1979. Gray and John initially farmed in partnership with their father, Tom, and later with each other.

Gray and Robyn have been farming in their own right for eight years. Mrs Pannett works as practice manager of Roxburgh Medical Services and the couple have two daughters, Madison and Evie.

The Pannetts have had 30 years of successful bull sales and topped the sale of bulls at the Beef Expo in Feilding in 2008, selling a sire for $40,000.

The property ranges from 100m to 1000m, from irrigated flats to native tussock, with 800ha of native tussock used only for summer grazing. They have a farm at Edievale, about 25 minutes away.

Climate provided significant challenges with hot, dry summers and cold winters. Those challenges were overcome by having the right stocking rates and classes of stock.

Mr Pannett said it had been a freakish and fantastic season, having gone from "nothing to something" in 12 months.

Their philosophy has always been to run stud cows as commercially as possible year-round. His attitude to the stud cows was that they were "just a mob of cows" and any decision made in the breeding programme was with a commercial focus.

"I don't believe we breed bulls. We breed cows that produce bulls that people want to use. I just want to breed as good a Hereford that I can breed, that makes money for my client."

They aimed to use cattle to enhance the overall profitability of the farm by grooming pastures for sheep on autumn rotation and cleaning up behind ewes in winter. Higher sheep performance came out of the higher cattle ratio.

Mr Pannett enjoyed trying to get the most out of the farm, saying it was not about big "100%" changes, but 3% ones.

While people that traded farms thought they were making money, he believed that only after 10 years on a farm did you understand the strengths and weaknesses, "and that's when you make money".

He encouraged those attending the field day to examine their own property and its strengths and weaknesses.

Keynote speaker Richard Ogilvie came from a farming enterprise in South Australia that has grown from 400ha of undeveloped country in 1947 to a family business that encompasses 19,000ha of owned land and 6475ha of leased land, along with two feedlots.

Mr Ogilvie, who is on the board of Herefords Australia, said he and his brothers had been "just lucky enough" that their father gave them a good start by buying a lot of undeveloped country and had four boys to develop it when they came home from school.

The cattle operation consisted of a breeding herd of 5000 cows, an elite herd of 500 females and a stud herd comprising 100 cows.

The Spotshill Poll Hereford stud was established five years ago and held its first sale last year, averaging $3780 for a total clearance of 40 bulls. With only 100 stud cows, he did not have 40 bulls, so bought in and on-sold some bulls.

It was fortunate for him that there had been a lot of dispersal sales in Australia - largely due to generational changes - and he had been able to buy some good cow and calf units.

For 21 years, the Ogilvies supplied Coles supermarkets and, instead of getting easier, it was getting harder, and they had changed to Woolworths.

With beef in Australia moving from an over-supply to a sellers market, Mr Ogilvie was setting the price for his cattle instead of being told the price.

With the impending introduction of the national animal identification and tracing (NAIT) system in New Zealand, Mr Ogilvie was asked about animal identification in Australia.

All Australian cattle now had to have a national livestock identification system (NLIS) device, which, for his operation, was "a nightmare", but it was a good way of keeping traceability "without a doubt".

It was not terribly expensive and the system seemed to run "pretty smoothly", although a lot of stock agents did not support it because it was extra work for them.

Asked about succession planning, Mr Ogilvie said that while it was not necessarily politically correct, money was put away to educate the girls so they had the the ability to earn as much money off-farm as their brothers who stayed on the farm earned.

Any boy who did not want to be on the farm got a university education, which gave him an opportunity to earn as much as his brother or cousin.

They started handing over land when a boy turned 18, which their father had done, which "worked well for us".



Key success factors
• Controlling costs.
• Managing grass - keep it green, feed it with fertiliser.
• Listen to science.
• Find a system that suits your farm - each is different.
• A higher cattle ratio is a key to top sheep performance.
• The crossbreeding system - individual breeds have improved markedly over the years, but using hybrid vigour and having a high proportion to the terminal sire give extra gain.
• Irrigation and the Edievale block are irreplaceable. Even a small amount of irrigation allows this property to avoid a lot of the impacts of dry periods.



 

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