Fork Farm unit 'perfect balance'

Dry hoggets on display at the field day on the farm of Phill Hunt and Lizzie Carruthers near...
Dry hoggets on display at the field day on the farm of Phill Hunt and Lizzie Carruthers near Wanaka on Friday.
When the judges of the New Zealand ewe hogget competition visited Fork Farm, they decided they had found the "perfect balance" in their search for a well-rounded production unit.

Phill Hunt and Lizzie Carruthers were the overall winners of the competition, having also won the Romney breed section. They hosted a field day at their farm at Maungawera, near Wanaka, on Friday.

The couple said they felt privileged to have won the award. It was an excellent competition to be involved with and they encouraged others to consider "having a crack at it", as it was a great learning opportunity, Mr Hunt said.

Entries for the 2012 competition close on March 21, with a presentation dinner on May 24. More than $20,000 in prizes are on offer.

New Zealand ewe hogget competition winners Phill Hunt and Lizzie Carruthers. Photos by Sally Rae.
New Zealand ewe hogget competition winners Phill Hunt and Lizzie Carruthers. Photos by Sally Rae.
It still felt "a bit unreal" that they had won the competition as there were many great sheep in the country, he said.

Teamwork was a major factor in the couple's success, with Ms Carruthers doing the stock work, while her husband looked after the tractor work and book work.

Mr Hunt paid tribute to his wife's "incredible stock management", saying she deserved any accolades given, and he also thanked everyone involved with the farming operation.

"We are only a small part of the team that makes the property work," he said.

Fork Farm, originally part of Wanaka Station, was farmed at the turn of the 20th century by the Kingan family.

Rabobank specialist analyst Rebecca Redmond discusses the outlook for sheep meat during a scenic...
Rabobank specialist analyst Rebecca Redmond discusses the outlook for sheep meat during a scenic lunch stop to view the Mt Burke development.
It was then owned by the Gawn family, before Mr Hunt's grandfather bought it in 1928, and Phill Hunt bought the 474ha property from his parents in 1989. He and Ms Carruthers got married in 1993 and have two daughters, Hillary (11) and Fiona (6).

It was predominantly a cropping and stud stock property until the late 1970s, when commercial livestock took over as the major income source.

Their farming operation is now about 80% sheep - their genetics were originally from Murray Rohloff at Tuturau and latterly from Andrew Tripp at Nithdale Station, who bought Mr Rohloff's Romneys - 12% deer and 8% beef cattle.

Their aim was to produce an easy-care, high-performing sheep that suited the harsh dryland environment with minimal input.

Hillary (11) and Fiona Hunt (6) with pet lamb Benny.
Hillary (11) and Fiona Hunt (6) with pet lamb Benny.
The national judges of the ewe hogget competition, Len French (Masterton), Andrew Craw (Banks Peninsula) and Andrew Mackie (Invercargill), travelled 3500km visiting the properties of the 23 finalists.

The competition, which attracted more than 250 entries, was an important part of the sheep industry. Hoggets were the seed stock of farmers and an indication of both progress and future performance, Mr Craw said.

Entering the competition provided an opportunity to benchmark against others. Self-analysis was part of the process, with entrants having to identify their goals and objectives and the reasons for what they were doing.

The standard was very high and judging was difficult. Everywhere the judges went, the enthusiasm and commitment to the sheep industry was exciting.

Mr Hunt and Ms Carruthers had developed a flock of "magnificent" sheep that were still true to the breed, Mr Craw said.

Mr Hunt believed the sheep industry held great potential for production gains, especially in terms of hogget lambing and lamb survival rates, particularly of triplets.

It was a variable climate at Maungawera and, thankfully, the weather had been kind this year. At the same time last year, their property was "completely browned off", with less than 10mm of rain over spring, and they had been "staring down the barrel of drought".

Their key "take-home" messages to those attending included feeding stock well, teamwork, using pasja and their decision to move to a store lamb policy.

They had gone from trying to finish everything and then struggling in February, when it got dry, to making the commitment to getting rid of lambs as stores, which had been a "huge benefit" to their whole farming system.

The couple had "played" with hogget mating about 10 years ago and it did not work, as the hoggets were not heavy enough and it was before they started sowing pasja.

This was now about the third year since they started mating hoggets again and, while it had been a "big learning curve", they saw much potential in it, Mr Hunt said.

They were still learning about hogget lambing and how to manage them - "we haven't cracked it yet" - but this year was a vast improvement on previous years.

Their goals for the future included lifting their lambing percentage through managing triplets better and minimising losses.

The couple also won the the Otago Regional Council sustainable resource management award in this year's Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

ORC land resources officer Bruce Monaghan said they were deserved winners of the award, citing the wide variety of trees they had planted, the planning involved, which included a landscaping plan drawn up by a neighbour, and their tenacious commitment to plant, year after year, even when it was dry.

Rebecca Redmond, a specialist analyst in Rabobank's food and agribusiness research and advisory division, said it was hard to imagine a better season than 2010-11 for many sheep meat farmers.

The United Kingdom market was coming under some pressure, with consumers starting to feel the pressure of lagging income growth.

However, while the developed market was experiencing some softening, emerging markets, such as China, had been increasing volumes and value. The lift in volume to China had been about 25% over the past five years.

Global sheep meat supplies had been decreasing for more than a decade. In China, the flock was about 170 million in 2005 but it had dropped to about 130 million. Australia had dropped from about 100 million to 70 million, and New Zealand from about 60 million to 30 million.

Sheep meat was a small part of the markets competing in protein but there was an opportunity to make it a specialty product, by ensuring product went to markets that valued it, Ms Redmond said.

Alliance Group chairman Owen Poole believed future opportunities were strong and the outlook was "pretty positive". Farmers had an excellent year in terms of returns at the farm gate last season.

There were a few challenges, as it was a very uncertain world. Care had to be taken as to where to place product to gain the best advantage.

There were many new opportunities to be examined, including in Asia. He believed the collective industry in New Zealand had done well in Asia.

 

 

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