NZ farmers look across the ditch - John Wauchop
NZ farmers look across the ditch - John Wauchop - Beef CRC - Beef Genetic Technologies
 When you think of New Zealand, what springs to mind? Rugby union, netball, sheep?There is no doubt New Zealand punches well above its weight when it comes to sheep and wool production. In 2008 there were more than 33 million head of sheep in New Zealand. That’s seven sheep for every person. (Australia has roughly 3.2 sheep for every person). Although that has meant that beef has taken a back seat, the tide is beginning to turn. And it is progressive farmers like John Wauchop from Tokomaru Bay who are attempting to put New Zealand beef production on the map. “Most farmers, whether you are in Australia, or New Zealand, tend to farm in a vacuum,” said Mr Wauchop. “The only people we seem to speak to are our stock agents, truck drivers and our wives and families. We don’t often sit down with other farmers and get a chance to talk things over.” But it is that one-on-one and group discussion time that is the basis of the BPPs that appeals to Mr Wauchop. “It gives you a chance to talk through options and learn from others about what does and doesn’t work,” he said. “There is no doubt that the BPP has helped provide us with a sharper focus on the beef side of our enterprises.” Mr Wauchop said the majority of the beef produced in New Zealand goes into the manufacturing or grinding beef markets in the United States. But as the quality of the beef increases, he maintains so too will supply into other markets. “Most New Zealand farmers have tended to concentrate on their sheep flocks, often to the detriment of their cattle herd,” he said. “It has put us behind the eight ball when it comes to supplying quality beef into export markets.” Mr Wauchop said putting greater emphasis on the fertility of their cattle is one way of turning the situation around. “The reproduction rate of cattle is a whole lot less than sheep,” he said. “But given that beef is a more widely accepted meat throughout the world, increasing our reproduction rate provides local farmers with more options for growth.” He said currently, his cattle have a reproduction rate of about 81 per cent. He would like to increase that to about 90 per cent. “That would equate to about 50 more calves on the ground each year, which should lead to a significant increase in turnoff,” said Mr Wauchop. To achieve that, Mr Wauchop has focused on a number of areas including disease pressure and early breeding. “We’re also looking at developing a milder behaving animal, because the nature of our country means that we don’t often see them,” he said. “Our cattle are mustered hard every now and then as opposed to slowly more often. Practices like yard weaning could help us produce quieter cattle.” Research carried out by the Beef CRC and Meat & Livestock Australia shows simple techniques, like yard weaning calves, can not only increase their weight gain but also decrease animal sicknesses and make the cattle easier to handle. That’s exactly what John Wauchop said his experience has been. Cattle in New Zealand are usually paddock-weaned. But as they are running on very steep hill country, the calves can climb up to 500 feet and then drop back down again, just to get to their mothers. Mr Wauchop said he set up a trial on his property to investigate the differences between the two options and found that yard-weaned cattle grew faster. “They were only in the yards for two days but my stock manager noticed a remarkable difference between the calves in the paddock and the ones in the yards,” he said. “The ones which were out in the paddock were still acting like idiots whereas the ones in the yards had settled down quite well. We thought it was crazy to continue, so we put them all in the yards.” He said it didn’t help in a trial sense, but there was still a difference in growth between the two lots of calves. “The cattle which were yard weaned for 7 days did about 30 percent better than the cattle which were paddock-weaned for 2 days and yard-weaned for 5,” Mr Wauchop said. Mr Wauchop believes he wouldn’t have adopted the changes so quickly if he wasn’t a member of the BPP. Although they often talked about implementing it, it wasn’t until he saw the results for himself that he realized the writing was on the wall. “We really got a wake-up call when members of our BPP visited Australia earlier this year and witnessed first-hand the impact that yard weaning can have on temperament, health and growth rate,” he said. “We were told that feedlots in Australia won’t take anything but yard weaned cattle, so we bought it back and tried it ourselves. It wasn’t overly hard to convince us it was worth doing.” He said although the BPP group has only been going for two years, the signs for the future are positive. “The BPPs are a little different to the Monitor farms which have been established in New Zealand for a number of years. The BPPs just focus on one species and the profit drivers which affect their profitability,” he said. “If we get to the end of the Beef CRC in 2012 and we’re still learning and enjoying it, then we will definitely have to look at ways to keep our BPP group going.” |
| For more information contact Peter Andrew, AgFirst Facilitator, Gisborne BPP Tel: (06) 8684144 or email pandrew@agfirst.co.nz |
