Guest speaker Blair Nelson who, along with his wife Anna, farms 1,100ha of hill country in the King Country. The couple were Beef + Lamb New Zealand Innovation farmers and sought to lift profitability on their cultivable land by $200/ha.
Focusing on specialist forages, they generated average post-weaning lamb growth rates of 240 g/day. While primarily used for lambs, this feed was also used for growing out hoggets and had a profound effect on their farm system.
They believe that this focus on feeding sets the potential for the life-time performance.