In this two-part series, B+LNZ looks at how a Central Canterbury farming family has diversified their sheep and beef business to generate a return on their investment in irrigation.
When the King family made the decision to tap into the Central Plains Irrigation water running past their gate, they knew they had to make significant changes to ensure a return on their investment.
While a dairy conversion would have been the safest option, the Windwhistle sheep and beef farmers wanted to continue to do what they enjoy while making the irrigation pay.
In 2018 the family hosted a Beef + Lamb New Zealand Farming for Profit field day on their property looking at their recently installed irrigation. Seven years later they opened their gate once again to show how they have increased productivity and diversified their business to generate a return on their investment in irrigation.
Tragically, Gavin King was killed in 2021, but his son Fraser has taken up the reins and shares his father’s passion for the sheep and beef industry as well as his focus on future opportunities.
Fraser told the 80-plus attendees at B+LNZ’s Stock, Solar and Strategies field day that they now have six income streams: arable cash crops, sheep, beef, solar energy, dairy grazing and standing feed. They have also grown their land holding to 1110ha which includes 300ha of irrigated flats, rolling hill country and their 410ha harder hill country property Round Top.
Across their properties, which are within a 10-kilometre radius, they benefit from a range of soil types, topography and altitude, so their whole operation meshes together nicely.
They have also increased ewe numbers over the past seven years to 3700, up from 2350 in 2018, lifted scanning percentages to 190-200 percent and lambing percentages to a consistent 150 percent.
They have increased breeding cow numbers by around 60 (including R2s) and introduced 800-1000 trading lambs into their farm business.
Fraser said they were initially wintering dairy cows to help pay for the irrigation and while they had parred this enterprise back, he says they might have to increase numbers again to generate more cashflow.
They still run dairy heifers, taking them from weaners in December through to just before they calve as R2 heifers at the end of May.
Growing feed
This year they sold 150t of standing feed and next year they will increase this to 500t.
Under irrigation, their kale crops average 15T/ha while fodder beet yields upwards of 30T/ha. They also grow red clover crops for finishing lambs and these paddocks are stocked at 100 lambs per hectare.
“They grow like stink, but we have to watch for animal health issues” says Fraser.
“We are growing a lot more grass under irrigation as well as the crops – and we are getting better at it.”
Sheep
The family run Coopworth ewes at Shelterdale and Coopdales at Round Top. The ewes at Shelterdale start lambing on 10 September and the lambs are weaned on 1 December.
They sell around 500 lambs prime at weaning at 15-16kgCW and the balance is grown out to 19-20kgCW.
Around half of their 1400 hoggets are put to a ram. Fraser says the ewe lambs have to be a minimum of 42kg before they are considered for mating so typically, between 700-900 ewe lambs are put to the ram for 25 days. They do sell some dry hoggets as prime.
Fraser says they have changed their management practices since attending a B+LNZ Hogget Mating field day and following advice from members of Southland’s Hogget 150 group, this year they wintered the mated ewe lambs on grass, rather than crop, to keep them growing. Two-tooths are now wintered on forage crops.
Cattle
The family runs 310 Angus breeding cows (including R2s) and these are run between Shelterdale and Round Top.
The mixed-age cows’ winter on Round Top, while the R2s and R3s are wintered on the family’s lighter, river flats.
At scanning, the first and second cycle in-calf cows are identified, and the first-cycle cows are brought off the hill for calving behind a wire at Shelterdale, while the second-cycle cows calve on the hill.
At Shelterdale, Fraser separates the heifer calves from the bull calves right from birth. This allows them to be managed separately.
“Because we sell the steer calves at weaning, we pump the feed into cows with the steer calves and as we retain all the heifer calves, we can afford to take a bit longer to grow them.
All weaner steers are sold to a repeat buyer at weaning in April and last year, these averaged 264kg. While Fraser says they would like to be able to finish their steers, they don’t the capacity within their farm system.
“We need the cash flow from the dairy grazing,” he says.
All heifers are retained, wintered on forage crops and put to the bull at minimum weight of 330kg. Those that conceive in the first three weeks of mating are retained and the balance is finished.
Fraser says they aim to breed relatively small cows that are able to get calf, calve without assistance and get back in calf, ideally within the first cycle. They source their genetics from Fossil Creek and because they sell their steers at weaning, they focus on Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) for milk and 200-day growth rates as well as mature cow weight, intramuscular fat (IMF), rib and rump and calving ease.
Next week we look at how the King family has incorporated dairy grazing and solar power generation into their operation.