Standard farming system transformed

01-09-2010 | Not Specified

Changing stock policies at Ohineumeri has paid off in many ways.

Sam and Hannah Morrah have transformed their farming system from a standard model to lamb breeding and finishing for Marks & Spencer and cattle trading and finishing.

In only one season they have lifted lamb income by $6.25 a head over 4670 lambs.

That's a $29,200 benefit from a change in genetics, thanks to higher scanning and lambing percentages and higher weaning and carcaseweights.

This move has been one of the benefits of looking hard at their farming business, which for the previous 10 years was run along traditional lines.

Farming through two droughts also sharpened their focus, and they decided they needed to be running a flexible dryland system which also let them increase production.

They had to ensure they were profitable and sustainable in the long-term. Debt reduction is a focus for the future so they can get to a position where they can expand again. And they want to keep maintaining the farm infrastructure.

The couple took over the farm in 2001 from Sam's parents, when the 488ha was fenced into 23 paddocks.

They make a strong team, with Sam's agricultural commerce degree and Hannah's masters in business.

While Sam's background is farming, Hannah was an Ezibuy channel campaign manager in the marketing department. After Hannah moved to Hawke's Bay they bought the Footloose franchise in Napier and later the Wellington franchise, selling both when their first daughter Franca came along.

Since starting out farming together they have added 272ha of land to take the farm to 760ha of rolling hill country.

Ohineumeri is now running 3700 breeding ewes, 1200 trading lambs and 500 cattle, has a reticulated water system and 97 paddocks.

They'd been chipping away at management changes since starting out, but made their most aggressive changes last year.

They'd been running a Romney flock with 130 to 135% lambing, but two dry seasons showed how they needed to add more flexibility.

"We wanted to focus on our strengths, and the property's strengths, which are sheep breeding and finishing lambs."

So they mated their whole flock with terminal Primera rams from Rissington Breedline and joined the Marks & Spencer lamb production programme.

"To be able to know exactly what you have to produce and when, as well as where your product is going after it leaves the property, has always been an ambition of mine since I started farming," Sam says.

The supply programme is for finishing lambs to specification from January to May. The property still kills up to 1000 lambs at weaning.

Until this year they had a five-year average carcaseweight of 15.8kg at weaning and 17.3kg for the entire season. In only a year they've lifted weaning carcaseweights 1.2kg. The seasonal carcaseweights lifted 1.3kg from the previous average figures.

They began supplying Marks & Spencer only this January, with 2600 lambs this year to May averaging 18.6kg CW, with 80% reaching the specification of 17.4kg - 20.9kg P and Y grade.

"Our aim is to supply 90% to specification in coming years."

This lift in weights has lifted lamb income by $6.25 a head over the whole lamb crop. This doesn't count trade lambs and extra cattle run instead of replacement hoggets, Sam says.

This year they bred 4700 lambs, and are hoping to dock 5400. The lambs not going to Marks & Spencer were sold either before January or after May.

The key to this new stock policy is the Sheeplink system, where two-tooths bred by someone else arrive at the end of January at a minimum of 52kg and average of 55kg ready to take the ram. The first of the Highlander two-tooths arrived in January, 2009.

"The spin-off of that is we get to finish all the progeny better, run a greater proportion of trading stock, and don't have to grow out our own ewe replacements through winter."

Using these genetics has immediately pushed up the scanning percentages: The average for their Romney two-tooths was 136%, but in the tough drought year of 2008 they scanned 119%. Last year in a hard season the Highlander two-tooths scanned 155%, and this year 171%.

Mixed-age ewes have similarly jumped up in scanning percentages: The seven-year average for the Romneys was 164%, but this year including Highland four-tooths, this has risen to 180%.

This year the whole flock, including 1400 Highlanders, scanned at 175%.

Another change they made to accommodate the increasing number of lambs to finish was to double the summer crop area to 30ha.

Of that 10ha is a dual-purpose crop of a mix of rape and kale used first for two summer grazings for the lambs, then shut up for winter. The remaining 20ha are Goliath and Titan rape crops.

They do all their own agricultural work, which also gives them flexibility. The weaner bulls are grazing a crop of oats which will go back into rape in spring.

The Morrahs' cattle operation sits easily alongside the lamb production.

"We try and carry 500 cattle into winter, the majority of which are weaner Friesian calves bought in at 150kg or more."

These are taken through one winter and sold on the spring grass market and through to autumn. Only 50 to 80 rising two-year bulls are carried through a second winter. That's because the predominantly clay-based soils are winter wet, limiting carrying capacity.

The bulls are sold into the store market through an independent agent who buys them on the farm.

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