Family puts cropping skills to good use
The McLauchlan family has gone against the dairy flow to stock their farm with sheep and cattle, writes Heather Chalmers.
"We have done the easier flats and are now working on the downs ... you've got to get rid of the problems before you spend money on better grasses." Don McLauchlan
When the McLauchlan family bought their Mid-Canterbury farm in 2011, they were starting with a clean slate.
There were no stock on the 430 hectare Glengyle when they purchased it, so the family initially relied on dairy support and crops to generate an income while they gradually built up sheep and beef numbers. They have since leased a neighbouring 300ha property.
They bought Glengyle after selling their mixed cropping farm in North Canterbury to dairy interests. Don McLauchlan says they were keen to move to a sheep and beef area, and get away from irrigation and the intensive management it requires.
Jutting up against the Canterbury foothills near Mt Somers, Glengyle sits at between 400m and 480m above sea level. Half the farm is flat and the balance is rolling downs – so it is all cultivable and relatively reliable for summer rainfall, which was part of the property’s appeal.
The farm is very much a family business and was bought with a view to succession. Don farms alongside his wife Sharon and adult children Ben and Sarah. Ben specialises in the sheep while Sarah takes responsibility for the tractor work and cattle. Both Ben and Sarah have invested in stock.
Glengyle now runs 1500 breeding ewes, 50 beef cows, 206 rising two-year-old beef cattle, 320 autumn-purchased beef calves and 116 angus steers for the Five Star Beef feedlot. The family also graze 1000 lambs every summer for Anzco Foods, with the aim to sell these at 18 kilograms to 20kg carcass weight.
Having bought in-lamb romney ewes from capital stock sales, the family know they have sheep with productive potential. Last year, the replacement-breeding ewes weaned 164 per cent and this year scanned 184 per cent. Even hoggets scanned a pleasing 125 per cent this year.
Having built stock numbers, the family were now looking at ways to maximise production while making best use of their resources.
Last year, they were invited by Anzco Foods to join the Red Meat Profit Partnership (RMPP) programme. This has enabled them, assisted by expert help, to take a critical look at their business to determine where the opportunities lie to increase production.
Don McLauchlan says that as the family had a cropping background and liked to grow crops, they decided to focus on measuring stock growth rates on different feed crops.
Since purchasing the property, the McLauchlans have focussed on renewing pastures across the entire farm, a project they are now half-way through. ‘‘We have done the easier flats and are now working on the downs.’’ Kale and other winter crops are used as break crops to get rid of established browntop pastures before resowing in new and more productive pasture varieties. ‘‘You’ve got to get rid of the problems before you spend money on better grasses.’’
Crops such as Italian ryegrass, grazing maize, clover and plantain and fodder beet and kale were now being used for growing and wintering stock.
McLauchlan says the grazing maize worked well, filling a cattlefeed deficit in autumn, and clover and plantain was ideal for finishing lambs.
As part of Anzco’s RMPP programme, Don, Sarah and Ben visited a number of high performing farms. Having seen how the clover and plantain mix worked for these farmers gave the McLauchlans the confidence to try it on their own farm.
McLauchlan says it worked brilliantly for finishing lambs and growing young stock and they will be doubling the area they have in the specialist forage mix from 20ha to 40ha. It was also used for lambing ewes.
One of the trials they have been carrying out was comparing cattle liveweight gains on fodder beet and kale crops. This year they have 20ha in fodder beet and 30ha in kale, and depending on the outcomes of the trial, they may increase the area in fodder beet by 10ha.
They also have 40ha in greenfeed oats and Italian ryegrass crops, which are used for dairy heifers. These arrive in December as calves and are carried through until they are at the point of calving.
Being part of the RMPP programme has given the McLauchlans access to new ideas and innovations as well as a support network, including Anzco staff and farm systems scientist Tom Fraser.
They have recently carried out comprehensive whole-farm soil tests, which has given them a picture of the fertility status of the whole property. Fertility was better than they expected and they are carrying out capital fertiliser applications on smaller areas as they work through crops and renew pastures.
As part of their focus on growing forages to drive stock performance, the family was weighing animals on upgraded scales and measuring and recording how they performed on different feeds. A new electronic identification wand has also been a useful tool in recording livestock performance.
Being part of RMPP has allowed the family to identify and focus on what they want to achieve within their business. McLauchlan says he has never been part of any farming group before and was relishing the opportunity to get new ideas and management strategies. ‘‘I’m getting a lot out of it already.’’
With no history on the property, they are viewing the business as a clean slate and are looking forward to working as a family, to realise its potential.
Funded by government and industry, the RMPP aims to help improve the productivity and profitability of the red meat sector by assisting farmers to make more informed business decisions. Partners are Beef + Lamb New Zealand, the Ministry for Primary Industries, meat processing companies and banks.
Anzco Foods agricultural manager Alan McDermott says farmers are increasing their demand for rural professional support and the use of data in decision making as a result of the programme. It was also helping Anzco Foods to further develop its own capacity to assist farmers with change and extension projects. ’’We are seeing farming families develop and grow their business to become more profitable and sustainable, with a real focus on objectives, planning and analysis. That’s what we want to see: a vibrant farming community that is profitable and sustainable.’’
Anzco was involved with a diverse mix of farming families under RMPP, seven in the South Island and 12 in the North Island, with plans to expand numbers further, says McDermott.