Annual Farm Calendar
Stock Policy
There are multiple classes of stock being run on Pukerewa Station.
Cattle Stock Sheep Stock
Mixed age Cows (Angus) to Angus Bull Mixed age ewes (Maternal Sire)
Mixed age Cows (Crossbred) to a Charolais Bull Mixed age ewes (Terminal Sire)
Rising 1 Yr Heifers Two tooth ewes
Rising 2 Yr Heifers Ewe hoggets
Rising 2 Yr Steers Cull lambs
Rising 3 Yr Steers Sire Rams
Rising 1 Yr Bulls
Rising 2 Yr Bulls
Rising 3 Yr Bulls
Sire Bulls
What can we do to lessen the impact of the seasons and make Pukerewa Station a easier farm to manage?
The timing of when we buy and sell stock is critical. As in any system, failure to meet one target has subsequent impacts on something else and so on and so on.
For example rising two year bulls that are not finished and killed by the end of January will more than likely have to be carried through until May June as growth rate will slow considerably over the summer. This will impact on rising one year cattle and cows as the rising two cattle are eating feed that should be allocated to them.
The key is to have targets to meet on a month by month basis so that the system can fit together. It is very important to recognise when targets are being met and when they are not as we can make educated decisions to lessen the impact if we are behind or maximise the advantage when we are ahead.
Information and looking ahead is the key to this. For example weighing works lambs and cattle stock on at least a bi-monthly basis to determine growth rate will help you to understand and communicate to anyone whether you are on track or not.
Being behind is not a problem as actions can be put in place to put you back on track. It is much worse when you are not sure whether you are on target or not and are farming on with no plan B or C in place.
Fertiliser
Fertilizer is the life blood of any farm and without it we cannot expect our team to achieve the production targets that management expect.
The Station should expect to spend $400 thousand on top of maintenance over the next five years.
Stocking Rate
Stocking rate is generally directly linked to fertility. Normal stocking rates on this class of country is 12 stock units to the hectare. Based on 890 hectares affective, the Station should be able to run 10,000 stock units easily when p levels are moving closer to 25.
The exciting thing about this is that faster weight gain, higher conception rates and higher stocking rates will also drive profitability and once we start to get the momentum moving forward it will be self perpetuating as long as we keep investing farm profits back into the business especially until the Station is producing at optimum.