TE WHANGAI NEWSLETTER SPRING 2021
This time a year ago I was contemplating how I could spread the fun of compiling the newsletter and infusing some next generation views by having a ‘Harry’s Corner’ section; regrettably, I never did it.
Another year on, where does one start to describe what is happening? Governments printing trillions of dollars to prop up economies, which they then turn around and destroy with economically suicidal lockdowns. Noah had the right idea: get yourself in a position to float above the chaos when the proverbial hits the fan!
Our political mob continue to show their true colours, promising whole farms would not go into trees ... yeah right! What's next? Three waters ... we promise it will be good for you ... why not let us decide that!
Climatically, the 12 months just gone have been a real challenge. Not just dealing with the bad but also the good ... which turned bad!
This time last year we had come off the back of a nasty dry summer. It was made especially difficult because of it's geographically widespread nature, meaning grazing options were limited and feed was hard to come by. Fortunately it was followed by good late autumn rain and a kind winter.
Harry had everything set up to capitalise on a great spring - the best lambs I have ever seen at Te Whangai. But it was a case of too much of a good thing. Despite buying a heap of cows with calves, somehow when the tap turned off in January, all that feed turned to toxic straw (politely termed 'tag' by some!) and boy did we pay a high price for that.
Scanning was back and keeping condition on stock has been a challenge. However, survival from the early lambing has been awesome.
I'm sure those on the Banks Peninsula might disagree, but nature seems to even things out and there is usually a general trend ... always a wet day or two in late September designed to get me in the office to communicate with you! 42mls overnight and a bit more to come should see some good growth for now. Despite NIWA saying it will be a dry summer (before the recent rain), I understand they have changed their minds already.
Things that are making my antenna twitch at the moment include:
Shedding sheep, which I consider to be second only to pine trees at ruining rural economies. No shearers or shed hands, no wool reps or store staff, no woolshed and plant maintenance, no freight, no scouring, no spinning or weaving industries and we will all be wearing polar fleece and walking on plastic carpet ... further polluting the planet.
African swine flu is apparently still raging around in China and ... it has dangerous variants! As long as this disease remains the handbrake on Chinese domestic protein production then our meat returns look set to stay strong.
He Waka Eke Noa: a government, iwi, producer partnership to measure, manage and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. I have mentioned before that this is likely to mean anything you can do as a sheep farmer to lower your real or perceived emissions may be helpful, including the use of genetics that fart and burp less. This programme sounds designed especially for Te Whangai sheep. How much less can these sheep do? Already they're drenched less, dagged less and eat less (for the same output). Soon they will be like civil servants and work less too!
Will wool prices ever recover?
After god knows how many expensive reports over many decades, Wools of NZ have laid it out in black and white: the wool price will move when demand exceeds supply! Yeah, that's pretty obvious, but what's the size of the problem? They have looked at that too and by accounting for all the wool that is known to go directly or indirectly to manufacturers, there is only about a 45,000 bale oversupply.
As much as many people don't want to admit it, the most voluminous use of crossbred wool is still in soft flooring (carpet). If we could return wool's market share of that sector to 1996 levels, before plastic flooring took over, there would not be enough wool to supply NZ alone! Note - lets all describe synthetic as plastic because that's what it is ... planet-destroying plastic.
What will make consumers buy more wool carpet? The answer is: price. That is, price to the consumer and margin to the retailer. If the price to the consumer is right and the retailer is satisfactorily rewarded from the sale, then the other boxes of style, appearance and environmental issues are all ticked.
Wools of NZ have pulled off a brilliant model which captures most of the value traditionally lost to other parties in the supply chain. By manufacturing carpet in a low cost jurisdiction and effectively retaining ownership of the wool right through to the carpet retail stage, they are controlling the whole process. Thus capturing all the margins traditionally added at each point in the chain, which in turn allows them to deliver quality wool carpet at a plastic carpet price!
Being sold through Flooring Xtra and 40 other independent retailers there is now no excuse not to buy a wool carpet.
Te Whangai UK
After several false starts and 2 years of planning, Te Whangai has gone international. Ten young rams arrived in England on the 13th of August as the foundation of a joint venture. The first sheep exported to the UK since Brexit, basically being the guinea pigs for all the new protocols required, as of course the EU and Britain are 'different' now!
Our persistence with breeding for parasite resilience and our reputation for integrity has been recognised by a farmer in the UK. Matt Smith is a kiwi and a former British Farmer of the year, who also happens to hold the world 9hr ewe shearing record, set in the UK in 2016.
Matt and Pip farm in Cornwall and share in our values when it comes to honesty, common sense and perseverance. We are excited at the prospect of other farmers in the UK and Europe sharing in the hard work that has gone into developing the Te Whangai sheep.
FE
Not much to report here, except that it looked like everything was lining up for a bad FE season but fortunately it was not to be. Interestingly, the sniff of Landcorp genetics which brings the eczema tolerance has certainly not done the fertility any harm. The first 50 two tooths reared 96 lambs (only 3 triplets) and the rest look similar - no ewe deaths and maybe the only dries coming as the result of the weather. All that with stuff all tupping feed, no toxo or campy and guess what ... not scanned either!
Team at Te Whangai
Harry and Kate were very focused on developing a strong and loyal team. Kim Simpson (shepherd) and Liam Cook (fencer and everything-man) have done Te Whangai proud through this tough year. Duncan Kerr has moved to a management role on another property while Hayley McKinnon joined us in May as a shepherd and has been a bright and cheerful addition.
Recently we appointed James Brennan to the role of Full Manager. He and Helen bring experience, integrity and humour to the team. James is looking forward to getting involved with the rams and hopefully will meet some of you in due course.
As the time has just bolted on me and we have a number of new people wanting to know if rams are available, I ask that you give consideration to your ram requirements and let me know as soon as possible.
Best regards and an ounce of luck.
Hamish,
Te Whangai Spring Newsletter 2021