Central North Island Hill Country
Model Description
This model covers a range of hill country across the central area of the North Island. It includes Waitomo, Ruapehu, Taupo, Wanganui and Rangitikei districts, plus Taranaki region.
The model represents larger scale units running breeding ewes and cows, with the vast majority of stock sold prime, and some locally on the store market. The area represented generally experiences moist summer conditions with a long cool winter. Breeding performance is currently around 105-110% lambing for sheep and 85-90% calving for cattle. Prime lambs are sold at 15-16 kg carcass weight, and prime steers kept through to 24-30 months. Wool production is around 5.3 kg/ssu wintered.
Table 1: The Model in Summary
| Effective area: | 550 ha | ||
| Closing stock wintered: | |||
| Breeding ewes | 2,600 hd | Breeding cows | 140 hd |
| Replacement ewe hoggets | 700 hd | R1yr cattle | 112 hd |
| Other sheep | 105 hd | R2yr cattle | 112 hd |
| Total stock units wintered | 5,039 su | Other cattle | 5 hd |
Key Points
- A very good winter and spring in 1999 gave way to a dry late summer and autumn in 2000, but most pastures have recovered going into the winter.
- Farms are in recovery mode after difficult climate and stock health conditions in 1998/99.
- Lamb and beef prices are at near record levels, while mutton and wool prices remain depressed.
- Gross revenue in the model is up 13% in 1999/2000, and farmers have consequently lifted expenditure, especially on repairs and maintenance.
- With the increased income, farmers' morale and confidence is high.
Physical Factors
Following on from a dry summer and autumn, the winter of 1999 was very favourable for the central North Island. This flowed through into the spring when temperatures were warmer than average and rainfall adequate. Lamb survival through the spring was excellent. By mid-summer, rainfall totals had fallen below average and feed supplies were well below optimum. Areas north of Ruapehu tended to be more affected than those further south. Rainfall returned to normal in mid-April in most districts and autumn growth conditions quickly recovered. With excellent pasture growth through May, most farms throughout the region are going into winter with reasonable pasture covers, although still slightly below optimum. Many farmers have applied some nitrogen fertiliser through the late autumn as a measure to boost pasture growth.
The lamb drop was down throughout the region in 1999, mainly as a consequence of the dry conditions and bad facial eczema outbreaks in the northern part of the region in the previous autumn. However, the excellent spring provided very good lamb survival conditions, resulting in a lambing percentage for 1999/2000 that is only marginally down on the previous year. This year's lamb crop has performed very well and farmers are reporting a consistent 1 kg/lamb improvement in lamb weights at slaughter compared to last year.
Cattle performance throughout the year has been somewhat variable but overall less than expected. Farmers report that older prime cattle sold before the summer tended to be 10-15 kg heavier than usual, whereas those sold later into the autumn and early winter tended to be 10-15 kg lighter. The main problem appears to be the poor feed quality through the autumn early winter period. Low copper levels in cattle also appear to have been a cause of poorer performance. The lack of feed through the late summer/early autumn saw many farmers wean calves much later than usual, with cows in poorer condition at weaning, and weaners down 10-20 kg in weight.
Breeding ewes have been mated in better condition this autumn compared to last year, and a 4% improvement in lambing percentage is forecast. Farmers have also increased ewe numbers slightly over the 1999/2000 year. The combination of more ewes and increased lambing percentage gives an 8.5% increase in the number of lambs sold in 2000/01 for the model.
Vets in the northern area report some high facial eczema spore counts in autumn 2000, and this, combined with the carryover effect of very bad facial eczema in the autumn of 1999, has resulted in a greater "tail-end" to many ewe flocks. Sheep death rates have returned to a better level of 9% in the 1999/2000 year. This is a definite improvement on the disastrous facial eczema affected result of 1998/99, but still remains 1-2 percentage points worse than previous averages. A further reduction in death rate is forecast for 2000/01.
Many farmers throughout the region are concerned about the low water table. Farms rely on natural springs and dams for their stock water, and the dry summer of 1999 saw many water tables drop, and springs and dams dry up. While rainfall over the 1999/2000 year has generally been adequate, it has only been sufficient to keep pasture growing and springs running. In most areas water tables are still low and it could take several years of good rains to adequately restore them. The shortage of water has emphasised for many farmers the need to provide quality water, especially for finishing stock.
Animal health has been less of an issue this production year. After chronic facial eczema infections in 1998/99 only residue effects were seen in 1999/2000. Farmers were far more aware of the potential for this disease and stocked up with zinc treatments. In the end, climatic conditions were never humid enough to cause dangerous eczema conditions, apart from in some northern areas. The late autumn rain created its own problems with outbreaks of internal parasites in many classes of sheep. There were also numerous reports of low copper levels in cattle, which were treated via bolus's or injections. The late rains also saw some problems with liver fluke in wetter areas.
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NEW ZEALAND
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