Moerangi Station
Moerangi station is 3877ha in size with 2150ha of effective farming area. It is owned by the Puketapu 3A Trust, part of Ngati Tuwharetoa, based at Taumarunui. The chairman of the farm management board is Jim Hoko. The farm area is about half of the Puketapu 3A Incorporation lands between Taumarunui and Turangi.
Good money was made in the 1950s by the tribe from cutting and selling the indigenous timber from the block, and the forestry operations left stumps which are still being cleared on Moerangi today for pasture development.
Moerangi is like a farm park with the extensive bush areas left within the boundary. The farmed land is easy rolling to flat. The big property drains to Lake Taupo through the Kuratau River and the station trust and managers take their environmental responsibilities very seriously. Winters are long and harsh and the topsoil cover is thin over pumice layers.
Moerangi carries 13,200 sheep, about 1200 cattle, nearly 2000 deer and 500 meat goats. This means the stock ratio is 55% sheep, 26% cattle, 15% deer and 4% goats.
Four years ago that ratio was 54% sheep, 37% cattle and 9% deer, with no goats.
In recent times cattle numbers have fallen and deer and goats numbers increased. The station is worked with two married couples, including Barry and Celia Popes as managers, and three single men.
Barry and Celia Pope have been in charge at Moerangi for five years, but they have worked for the owners for seven years, initially on an adjoining property, which they continue to manage. They report to the Puketapu 3A Incorporation management board headed by Jim Hoko. Puketapu 3A is part of the Tuwharetoa tribe around Lake Taupo. Mr Hoko commented that the timing of the Ballance Waikato Farm Environment Awards this year was very significant and recognized the work and foundations that had been set by previous committees of management over the years. It also highlighted the continuation of the high standards achieved in the farming industry on Ngati Tuwharetoa lands whilst maintaining the quality of care in the protection of Lake Taupo and waterways.
Three single men and a married couple staff the farm, in addition to Barry and Celia. Head shepherd Roger McDonald assists with the well-organised integration of all working parts that is essential on the property; Barry considers the staff a huge part of the farm system. One of the first things he and Celia did when they took over management at Moerangi was to instigate, then formalise a staff working plan which covered all bases and ensured the farm could operate well, regardless of who was running it.
There is now a firm structure held in place by a range of measures. There are operating manuals and reporting systems covering all aspects of the farm, regular staff meetings including one every Monday morning and, most importantly says Barry, there is a strong awareness amongst staff of their importance to the property.
Development consists of taking stumps and clearing waste timber and grassing, converting 30ha annually. Regular regrassing for the past three years consists of 100ha of cleared country going to pasja over the summer, for getting ewe weights up and finishing lambs, followed by autumn sowing of short-rotation ryegrass for two years pasture and then into new permanent pasture. The short-term new grass is used for finishing cattle and lambing of the hoggets.
Minimum tillage is used throughout, except for paddocks with a thick thatch which might receive one cultivation initially.
During the long winters some silage is used for the breeding cows and everything else gets only pasture. Moerangi likes to achieve pasture covers of 2100 kg DM/ha by May 1 for the 120-day rotation during the winter.
The sheep flock is based on Romney/Perendale ewes, with 10,000 MA and two-tooth ewes and 3200 ewe hoggets. Ewe hoggets go to the ram 43kgs liveweight, two-tooths at 60kgs and mixed age ewes at 65kgs. Rams go out to two mobs of MA ewes on April 7 and 14, then to two-tooths on April 21 and then to hoggets on May 6.
Kelso composite rams are used over all the ewes and a blackface terminal sire for all the hoggets. Ewes and two-tooths are doing 130% lambing and the hoggets 80%.
The breeding cow herd is Angus, with 800 cows and 174 heifers. Simmental bulls come from Hampton Downs and Glen Anthony and Angus bulls from Shian and Pine Park. Just under 50% of the cows go to Simmental and the rest to Angus.
About 200 replacement heifers from the pure Angus are kept and the balance are sold. The top and bottom of the crossbred and Angus steers are also sold and the middle steers kept for finishing on Moerangi. The aim is to sell those in spring but sometimes they have to be kept through into autumn to achieve weight levels.
Moerangi has moved away from trying to finish the deer progeny to killable weights and breeding its own Red hind replacements. The size of the deer farming operation on Moerangi has been increasing for the past four years with the focus now solely on breeding.
Cutting out the need to finish deer on the property has helped smooth the labour flow over the whole farm says Barry Pope. Two main factors influenced the decision to increase the emphasis on deer. The sharp drop of the cost of the animals, and the increasing awareness of the need to reduce nitrogen outflow into Lake Taupo - it is recognised the N output from farming deer is lower than some other classes of farming.
The Red deer hinds are now going to be mated to Wapiti stags and all the progeny sold around 60kgs for stags and 56kgs for hinds. There will be 1300 weaners for sale, about 1000 in March and the balance carried through the winter.
Meat goats are now being bred on Moerangi, based on Boers sourced three years ago from Alan Mitchell, Taupo, and more recently the Kikonui NZ breed developed by Garrick Batten, Nelson. Moerangi is working in with both Mitchell and Batten to build up numbers in the goat breeds. The goats run behind the deer fences to keep them contained. Return for the goat meat is running ahead of sheep meat at present, but the big bonus has been the effect of the goats on weeds like ragwort, blackberry and thistles. As yet not a lot of slaughter progeny have been produced.
Moerangi won the supreme award in the Ballance Waikato Farm Environment Awards this year. The judges said the combination of profitable farming with effective long-term stewardship of the land was being done very well on Moerangi, especially given the constraints of climate, soil quality, care of Lake Taupo and multiple ownership. There were nine finalists nominated from a field of 42 entrants from the Waikato region, contesting for a total of nine awards. Puketapu3A Incorporation won five awards including the premier award. The others were
The PPCS Livestock Farm, the PGG Wrightson Habitat Improvement Award, the Rabobank Land and Life Award and the Ballance Nutrient Management Award.
The awareness at Moerangi of the importance of waterways pre-dates the Popes, but the ongoing commitment to maintaining fences is an important part of daily management. The station has over 100kms of riparian fencing.
The award judges noted in their report: Protection of waterways is a major long-term goal to which significant resources have been devoted, and for which some work remains. The headwaters of the Kuratau stream have received particular attention and are presented to an exceptionally high standard.
Moerangi has a small hydro-electric scheme to supply the farm buildings and feed into the national grid with any power surplus. Another hydro scheme is planned.
Good money was made in the 1950s by the tribe from cutting and selling the indigenous timber from the block, and the forestry operations left stumps which are still being cleared on Moerangi today for pasture development.
Moerangi is like a farm park with the extensive bush areas left within the boundary. The farmed land is easy rolling to flat. The big property drains to Lake Taupo through the Kuratau River and the station trust and managers take their environmental responsibilities very seriously. Winters are long and harsh and the topsoil cover is thin over pumice layers.
Moerangi carries 13,200 sheep, about 1200 cattle, nearly 2000 deer and 500 meat goats. This means the stock ratio is 55% sheep, 26% cattle, 15% deer and 4% goats.
Four years ago that ratio was 54% sheep, 37% cattle and 9% deer, with no goats.
In recent times cattle numbers have fallen and deer and goats numbers increased. The station is worked with two married couples, including Barry and Celia Popes as managers, and three single men.
Barry and Celia Pope have been in charge at Moerangi for five years, but they have worked for the owners for seven years, initially on an adjoining property, which they continue to manage. They report to the Puketapu 3A Incorporation management board headed by Jim Hoko. Puketapu 3A is part of the Tuwharetoa tribe around Lake Taupo. Mr Hoko commented that the timing of the Ballance Waikato Farm Environment Awards this year was very significant and recognized the work and foundations that had been set by previous committees of management over the years. It also highlighted the continuation of the high standards achieved in the farming industry on Ngati Tuwharetoa lands whilst maintaining the quality of care in the protection of Lake Taupo and waterways.
Three single men and a married couple staff the farm, in addition to Barry and Celia. Head shepherd Roger McDonald assists with the well-organised integration of all working parts that is essential on the property; Barry considers the staff a huge part of the farm system. One of the first things he and Celia did when they took over management at Moerangi was to instigate, then formalise a staff working plan which covered all bases and ensured the farm could operate well, regardless of who was running it.
There is now a firm structure held in place by a range of measures. There are operating manuals and reporting systems covering all aspects of the farm, regular staff meetings including one every Monday morning and, most importantly says Barry, there is a strong awareness amongst staff of their importance to the property.
Development consists of taking stumps and clearing waste timber and grassing, converting 30ha annually. Regular regrassing for the past three years consists of 100ha of cleared country going to pasja over the summer, for getting ewe weights up and finishing lambs, followed by autumn sowing of short-rotation ryegrass for two years pasture and then into new permanent pasture. The short-term new grass is used for finishing cattle and lambing of the hoggets.
Minimum tillage is used throughout, except for paddocks with a thick thatch which might receive one cultivation initially.
During the long winters some silage is used for the breeding cows and everything else gets only pasture. Moerangi likes to achieve pasture covers of 2100 kg DM/ha by May 1 for the 120-day rotation during the winter.
The sheep flock is based on Romney/Perendale ewes, with 10,000 MA and two-tooth ewes and 3200 ewe hoggets. Ewe hoggets go to the ram 43kgs liveweight, two-tooths at 60kgs and mixed age ewes at 65kgs. Rams go out to two mobs of MA ewes on April 7 and 14, then to two-tooths on April 21 and then to hoggets on May 6.
Kelso composite rams are used over all the ewes and a blackface terminal sire for all the hoggets. Ewes and two-tooths are doing 130% lambing and the hoggets 80%.
The breeding cow herd is Angus, with 800 cows and 174 heifers. Simmental bulls come from Hampton Downs and Glen Anthony and Angus bulls from Shian and Pine Park. Just under 50% of the cows go to Simmental and the rest to Angus.
About 200 replacement heifers from the pure Angus are kept and the balance are sold. The top and bottom of the crossbred and Angus steers are also sold and the middle steers kept for finishing on Moerangi. The aim is to sell those in spring but sometimes they have to be kept through into autumn to achieve weight levels.
Moerangi has moved away from trying to finish the deer progeny to killable weights and breeding its own Red hind replacements. The size of the deer farming operation on Moerangi has been increasing for the past four years with the focus now solely on breeding.
Cutting out the need to finish deer on the property has helped smooth the labour flow over the whole farm says Barry Pope. Two main factors influenced the decision to increase the emphasis on deer. The sharp drop of the cost of the animals, and the increasing awareness of the need to reduce nitrogen outflow into Lake Taupo - it is recognised the N output from farming deer is lower than some other classes of farming.
The Red deer hinds are now going to be mated to Wapiti stags and all the progeny sold around 60kgs for stags and 56kgs for hinds. There will be 1300 weaners for sale, about 1000 in March and the balance carried through the winter.
Meat goats are now being bred on Moerangi, based on Boers sourced three years ago from Alan Mitchell, Taupo, and more recently the Kikonui NZ breed developed by Garrick Batten, Nelson. Moerangi is working in with both Mitchell and Batten to build up numbers in the goat breeds. The goats run behind the deer fences to keep them contained. Return for the goat meat is running ahead of sheep meat at present, but the big bonus has been the effect of the goats on weeds like ragwort, blackberry and thistles. As yet not a lot of slaughter progeny have been produced.
Moerangi won the supreme award in the Ballance Waikato Farm Environment Awards this year. The judges said the combination of profitable farming with effective long-term stewardship of the land was being done very well on Moerangi, especially given the constraints of climate, soil quality, care of Lake Taupo and multiple ownership. There were nine finalists nominated from a field of 42 entrants from the Waikato region, contesting for a total of nine awards. Puketapu3A Incorporation won five awards including the premier award. The others were
The PPCS Livestock Farm, the PGG Wrightson Habitat Improvement Award, the Rabobank Land and Life Award and the Ballance Nutrient Management Award.
The awareness at Moerangi of the importance of waterways pre-dates the Popes, but the ongoing commitment to maintaining fences is an important part of daily management. The station has over 100kms of riparian fencing.
The award judges noted in their report: Protection of waterways is a major long-term goal to which significant resources have been devoted, and for which some work remains. The headwaters of the Kuratau stream have received particular attention and are presented to an exceptionally high standard.
Moerangi has a small hydro-electric scheme to supply the farm buildings and feed into the national grid with any power surplus. Another hydro scheme is planned.