Zane and Ngaire Evans - White Star Station
The Evans family has farmed on White Star station, near Colville, for 6 generations, since 1864. The original settlers cleared the land of kauri and floated them down the streams to Colville for transport to Auckland. Farming gradually took over from timber. Neville Evans still lives nearby at Waitete Bay. Son Zane and daughter-in-law Ngaire continue to manage the home property, with help from sons Karl and Matthew and daughter Belinda. It is one of the biggest properties on the Coromandel Peninsula, and one and a half hours driving time from Thames.
The property occupies a 1260ha area of valley and ranges, half of which is still native bush or exotic forest. The permanent pastures are utilised for sheep and cattle, with 1000 Romney-Perendale ewes and 300 Hereford cows.
The soils are loamy flats and clay hills. Fencing consists of 50 paddocks ranging in size from 1ha to 40ha. The fertiliser use is 15% potash superphosphate, dicalcic and lots of lime. The Colville community is self-supporting, with a co-operatively owned general store, which is an historic building, and a farmer-owned saleyards.
The Whitestar Herefords have been farmed since the Evans went out of dairying 30 years ago, because the milk company would not pick up so far north of the Hauraki Plains. Some cows in the herd are up to 10 years old, and 50 replacement heifers are kept from the annual calving, picked on conformation. Bulls are brought in every three years or so, sourced from neighbouring Ward family, Neems or Wills at Morrinsville.
There are up to 600 Hereford cattle on the property, comprising cows, heifers, bulls, steers and calves. Except the replacement heifers, all other progeny are sold as weaners at six to eight months, many in the annual Colville Weaner Sale, in March. The calving percentage is in the high 90s and the herd has TB clear status.
The calves are handled often, starting at 1-2 days old when cows and calves are shifted off bare paddocks onto grassy ones - this taming makes the bulls quiet when they are sold and old enough to breed on dairy farms. Whitestar does a lot of strip grazing - avoiding pasture wastage and cleaning up uneven growth. For the last two yrs been buying in 40 bales of silage and the cattle do well on that. Still have 2500 -3000 bales of hay to feed out as well.
For more than 50 years the Colville community has owned and operated its own saleyards, in which an annual cattle sale is held in March. Another is held in September.
Three farms now part-own the salyards, which is one of the very few farmer-owned saleyards left in the country. Agents who sell there pay a small percentage of the sale proceeds to the saleyards committee, where it is used for improvements. The weaner sale attracts a good crowd of purchasers from around the top half of the North Island and usually results in good prices. This is because the weaners are renowned as good shifters, coming from hardy Coromandel stock.
Some local farmers walk their cattle to the saleyards, a practice which became a little contentious when the Thames District Council proposed restrictions on droving because of inconvenience to tourists travelling in Coromandel. In practice, this restriction has not been enforced.
White Star station offers a range of holiday accommodation, including camping, back-packers, bush lodges and houses. There are shared facilities for campers and back-packers in the hostel, bush cabins some 2kms through the farm and two houses for families. The attractions include horse trekking (run by Belinda), bush walks and participation in farm activities. Another farm holiday activity is walking to the waterfalls in the bush. White Star is close to many beaches and fishing spots.
The property occupies a 1260ha area of valley and ranges, half of which is still native bush or exotic forest. The permanent pastures are utilised for sheep and cattle, with 1000 Romney-Perendale ewes and 300 Hereford cows.
The soils are loamy flats and clay hills. Fencing consists of 50 paddocks ranging in size from 1ha to 40ha. The fertiliser use is 15% potash superphosphate, dicalcic and lots of lime. The Colville community is self-supporting, with a co-operatively owned general store, which is an historic building, and a farmer-owned saleyards.
The Whitestar Herefords have been farmed since the Evans went out of dairying 30 years ago, because the milk company would not pick up so far north of the Hauraki Plains. Some cows in the herd are up to 10 years old, and 50 replacement heifers are kept from the annual calving, picked on conformation. Bulls are brought in every three years or so, sourced from neighbouring Ward family, Neems or Wills at Morrinsville.
There are up to 600 Hereford cattle on the property, comprising cows, heifers, bulls, steers and calves. Except the replacement heifers, all other progeny are sold as weaners at six to eight months, many in the annual Colville Weaner Sale, in March. The calving percentage is in the high 90s and the herd has TB clear status.
The calves are handled often, starting at 1-2 days old when cows and calves are shifted off bare paddocks onto grassy ones - this taming makes the bulls quiet when they are sold and old enough to breed on dairy farms. Whitestar does a lot of strip grazing - avoiding pasture wastage and cleaning up uneven growth. For the last two yrs been buying in 40 bales of silage and the cattle do well on that. Still have 2500 -3000 bales of hay to feed out as well.
For more than 50 years the Colville community has owned and operated its own saleyards, in which an annual cattle sale is held in March. Another is held in September.
Three farms now part-own the salyards, which is one of the very few farmer-owned saleyards left in the country. Agents who sell there pay a small percentage of the sale proceeds to the saleyards committee, where it is used for improvements. The weaner sale attracts a good crowd of purchasers from around the top half of the North Island and usually results in good prices. This is because the weaners are renowned as good shifters, coming from hardy Coromandel stock.
Some local farmers walk their cattle to the saleyards, a practice which became a little contentious when the Thames District Council proposed restrictions on droving because of inconvenience to tourists travelling in Coromandel. In practice, this restriction has not been enforced.
White Star station offers a range of holiday accommodation, including camping, back-packers, bush lodges and houses. There are shared facilities for campers and back-packers in the hostel, bush cabins some 2kms through the farm and two houses for families. The attractions include horse trekking (run by Belinda), bush walks and participation in farm activities. Another farm holiday activity is walking to the waterfalls in the bush. White Star is close to many beaches and fishing spots.