Fred grew up 25 min away on Park Farm. Historically a sheep and mixed cropping enterprise that would eventually transition to viticulture. Park Farm has been in our family since 1867. Kaituna Ridges was purchased in 2021.
Nikita grew up in the Bay of Plenty on a family dairy farm not far from Edgecumbe - where the Watkins family still are today.
Farm Stats
- Total Area: 826ha - 178ha Flat, 634ha Hill.
- Rainfall LTA 1500mm,
- 700mm - 2400mm Range
- Regular Flooding
- 80 - 100 days of Fog
Steep Hill - Swamp Flat
- 0m - 824m Vertical Range
- 126ha Native Bush
- Superphosphate or Lime most years
- Gorse, Burdock, Barberry, Hawthorn, Thistles - main weeds
Livestock
- 3000 Commercial ewes + Repl
- 1000 Stud ewes + Repl
- Lambs 50% store - 50% finished
- 120 Angus cows + Repl
- 320 Trade cattle
Where we lamb our hoggets
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Growth
What good is a worm tolerant sheep if it can't make money? Young sheep have to grow.
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Extreme Pressure
We run 1000 ewes plus hoggets and we lamb all of them undrenched. If you are born on a farm, you should thrive on that farm. Drenching dilutes genetic merit.
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Data built on Structure
Many flocks that focus mostly on breeding values lose their conformation. We started with confirmation and will keep it as we maximise provable performance.
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SIL Recorded
Supported by nextGen Agri, we record most traits and endeavour to measure as many as possible. Reproduction, growth, dag, body condition, eczema, CARLA, nextResist, resilience, eye muscle - the list goes on.
