Day 5

Jane explained the sale barn located on the Kairuru Hereford Stud property.

Today we started by heading to Kairuru Polled Hereford Stud in Reporoa. At this operation, we met with Kevin and Jane McDonald and their three sons, Jeff, Scott, and Graham. We first learned about the family history this operation has, and that now one son, Jeff, has begun to buy his way into the operation. 

Kairuru Hereford Stud spans across over 400 hundred acres. Kairuru raises 100 stud cows, 100 Hereford Friesian cross calves, and up to 500 sheep during the winter months. Kairuru Hereford Stud does not do any grain production, however they do grow around 20 acres of kale each year. 

Kairuru operates one of the most successful calf sales in the North Island. Kevin has a passion for marketing and works rigorously to ensure that there are buyers and sellers for each sale. 

The Hereford Bull, Smokey is used as their main clean-up bull on the farm. Smokey is strong in all characteristics they bred for on the farm.

  

In respect to the Kiaruru Hereford, a bull is entered into the New Zealand Beef Expo each year and in 2003 they won Wrightson Champion of Champions. Additionally, Kairuru Hereford Stud has placed in the top six most years thereafter. They have also been recognized with awards from other countries. 

The Hereford Young Bulls on the property provided an excellent photo opportunity for us in the pasture.

While Kairuru Hereford Stud has found success, there a magnitude of strategies behind each mating. Since Herefords are hard to breed, the value can decrease very quickly if certain markings or traits are not present. Herefords are susceptible to eye cancer, therefore a producer would want to breed for eye pigment and long eye lashes. Additionally, for an optimal range, building a consistent pedigree would include well-muscled, fat cover, intramuscular fat, structural soundness, and calving ease. Breeding for smaller calves with an adequate calving ease is important because most semen is sold to commercial producers who are dairy producers. 

The Huka Falls are located along the Waikato River.

After the Hereford Stud operation, we headed to Taupo. Along the way we stopped at Huka Falls to experience the beauty of the Waikato River. The river has developed into one of the country’s major electricity-producing rivers. Today, it supplies eight hydroelectric stations and provides cooling water to three other stations. Upon arriving to Taupo, we enjoyed lunch along the lake at Dixie Browns. Lake Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand and the second largest freshwater lake in geopolitical Oceania, spanning across 238 sq. miles.  

Following lunch, we headed to Napier in Hawkes Bay. From there, we traveled to Foothill Orchard owned by Derek and Carol Barnes. Purchased in 1999, the Barnes manage 21 hectares of mixed orchard. This includes, Gold Kiwifruit, Stonefruit and apples. The orchard packs 100-125 tonnes of Zespri Gold Kiwifruit, 75 tonnes of Stonefruit and over 175 tonnes of apples for export. 

The Foothill Orchard produces many fruits including kiwi. The variety shown is the Sungold variety, requiring a license to grow.

  

We began our tour by enjoying some delicious New Zealand apples. After, we had the opportunity to see kiwis and talk with Derek and Carol about their kiwi operation. In this crop, the Barnes hope to produce around 100 tonnes of kiwi. Each field will have approximately 60 flowers per square meter and 15,000 trays per hectare. To plant kiwis, it will cost around 1 million dollars a hectare. In addition to this, kiwi producers are required to have a license to grow a Sungold variety because of the high growing demand for Sungold. This year, 75 million trays of Sungold will be produced. This is a huge production increase in Sungold, since last year Hayward green, the biggest producer of Sungold kiwis, produced one million trays. 

Derek Barnes is explaining his operation to us in his kiwi field.

Pollination is another big activity when producing kiwi in New Zealand. For about $7,000, the orchard will bring in 24 bee hive boxes for 10 days. Timing on pollination is critical as a flower is only ready for pollination for 2 days. Another important factor Derek and Carol consider when growing kiwis is cover from the wind and sunlight. The Foothill Orchard was the first kiwi block to be covered in New Zealand and the practice has grown from there. 

A cover is placed over the kiwi plants to protect them from wind and excess UV light exposure. The Foothill Orchard was the first operation in New Zealand to utilize covering over kiwi plants.

 

  

We ended the evening at Mission Estate Winery for dinner and wine tasting. In the midst of a three course meal we had the opportunity to taste four of their wines. Two of the wines we tasted were white wines and the other two wines were reds. 

We stayed in Scenic Hotel in Napier for the evening. 

Abigail Hopp and Corey Berscheit

Editor's note: This bog entry as well as the following 3 entries were delayed to due a combination of no Internet connectivity for the people in New Zealand and the editor in Brookings being out of the office for a few days. Apologies for the delay. It is now Monday the 13th almost noon and everything is caught up.