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High Country Couple use Holistic Systems
This article was written by journalist Sandra Taylor and published in
March 2004 in the southern edition of Country-Wide as part of a
collection of stories about Duncan and Fiona Ensor.
It’s an area steeped in tradition, but Rakaia Gorge farmers Duncan and
Fiona Ensor are anything but. This dynamic couple, who farm Glenrock,
an 8300ha property on the south bank of the Rakaia, have looked outside
the proverbial square and have successfully incorporated holistic
management systems into their high-country farming operation.
As well as this they have developed the “Rockdale”, a high
producing composite sheep that performs well in the Rakaia Gorge’s High
Country environment.
The couple first looked at holistic management four years ago,
after Fiona’s parents Phillipa and Hamish Innes had adopted the system
on Mt Algidus, the property directly across the Rakaia River from
Glenrock
Duncan says it took a while to get his head around the
concept, but once he did he wanted to the whole hog.
The couple describe the system as one of the oldest
technologies in the world, mirroring the grazing patterns of animals on
the African Plains with fences acting as predators in a farm situation.
Under this system grass is better utilised, not only as feed but also
for providing soil cover to retain moisture and feed nutrient cycles.
“But the decision-making process is one of the biggest
things”, says Duncan.
The holistic system requires forward planning.
“You plan your profit first and then develop your expenses.”
He says 10% each year goes into growth, and then there are the
inescapable such as rates and interest.
The balance is maintenance, and flexible operating expenses
such as wages and insurances. But the most visual part of holistic
management is the grazing system.
Duncan and Fiona have taken aspects of a techno-grazing system
and adapted it to work with holistic grazing management, naming it the
Holtech grazing system.
The couple have fenced off 280ha, an area running below the
road to the river into 420, 50 metre “strips”, using 5kms of permanent
fences and 65km techno- electric fences.
Duncan says this strip size was chosen because it was simple
to work out areas for stock densities and stop nutrient transfer. An
extensive water reticulation system has been installed, which is able
to feed water to every paddock within the system via portable troughs.
Because of hard frosts, Fiona says they couldn’t have water
pipes above the ground so have had to opt for an underground system
with plugs. They have also planted a large number of poplars around the
grazing system to provide shade.
Unlike the many farmers who use holistic grazing systems, the
Ensors have elected not to routinely draw up grazing plans during the
growing seasons, as they find it too time consuming and can be
confusing.
Last winter the Ensors grazed 600 dairy cows on the grazing
system and although the exercise was financially viable, Duncan says
the cattle pugged the ground too much and he will not be doing it again
this year.
Instead the system will carry up to 1000 weaners through to
May to help improve pasture quality and control autumn growth, these
will be followed by lambs and two-tooth ewes. Ewes are lambed on easier
hill country, but brought into the Holtech grazing system in late
spring.
Duncan says the strips are mob-stocked at 1500su/ha densities
and stock are shifted every twenty-four hours or forty-eight hours.
This ensures no more than 20% of the base is removed from the pasture,
and litter is trampled back into the ground, preventing soils drying
out.
Last year Fiona and Duncan calved their hill-country bred
Angus cross and Hereford cows on the Holtech grazing block – as Duncan
says “on the move.”
“The cows were really good, they respected the fences and yet
they were stroppy hill run cows.”
The Ensors like to maintain a 3000kgDM/ha base on the Holtech
system, as measured by rising plate metre, increasing this to
3,500kgDM/ha going into winter, with one hard grazing every year. This
mitigates the need to feed out silage and hay over winter.
Duncan says the one downfall of the system is the difficulty
in controlling spring and autumn growth and so they are looking to
increase cow numbers to an optimum sized herd of 250 breeding cows and
finishing all progeny.
“This will give us some buffer stock for tight feed
situations.”
This number would be better able to maintain pasture quality
during spring and autumn.
The Ensors are breeding toward an all black cow herd, using an
Angus bull across their 220 breeding cows, as they aim to take
advantage of the premium paid for black calves destined for Ashburton’s
Five Star feedlot. Supplementary feed is not cut from the Holtech
grazing unit, as this removes nutrients and dry matter from the system.
Particular attention is paid to soil health and Duncan carries
out regular and very comprehensive soil tests, measuring macro as well
as micro-nutrients.
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