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Striving for Balance, Living Holistically on a Lifestyle Block
Allan and Carol Gorton are an inspirational couple who together have found the courage to make some big changes in their lives. When the farm company they managed wound up and the land sold, the Gortons embarked on a journey to develop greater flexibility in their lives. It was then that a course in Holistic Management® set them off in new direction. When they began training they had bought a 20ha lifestyle block at Mabel Bush, Central Southland. Allan had a job at Woodlands Research Station, while Carol set up their hydranga operation and worked the property. They both wanted to have more control with their lives. As a result, the couple have used Holistic Management to think outside the square for investment opportunities and focus on quality of life. The decisions they made in the 2002/03 summer highlight the kind of thinking they are now using. In 2002, they over wintered 44 bulls and 30 ewes and battled against a cold wet spring. By the time all the lambs had arrived the grass was running out. They were running three mobs, their lambing ewes were in one while their bulls were split into two mobs to prevent the lighter bulls from being shunted around by the larger ones. They tried putting everything in the one mob to allow longer pasture recovery and grow more grass but it just created headaches as the bulls got bored and chased the ewes and lambs. With Allan away at his job, Carol did much of the cattle work despite her own heavy workload with the flowers. The hydrangas take up less than quarter of a hectare and are labour intensive. Only 1000 blooms were harvested last season, but when the 400 bushes produce 30 blooms each at $2/bloom, the income will out perform grazing on a per heactare basis. The Gortons have resisted expanding further because of the complications to management and family life. The main bull mob was being shifted twice daily to prevent them bunching in corners when the heavy rains pushed through. They were gaining between 1 - 3 kgs/day but it was punishing the paddocks. Pugging was becoming a problem and they began considering selling their bulls as stores. Without a decent recovery period, their paddocks would lose their productivity quickly from overgrazing. To reduce labour and beating up their land further they sold their animals for $575/head in late November rather than hang on to June. “We decided to go for the dollars rather than the grade,” said Allan. “It was better to have the money in our hand than be worrying all summer about the condition of our stock and land.” It proved lucrative as the price schedule dropped quickly. The five they kept, feed, and sold 5˝ months later in May received only $581. The price drop was due to the east coast drought and the glut of beef from the Australian and American markets. There was no point in buying more animals so using the Marginal Reaction guideline they explored other investments and chose a couple of rental properties in Invercargill. It proved to be a great decision. Since purchasing the properties they have returned 15% on their investment and their capital value has appreciated 40% in 10 months. “We could sell and make on the capital gain,” says Allan, “but until we have a pressing need for the money or another cunning plan it may as well carry on returning the 15%.” Selling now would also expose them to excessive tax issues. With the heavy animals gone, they focused on what they could do to regenerate their land and biological capital. It desperately needed resting over the summer. By cropping it for silage they generated an additional $6,500 and allowed the pastures to rest. Yet despite the protection of the silage crop, huge cracks appeared in the soil surface. Allan puts the cracks down to “natures way of aerating the pasture as it dries out and allowing the air to get back into the soil after being capped from pugging.” They rested their property further to let the soil dry out and began contract grazing ram hoggets for two months from April. Allan reckoned it took till May before the grass fully recovered and got its dark green colour back. Only then did the big cracks disappear. Since June they grazed their ewes over the winter to build a feed bank. This spring they contracted 60 bulls and despite having another cold wet spring, their land is handling it well. They can now drop the bulls early, or if the grass and the schedule hold, take them on to June for finishing. One of the things they’ve tested is working with younger stock. An older bull crushed Allan against the yards in the 2002 winter so with Carol doing much of the shifting, smaller animals pose less risk of personal injury. During the 2003 winter the Gortons decided for a lifestyle with greater flexibility. With only one child at home, and Allan questioning whether his job was paying what he was worth, they explored whether seasonal work would provide more flexibility to do their own thing. Allan left the Research Station in August knowing work would be easier to find during the spring and summer months. Firstly a lambing beat and then contract ploughing, the Gortons are now deciding their next move. “Tractor driving provides more money per week, the hours are much longer,” says Allan, “but there is more flexibility to do other things.” His job will finish in April. As they are keen on seeing more of Australia they may go and secure a similar job there for the 2004 winter months. To provide the flexibility for this plan they are thinking of putting one of their paddocks in swedes and offering winter grazing to their neighbour if he will shift their sheep. They would arrive back home in time for lambing and the start of the flower season. Allan has worked in a number of roles in the past five years including as an agricultural tutor and auditing properties for ISO 9000. These roles introduced Allan to many ideas that he and Carol test for their own operation. One such option they may try if they don’t go to Australia is to run their property for hogget grazing. A breeding company offers hoggets for 12 months where the graziers can mate them, keep the lamb, wool, and receive an additional $31.00/hd for grazing. The breeding company then sell the animals on the two tooth market. Graziers can make about $80/hd without coming up with the capital to purchase the stock. Yet despite all the successes they’ve had, the Gortons are still learning to use the Holistic Management framework. Keen to support their children’s interests, they tested whether their son, Andrew, could have a paddock car to learn to drive and fix engines and cars in general. All was well until the neighbour mentioned he worked nights and was trying to sleep while Andrew charged around the paddocks without an exhaust. “Obviously, we didn’t consider all the testing guidelines,” says Allan. They’ve since put a muffler on the car and improved relations with their neighbour. As a result of their training, the Gortons are generating an income from their property without exploiting its potential. They look beyond the farm gate for investment opportunities and they have found the courage to take themselves in a new direction. Quality of life is what drives the choices and decisions they make about their lifestyle. They now feel they are getting closer to the kind of balance they want in their life and business.
Published in New
Zealand Lifestyle Farmer May/June 2004 |