From policing the beat to walking the hills, Nick Rolley’s pathway to farming is not what you’d call conventional, but he’s found a clever way to maximise efficiency from first calvers on his Cambridge block, while minimising the impact on the land.
Searching for a profitable, but flexible, system that involved owning their own stock, Cambridge beef farmers Nick and Michelle Rolley hit on their policy of calving heifers and then, once the calves are weaned, killing them while still on the heifer schedule.
The couple’s 120 hectare (100ha effective) block boasts a prime location on the outskirts of Cambridge. Near Lake Karapiro, the farm’s back boundary is the pest-proof fence at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari.
The farm includes an 8ha QEII block and a chunk of land behind the pest-proof fence. Over the last 10 years, the couple has planted 15,000 native trees on the farm, retired areas and fenced off waterways.
With 1200-1400mm of rain annually, the allophanic soils are free draining and good for growing plenty of grass, but big heavy cattle on over winter tend to cut it up, hence the younger cattle are a good fit environmentally.
With location comes land value. Opportunity for expansion is limited, and Nick and Michelle have created a viable system from their block, on a smaller scale. Michelle works full-time off farm as a financial advisor and branch manager for Forsyth Barr, and Nick spends a day or two a fortnight off-farm working as a farm consultant for Total Ag. The couple has two boys, Finn, 15, and Blake, 12.
Nick completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Massey University and spent time working for Rabobank and National (now ANZ) before a 15-year career in the police force in Hamilton as a Detective and then Detective Sergeant.
At the age of 40, Nick left the police and returned to his rural roots, realising a long-held dream to own a farm.
“The timing was perfect. I wanted to go farming at 16, but my mother convinced me to get something involving higher education behind me. We’ve been here 16 years now. We had a little lifestyle block, and 10 years ago, we managed to secure the neighbour’s farm and turn it into a commercial operation, on a small scale. Even though I’m working, it doesn’t feel like it.”
Having the off-farm income takes the seasonal cashflow of farming out of the equation and gives them flexibility.
When they started out, they went down the dairy grazer pathway. “When we bought the farm, we had truckloads of debt, and it meant we didn’t have to buy capital stock.”
The first couple of seasons were plain sailing, with favourable weather conditions and plenty of grass growth to match feed demand. But Nick soon discovered that with good seasons come challenging ones.
“The heifers grew well, and I was patting myself on the back. Then we had a few dry summers, grass didn’t grow, and we used all the supplementary feed we had made, and had to buy in more. Every day, I was driving around working out how much money I was losing.”
“We discovered the pitfalls of having stock we had over-committed to, and we needed to send them back in good condition. The flexibility was zero.”
Searching for a profitable, but flexible, system that involved owning their own stock, they hit on their current policy of calving heifers and then killing them while still on the heifer schedule. This highly efficient system means the Rolleys get a quality calf and, once weaned, send mum to the works on a good schedule. This also means they avoid having heavy cattle on during the winter months.
They do run a small flock of 150-200 terminal ewes on the steeper country, reserving the less erodible country for the cattle. It’s a simple policy; they finish everything on grass and aim to have 80% of lambs killed off mum before Christmas.
Nick puts in a 3 ha rape forage brassica crop for in-calf heifers in February-March. “If we’re going to feel a pinch for feed, it’s then. It also gives the grass a break and means we avoid facial eczema, which is a saving in not having to bolus cattle. They spend a month on the crop with baleage, and it allows us to do pasture renewal where we can.”
The cattle policy allows them to offload stock in early autumn. All weaner steers are sold at the Frankton Weaner Fair, held in the first week of March each year. Nick worked out that if he could make a margin of $600-$800 per steer, he would be winning. Since he started selling at the fair, he’s never averaged less than $1000/head. This year, the top pen averaged 283kg and sold for a whopping $1995/head. His average for the 32 steers sold was $1860 (averaged 266kg).
“This year is certainly out the gate (price-wise), although it is going to be slightly painful buying in replacements.”
All heifer calves are retained and calved as yearlings. They aim to calve 100 Angus or Angus cross heifers annually, putting between 110 and 120 to the bull. They pregnancy test in February and get rid of any empties.
Nick aims for a 90% calving rate from the 100-odd that are in-calf. While calving itself is usually good, it’s Theileria that really stings them, and Nick is yet to discover a magic solution, losing about five calves a year to the disease.
“Ticks transmit the disease, which breaks down the red blood cells in the animal, and they get really weak and anaemic. Older cattle that contract it will generally be dull but tend to come right if you take the pressure off. Calves, if they get dehydrated, will lose their suck reflex. It’s the biggest animal health challenge that we have.”
When it comes to treating calves, it’s a case of lighting a candle and praying. “It’s a fine line. You want to take the pressure off so they don’t get stressed, but I think sometimes the stress of treating them can tip them over the edge. It’s a terrible disease.”
To combat Theileria Nick tries to keep tick numbers down in the first place, but he’s yet to find anything that eliminates it. Those dams that come through it will have immunity, which they pass on to their calves. For this reason, when buying cattle, Nick tries to source them from areas where they have been exposed to Theileria, usually north of their farm.
Generally, 95% of the in-calf heifers will produce a live calf; it’s the Theileria that knocks off another 5% post calving.
All heifer calves are kept, while all steer calves are sold the first week of March at Frankton. Heifers are weaning a couple of weeks earlier; steers are weaned the day of the sale. As soon as the dams have reared a calf, if they’re in good condition, they are sent to the works, still on the heifer schedule (as opposed to the mature cow schedule). Everything is killed by Wilson Hellaby in Auckland.
It’s a simple but effective system – Nick is basically fattening a heifer and getting a calf out of her along the way.
“We are killing them at 500 to 550kg liveweight, they are big girls when they go, but they go before winter, and we avoid having them over winter. If it’s a dry season, I’ll put them all on the truck, no matter what their condition. If it’s a good season, I might hold a few lighter ones for longer. It depends on the feed and the season.”
Nick’s ideal animal can milk well enough to rear him a good calf, but retain its condition and go to the works. He finds the Angus heifers, particularly their own homebred ones, fit the bill perfectly.
Unsurprisingly, calving ease and low birthweight traits are high on Nick’s list of considerations when selecting yearling bulls. He also looks at the 200-day and 600-day growth rates, given that he is targeting a marketable product for the March weaner fair.
“We want easy calving and a high growth rate. My policy when looking for a bull is to target those in the top 20% of the breed for calving ease traits, including calving ease of the daughters, which is important because I’m retaining them for breeding. I then like to have 200-600-day growth rates at, or above the breed average.”
Figures are important, but visual assessment plays a role. Nick admits he has purchased bulls on figures alone in the past, and regretted it. “It’s got to be structurally sound, and you need a bull you’re happy to keep on and like the look of. Temperament is important, too.”
With a smaller operation, he balances affordability with the traits he’s chasing. When putting a value on a bull, he has to consider the fact that it will only be on the farm for a maximum of two seasons, and be killed before it’s three, when they’re getting too big to put to heifers (and with the potential for his daughters to be coming through).
“We have to be mindful of the commercial reality. I’m not building a stud or retaining the heifers for a long time. We can’t afford to buy elite bulls, those real curve bending bulls. I find I can usually get a bull that suits us, at an affordable price,” he says.
“Bulls are expensive, but the value you get from good genetics, peace of mind at calving and a good, saleable product come to the weaner fairs, it’s worth it.”
His aim is for no more than 3% assisted ‘normal presentations’ calvings in his heifers. “The six weeks over calving in spring are probably the biggest stressful time on the farm for us. If it goes well, you sleep a lot better at night.”
For Nick, bulls from Mark and Sherrie at Stokman Angus in Rotorua tick all the boxes in terms of calving ease, growth rates and ability for daughters to have calves and milk well.
“They have a big selection of bulls and plenty that fall into the categories we are looking for. We have purchased two bulls a couple of years ago and another two last year. Some of the steers that just sold at Frankton were Stokman progeny.”
The bulls have impressed Nick enough to stay for two seasons, and he plans to purchase more yearling bulls from Stokman Angus in the future.
“One bull got an infection last year, which was no fault of theirs, but Mark put another bull straight on the truck so I was covered for the rest of mating. Their level of service is amazing; they really look after their clients. When mating was finished, I sent him home.”
The reason Nick chose the Angus breed is simple. He sees they are always sought after, and a line of attractive black cattle attracts buyers. Sourcing replacements is generally easy, as there are enough numbers out there and, perhaps most importantly, they perform.