Page 6 - Ngaputahi 2021 Catalogue eBook

ON FARM WITH ANGUS
WI PERE TRUST

living up to legacy for

SUCCESS

STORY BY CHEYENNE NICHOLSON
AND PHOTOS BY LOUISE SAVAGE

ARTICLE REPRINTED COURTESY
OF THE 2021 ANGUS MAGAZINE

Tim Rhodes’ love of the land is immediately apparent. The Wi heifers are finished each year here alongside the 160 breeding cows.
Pere Trust general manager for agribusiness has seen the Trust’s Otara is the main breeding farm. Its 2573ha of mixed hill and flat
farms through the ever-evolving nature of business, farming and country houses the maternal ewe flock which breeds replacements
technology for 17 years. for Tangihanga.
A lot of thought, learning and care have gone into improving “Each farm has its own set of strengths, really, and they all work
and advancing all areas of the farming business while preserving in together nicely,” says Tim. “Effectively, we have two breeding
the deep history that comes with the land. One of Wi Pere Trust’s farms which feed into a finishing farm. Otara has a nice mix of hill
main focus points has been on the genetics of its Angus-based herd, country and flat land, Tangihanga has nice gentle rolling pumice
which Tim says has held the farms in good stead as suppliers for country, which is good for wintering, and the finishing farm has
the Pure South Handpicked programme. It's a pretty big job, but some excellent flats.”
there's no place Tim would rather be. Being on the east coast, one the major challenges that face all
Wi Pere Trust was founded in 1899. Wi Pere himself was three farms is drought. Over the years a strategy has evolved for
described as a 'man ahead of his time'. He was a Maori member tackling this head-on: Go hard, and go early. A multi-tier drought
of parliament, a solider, Maori Land Court conductor, legislator, strategy means a reasonably large supplementary feed inventory
historian and entrepreneur. The trust emerged during a time of is maintained to cover the breeding cows and to cover any trading
transition in New Zealand, and it has been said that it was only cattle that might be on the farm.
due to the united focus and determination of Wi and his whanau “We make buying and selling decisions within the trading
to preserve the ancestral lands they owned that his descendants component of the business. We trade close to 1600 cattle a year, up
are fortunate to still own them today. to 2000 in a good year and anywhere from 10,000-15,000 lambs,
Today, Wi Pere is a business hub. Agribusiness, horticulture, so we have a lot of buffer and a few safety valves. We've learnt you
forestry and a quarry cover thousands of hectares owned by the have to go early and go harder than what you think each time.”
trust. The agribusiness sector alone is home to 5,000ha of land with Outside of a drought, the farms are well-positioned to cope with
around 60,000 stock units split into three farms in the Gisborne any major challenges that come their way. A lot of this is down to
region. the development that's been done over the years, and Tim says
A pretty big job it's one of the biggest strengths of all the farms. What were once
The three farms making up the agribusiness unit are Tangihanga, traditional extensive stations are now fairly intensive farms. Part of
Wi Pere Finishing Farm and Otara Station. With a mix of sheep and this evolution has been in the form of subdividing more paddocks,
beef, each has a dedicated purpose, yet all work together towards putting in water reticulation and irrigation on suitable land. This
achieving overarching business and farming goals. has opened to door to some big gains across multiple parts of the
The Wi Pere Finishing Farm is around 870ha of easy finishing business, in particular, stock performance.
country complete with 180ha of irrigation and finishes lambs bred “We went from having 70 per cent calving rate to consistently 90
on the other two farms. The farm also trades lambs and bulls, as per cent. This, along with our breeding programme for both sheep
the seasons permit, with up to 150ha put into cash crop each year. and cattle, has really taken us to the next level.”
Tangihanga is 1450ha of easy hill country, home to a terminal Of course, none of this could be possible without the 16-strong
ewe flock and cattle finishing system. Around 300 steers and 300 team that manage and work the three farms. Having a solid team

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