New Zealand Pt. 6: Cattle & Deer & Food, Oh My!

Friday, November 21, 2014

On Friday, we took off for the hills to see Mike and Sharon Barton.  Mike and Sharon are former educators from Auckland, who left the city for a simpler life in Taupo.  They chose their farm because of Mike’s love of hunting and fishing and the amazing views of Lake Taupo. This was definitely one of the most beautiful farms that I had ever seen.  However, they bought their farm in the middle of the Nitrogen controversy in 2004.  

            The urine of livestock contains high levels of nitrogen, which causes hot spots, or concentrated levels of nitrogen in one small area, when they urinate.  In the Taupo area, they have pumice soils that are free draining, which means that within the next 80 years the nitrogen from an animal that urinates today will eventually leach through the soil into the lake.  Lake Taupo is the biggest lake in the Southern Hemisphere and the fourth cleanest lake in the world, so it is very nitrogen sensitive.  High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus cause algae growth which clouds up the lake.  

            Therefore to prevent a problem, in 2005, the Waikato Regional Council initiated constraints on the amount of nitrogen that can be applied to the ground within the catchment.  A catchment is the entire area of land that eventually drains into the lake, known as a watershed here in Iowa.  The Lake Taupo catchment is about 80% native vegetation with only about 20% of it used for agricultural purposes.   

           One of the solutions was to cap the stocking levels for livestock farmers, which means to put a limit on the number of livestock they can own.  Each farmer is not allowed to own more animals than what they owned when the cap was put in place.  This means that it is impossible for livestock farmers to ever grow or expand, so the Barton’s figured out a way to add value to their beef, by branding their product.  

            They created Taupo Beef, which they market to higher-end restaurants in the Taupo area, as grass-fed, antibiotic free meat.  This allows them to charge a premium for their beef (about $20/kg for prime cuts) and has allowed them to make more money within the same stocking rate.  They also switched to using market heifers that can reach market weight in about 18-22 months, much quicker than the 24 months it takes a grassfed steer to make weight.  They also market their cattle at about 800 pounds, so they can finish them quicker, and give their clients, the gourmet chefs, the smaller cuts that they prefer.

             Mike commented that in Taupo, they were not really in farming to feed the starving million, which I thought was interesting.  They can’t really compete with larger markets, mainly because they will never produce much more beef than they are producing now.  They have to be able to make more money with the resources they currently have.  

The Bartons' farm is located in the hills just above Lake Taupo

             There were also comments made about antibiotics in U.S. agriculture and grass-fed beef versus conventionally raised, that once again made me wonder where these perceptions originated.  I do not necessarily have a problem with someone’s preferences as far as organic or grass-fed, because the way I see it, we all have essentially the same goal, we just have different methods of reaching it. What I have an issue with is the misinformation and the fear mongering that is happening.  The Barton’s believed that grass-fed beef tastes better than grain fed, probably because they are used to it and it is what available to them.  I prefer grain fed, but that is what I was raised on and what is currently in my freezer.  I’m not really sure if one way is healthier than the other, since currently there are no conclusive studies on the issue. It is all a matter of opinion really, and using your resources in the best possible way. 

            Next, we stopped at the Maori-owned Rangiatea Station where they raise deer, milk sheep and harvest their forests on about 1600 hectares, with 1700 more hectares in native brush for conservation purposes.  They are completely family owned with over 900 shareholders that span about 3-4 generations of the family.  They are also in the Taupo catchment so they have to adhere to the capped stocking rates.  Maori actually happen to own about 75% of the Lake Taupo catchment.  

Deer happen to take up less stocking units than beef cattle, however they are also flighty and still not very domesticated so they can be more difficult to wrangle.  They take many safety precautions when handling the deer, because of their tendency to spook easily.  The way their barn is set up, to the methods that they described, it is obvious that every situation has been thought of and prepared for.  Also, because of they are still being domesticated, they selectively breed mostly based on temperament and growth. Most of their venison products, about 50%, are shipped to Europe around Christmas, when venison consumption is on the rise.  

            A trust council made up of 6 members of the family is responsible for most of the decisions made about the land.  They usually have a 3 year rotation, but if the family elders feel as if they are effective at their job, they may be asked to stay on longer.  The way things were set up is very interesting.  Obviously, here in Iowa we have family-owned farms, but I don’t know of any that have 900 family members.  It sounds very complicated to me and I’m not entirely sure how they keep everything straight, especially with how much involvement the government has, since they were legally required to develop this side of the lake, after the government returned the land to their family.  Maoris have a different view of the land, than the average Kiwi, because Kiwis see the land as a stepping stone.  They do not get very attached and will sell if a they have a chance at a better opportunity.  The Maori will never sell the land they own.  I think it stems from their desire to conquer. They want to feel as though they belong somewhere, and the land will always provide an income for their family.
          I am a very opinionated person.  I like to think I have an open mind, but at the same time I'm pretty stubborn so it's usually pretty hard to change my mind.  So I took off for New Zealand, expecting to learn all about their methods, but I went with the mindset that my way was still the best way.  An amazing thing happened though.  I realized that my way might be the best way for my family, but it would not work for New Zealand's farmers, just like raising our cattle entirely on grass would never work for my family.  No one was right, no one was wrong.  Everybody was just doing the best they could for their livestock, and really, what more could you ask from a farmer?