Tribute to Romney group originals at 50-year celebrations

CHB's Bay de Lautour, third from left, with other original WRIG members at the Masterton 50th celebrations, from left: John Hume, Bev Oliver, Bay de Lautour, Holmes Warren, Bill Hume and John Wingate.

Retired Central Hawke's Bay farmer Bay de Lautour was one of the original members recognised and thanked at the 50th anniversary of the Wairarapa Romney Improvement Group.

The Te Whangai stud founded by Bay is the only Hawke's Bay member of the Wairarapa-based group.

Bay and wife Shona settled a 900ha block at Flemington in the 1950s. Their son Hamish and his wife Wynne started farming there in 1984 and their son Harry and wife Kate took over the farm, now 1500ha, in 2017.

About 200 breeders and commercial farmers gathered in Masterton to celebrate the group's milestone. Established in 1970, the group (known as WRIG) has a breeding base of 32,000 fully recorded females and supplies more than 5000 romney rams a year (plus romney cross), influencing at least 20 per cent of the self-replacing portion of the New Zealand sheep industry.

One of the original members, Bill Hume, talked about how the group started in the days when lambing percentages were low and wool value was high. Holmes Warren had started selecting for fertility when he first returned to Turanganui in 1948. Hume, Warren and the late John Daniell at Wairere hatched a plan to form a Wairarapa breeding group and an inauspicious inaugural meeting was held in Masterton in 1970.

Other invitations were then extended to Trevor Oliver, Ivan Stringfellow, John Wingate, John Daniell, Ian Campbell, and John and Bill Hume. The only person outside Wairarapa was Bay de Lautour in Central Hawke's Bay.

"Wool was so important when the group started and we put a lot of time and effort into improving style and selecting for weight," Hume said.

"We have all hoped that some day there will be recognition of its attributes and that this wonderful fibre will have some value. We have all hoped, but the two people who have worked so hard to have wool recognised and to market it successfully are Bay and Hamish de Lautour. They have been untiring in their efforts to improve returns from wool and we thank them for that."

Bay de Lautour was made a member of the NZ Order of Merit in 2000 for his services to farming and dedication to NZ's wool growers and the wider industry. Both Bay and Hamish are passionate about their involvement with the Primary Wool Co-operative and initiatives such as Just Shorn (carpets) and the New Zealand Yarn carpet yarn spinning mill.

Sandy and Tim Wallace joined WRIG in 1980, John Le Grove in 1983, and Roger Barton in 1992. George Williams took over John Hume's flock in 2016 (after Marcus Edge).

"The sheep industry has seen ewe numbers halve in the past 20 years but the amount of lamb produced has remained about the same. The Wairarapa Romney Improvement Group has played a big part in this by supplying rams to the national flock and improving fertility and growth rate," Hume said.

"I am sure it will continue to do so for the next 50 years in the hands of the next generation of breeders."

Commercial farmer John McFadzean made a toast to the original group members.

"Words fail to express what the group members have done for us all: financially, as stockmen, and in terms of integrity and knowledge; you have been great mentors to us all."