Wairarapa’s Hume family farming for six generations and still going strong

Gleniti rams being shifted.

The Hume family has been farming at Pirinoa in the Wairarapa since the 1850s. Six generations have now farmed the land which was originally purchased by David Hume’s great-great-grandfather Peter. The stud is called Gleniti and is on part of the land originally purchased by Peter Hume.

David Hume (left) and father Bill in the yard with the rams.

David Hume worked with his father Bill for many years - although at age 84, Bill spends less time on the farm these days and David oversees the work. David and his wife Sonya have three children and the eldest, Jayden, is now helping his dad on the farm, where they run 1700 Romney stud ewes and sell about 300 rams a year.

Bill and other like-minded Romney breeders founded the Wairarapa Improvement group in 1969. Since then they have significantly improved the production of the breed and over the decades they have received excellent advice from specialists. After 50 years of recording, there is high accuracy in the breeding values that have been generated by Sheep Improvement Limited (SIL), David says.

“In recent years the balance of fertility, survival, growth rate and wool weight has brought the Gleniti flock close to optimum levels,” he says. Lambing percentages have greatly improved over that period, from 110 to over 150. Management and genetics have both played a part in bringing about improvements.

Wools of New Zealand picking up rams.

In 30 years, Romneys have become meat producers rather than wool producers. While 60 per cent of a farmer’s income came from wool three decades ago, now it’s barely 10 per cent of income. Most of the selection pressure was centred around wool.

“Dead sheep were plucked, dags were trimmed and every bit of wool was gathered up and pressed. Total wool produced was as important as the pounds, shillings and pence,” says Bill in a recent newsletter to clients.

“Most of our ewes now have twins and rear them to good weights. The mixed-age ewes scanned almost 200 per cent and this year the two tooths 189 per cent. Their mothering is superb and survival high through selection for these characteristics. They have a quiet temperament and are easy to handle. We love them and don’t want to water down any of the characteristics that have been hard-won. The temptation to put a wool-less or hair sheep over them is strong now, but the fear of reducing the features that we like so much stops us doing this.”

Sales take place in November by arrangement, either by clients visiting Gleniti to select their rams, or the Humes will happily select rams for clients based on their price preferences: $1500, $1200 or $900.

This editorial was first published in the Hawke’s Bay Today Ram Catalogue 2023.