Kate Kellick with a flock of esheep, mustered by a drone, at Mangamahu, near Whanganui.
Kate Kellick with a flock of esheep, mustered by a drone, at Mangamahu, near Whanganui.
Sheep farming is now less work and less expensive with esheep.
Fifth-generation farmer Kate Kellick from Tokorangi Farm, Mangamahu (near Whanganui), has changed the economics of sheep farming, swapping out her woolly sheep flock for a wool-shedding one, reducing her workload and expenses.
“In 2010 my dad brought the first Wiltshires in (sheep that don’t need shearing) because of the low wool prices and the workload associated with shearing, crutching, dagging and docking,” she said.
“I carried on slowly breeding the Wiltshires up and eliminated all the woolly sheep out of the flock - they weren’t viable for me to farm them - it’s disappointing,” said Kellick.
“It’s not just the cost, it’s all the work involved to grow wool. Now I don’t need extra staff for all the work. I carried on breeding the flock and got to a point where we needed some new genetics.
“We found the Exlana sheep from the UK and imported semen, a self-wool-shedding breed of sheep. It means fresh genetics, better carcasses and more meat. The gene pool of the Wiltshires is quite small in New Zealand, hence going abroad.
“We started the AI programme (artificial insemination) with Exlana three years ago, together with a small group spread around New Zealand, we pioneered this. It takes three to five generations to get to the point where shearing is not required if you are starting with a wool breed,” she said.
The five-stand wool shed at Tokorangi Farm is now redundant as esheep shed their wool.
The esheep stud is recorded in SIL (Sheep Improvement Ltd) and Kellick has been selling stud rams for the last few years. Her focus is on cutting costs and labour inputs on the farm.
The flock is saliva-tested to find worm resistance and natural immunity to reduce the need to drench.
Farmers may not have to dag or belly crutch their flock in the first year of transition, which brings the costs down. After the transition, the woolshed may be repurposed as it is not required for its original need.
Farmers are struggling to get shearing gangs as sheep numbers have reduced from 40 million in 2000 to 27.4 million today. Conversions to forestry have contributed to this plus difficulties in getting staff.
Kate Kellick outside the woolshed and yards on the fifth-generation family farm, which are no longer required for esheep.
“A lot of farmers are only shearing once a year instead of twice, to cut the costs back,” said Kellick. “For me, farming is a lifestyle and the opportunity to enjoy the outdoor life such as hunting, walking and raising kids on a farm is great. It’s not all about the money.
“We only survived here because we fluked it with a lot of manuka and got a good income from honey - that tided us over.
“We put maize in and that’s meant a better income stream, we’ve had to diversify to make it work. Going with esheep is another diversification, it’s going to hold us over now. It’s a ray of hope for farmers who are struggling.
“There are so many benefits to it: physically, mentally and financially. We just want to produce a good, high-yielding carcase that tastes really good. And we don’t have to do much work to produce it.
“I believe we need to adapt to the times to get by and another change for our business has been using drones,” Kellick said.
Another large change and benefit to the business is the use of a drone for mustering. It means a lot of time-saving as compared to using dogs, making sure no sheep are left in the scrub (seen from an aerial view). The drone will fly all around the paddock, up to 7km with a line-of-sight.
Farmers can check on bulls or rams at mating time, inspecting fencelines for holes, sheep troughs and dams for water levels. Ewes and lambs can be checked at lambing time or calving. This saves a lot of time each day.
“In the very wet period of last year, I would go to a high point and fly the drone all over the farm, saving getting stuck. While drones can fly in a drizzle, in the future, they may be able to handle rain showers,” Kellick said.
Every farm operation is unique but for her situation using drones has become an important part of their day-to-day operation.
The name esheep was coined by Kellick with an association of e-words such as “efficient, elite, easy care, economical and Exlana”.
