Newsletter one, 2014
I was sitting at the top of the farm the other day pondering my recent quad bike scare and realized that simple events like my bike slipping sideways and backwards down the hill must happen hundreds of times a day throughout New Zealand.
For some reason that lead me back to horses working on the farm and I wandered off to thinking about 2014 as being the Year of the Horse in China - as you can see, I was enjoying the sun and a wee bit of down time.
Everything in the Year of the Horse is rumoured to speed up and come racing along, new things opening up and a general good time all round.
Well, since I last penned a Newsletter that sure has been true for us. From an awesome year in both quality rams available and sold, to moving to Feilding, it has been a busy time!
Throw into the mix my oldest son in his first motocross race @ Woodville, a daughter attracting young men and into breeding chickens, my youngest son defying gravity on his mountain bike and a beautiful wife who has just become a fitness instructor and keeps me on my toes, my life is good! All of us Carthew’s sincerely hope your family and life is good as well …… after all, what’s the point of all this work if it’s not!?
Business wise, we are looking strong in the Year of the Horse. We are in that chaotic transition phase preparing for winter. Selling down and culling stock, fattening up the females and getting ready for our selected breeding program. While busy, it is character building and fun, and, as winter sets in, we get the chance to work “on our business” rather than outside “in” it.
On that point we have just read an article about a random group of farmers being surveyed about performance. Somewhat concerning was, that of those surveyed, 80% put themselves into the top 20% in terms of performance. Besides being very crowded at that top segment, it highlighted that many of us farmers don’t have sufficient external input and comparable measurement indicators to maximise our farming efforts.
While all of us on the land understand the variables of weather etc., farming today is becoming more business based, as it needs to, given the increasing cost of land and productive stock. Here at Carthew Genetis it has been about measurements and comparison for years …… it is the basis of our deliberate stud stock profile.
We are just finalizing our “Advanced Breeding Program”. Over the years we have become aware that on farm practice can have a dramatic impact on the performance of such highly tuned stud stock. For our top quality breeding stock it is essential to maximise the return on this significant investment. Therefore we are introducing our “Advanced Breeding Program”.
Building on our partnership values, we will soon be able to offer you specialized breeding programs for your stud animals and with personalized on farm advice from ourselves and a few selected experts. All components of our program will be comparably measured and recorded. Naturally we will work alongside your staff and existing advisors, as after all, we are after the same outcome – sustainable bottom line results with good flock health and a determinable future.
We are looking for a couple of “test” clients to bring all the systems in to line before going wider …… is this for YOU?
If so, please call and have a chat about what’s involved.
May the Year of the Horse continue to be enjoyable and full of growth and success!
Simon & Pascale
