Ohotu and Tohunga: Where the animals come first

It is easy to find out what takes priority at Ohotu and Tohunga stations – you only have to kōrero for five minutes with stock managers Jordan Barns and Simon Lee.

“Making sure the animals have the best life possible, that they are fit and healthy and cared for, is my main focus for every day,” says Simon Lee. “Every morning we are out there checking on them, feeding out, shifting the breaks, moving the different mobs to new feed, making sure they are all OK.

“Once we know they are all happy, then we start getting on with the other jobs on the list. But the animals always come first.”

Simon is the stock manager for Tohunga Station. He is responsible for the welfare of around 900 ewes and 1200 cattle, with another 11,000 lambs coming onto the farm from other Ātihau breeding stations for finishing during the summer months. Beef cattle are sent to the works every fortnight, on a week-onweek-off rotation with Ohotu.

“December and January get really busy around here, with lambs arriving from other Ātihau stations for finishing before they go off to the works”, he says. “Then we are drenching, sorting them into mobs, making sure they are on good pasture, sorting and drafting almost daily.

“It’s dawn to dusk for sure, but it’s what farming is all about – being out there with the animals and ensuring the farm is productive.”

Jordan, over on Ohotu, follows the same pattern of the seasons and is preparing now for the influx of around 17,500 lambs in the coming months. He works with his shepherd Ezekiel Anderson.

Above image: Simon Lee, stock manager at Tohunga Station.

“We are all about making sure the farm is ready at the moment, that the fences are sorted and the yards up to scratch so that everything runs smoothly when we hit peak activity,” he says. “It is full-on, but you get a huge amount of satisfaction out of it seeing the lambs growing strong and healthy and getting up to market weight in good time.

“You feel like you are really making the difference in the productivity of the farm, and to Ātihau as a whole.”

Ohotu reduced the number of lambs it normally takes on from 25,000 to 17,500 last year, and the positive impact on both the animals and the whenua was clear to see.

“We took the decision to reduce the numbers to take the pressure off the land and the lambs, and the benefit of doing that was noticeable straight away,” says Jordan. “The animals were less stressed and grew so much faster, reaching market weights more quickly so we could get them off the farm again in less time. This also meant there was less pressure on the whenua, and the paddocks recovered more quickly.

Above image: Jordan Barns, stock manager at Ohotu Station.

“While production is important, of course, how we reach our targets is just as much a consideration, if not more. The welfare of our animals, and the need to care for our land so it remains healthy for the future, is key.”

While Simon and Jordan oversee the day-to-day running of the stations, farm manager Dean Francois is in regular contact, keeping his team informed about what is happening on other Ātihau farms and future plans.

“He trusts us to get on with things for the most part,” says Simon. “But we are on the phone a lot and he comes down to get stuck in when we are drafting cattle or bringing a flock into the yards for some reason.

“The management of the farm is very much a two-way thing; we are on the same wavelength when it comes to the bigger picture. It’s great because it’s very much a team approach and you feel like you are contributing to more than just the daily mahi, that you are having a say in the decision-making process.”

Dean says his team does the hard yards and the quality of their work shows the effort and thought they put into it.

“They really respect the fact that the whenua belongs to a lot of people and that the business they are part of is a family organisation,” he says.

“When you visit these farms, you can see how much care is being put into them and the sense of pride and connection Simon and Jordan have with them.”

For Jordan, who has been at Ohotu for three years, the connection is one of blood. His father Peter Barns, and his grandfather Seth Barns before him, are Ātihau shareholders.

“I’ve spent all my life in Waiouru as my family is from this area, so it makes me very happy to be working on this particular farm,” he says. “It has been great to learn more about the history of the Incorporation and of the area too. It’s really helped to strengthen that connection with the land.

“My Dad was very pleased when I started this role. While he always sort of knew what was going on at Ātihau, his interest in the organisation has grown a lot and he’s definitely more connected to things now.

“I am enjoying seeing the progress and improvements we are making each year, and I’d like to step up into a farm management role one day. It would be great if I can do that with Ātihau.”

Simon hails from South Taranaki and spent much of his career in the King Country before coming to Tohunga four years ago.

“It did take some time to really take on board the cultural importance of what I was doing each day, and the huge connection the shareholders have with the farm, but Ātihau has helped me to understand the bigger picture and learn more about the history of the area,” he says.

“Once you get that, you really feel like you are working together with a whole heap of people toward this common goal or aspiration. It’s nice knowing the mahi I do each day is not only important to Dean, and the farm, but to this whole extended whānau. It’s a good feeling to have.”