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THIS FARMER MADE $100,000 PER HECTARE BY UNDERSTANDING HER SOILS
AND MICROCLIMATES
This
is the story of a New Zealand farming couple who illustrate the power of the Topoclimate Process
used in FARMING SMARTER and making better use of land resource information on
their farm.
Merle
and Bill Johnston intensively farm about 160 ha on the Waikaia Plains in
northern Southland
in the south of the South Island of New Zealand. Their small family farm had
ran Romney-cross
Sheep producing lambs for the export fat-lamb trade for several generations
and was very typical of farms in the area.Although they had made many
improvements to the farm over the years with fencing and fertiliser and
improved the quality of stock, changing farming economics and the limited size
of the property meant that they weren't making sufficient income to keep the
farm profitable.
Merle
was facing the prospect of having to take up off-farm employment in one of the
small towns in the District to contribute additional income to help the family
budget.Merle didn't relish the prospect of leaving the farm and wondered if
there were any other land uses that she and her husband could diversify into to
generate additional income for the family.
She
knew from experience that the soils on the property which comprised a
free-draining silt loam topsoil over outwash gravel subsoils were not what
would be normally considered classic horticultural soils. However, as a keen
gardener, Merle had established an extensive garden around her house and
noticed the peony roses in her garden were as good as any in the district.
Clearly,
the farm also had the right microclimates
to produce the very large flower blooms that florists were looking for to use
for floral decorations over the Christmas period. She wondered whether it would
be possible to grow these flowers commercially. She discussed the idea with her
husband, who reluctantly agreed to giving her a plot of land “out the
back of the house” to try the new crop although he cautioned her that they
could not afford to buy a lot of expensive equipment for her venture.
With
enthusiasm, Merle started developing the peony plot by hand (with support from
her friends) using shovel and wheelbarrow. Bill also offered to fence the plot
off once she had proven the commercial value of the enterprise but five years
later, he was still reluctant to build a permanent fence around the block
because every year she doubled the size of the enterprise.The only significant
equipment that they have purchased for the venture beyond what is normally
found on a farm was a small chiller to condition the flowers after harvest.
tc1jfmerle
Merle
has subsequently established international markets for her peony roses and
specialises in the white and Coca-Cola red varieties popular with the American
market for use in Christmas table decorations. She has been receiving up to
$NZ3.50* PER BLOOM
for her export grade flowers and is generating over $NZ100,000 per hectare
from her crop.
Both
Merle and her husband now work full time in their Peony business, and employ a
part-time farm manager to look after the rest of the farm. They have completely
transformed their farming system (and their lives) by their understanding of
their land and climate and selection of a suitable crop for which they had
market advantage through their soils and microclimates.
Now
over 300 different farmers grow peony roses in Southland and they work closely
together to process and market their crop co-operatively to the world markets.The Farming Smarter Course
will show you how to transform your farming system.
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