Brothers Hew and Roger Dalrymple are the fourth generation to farm on Waitatapia Station, about ten kilometres west of Bulls, which has been farmed by the Dalrymple family for more than a hundred years.
The 2200 ha station has a variety of soil types, including alluvial silts and several productive and lighter sandy soils, due to its coastal location.
The livestock operations, predominantly beef and lamb fattening, are managed by Roger, while Hew takes care of the cropping and timber operations. Land use is determined by soil type with 36 forestry blocks on the sandier soils treated as rotational crops with around 12 ha harvested and replanted each year. Over the past 20 or so years, Roger and Hew have invested considerable time and resources into improving the productivity of heavier sand areas with special attention to water use, drainage and fencing of wetlands to minimise environmental impacts.
Centre-pivots irrigate 750 ha of pasture and the annual cereal and feed crops which include malting and feed barley, maize, wheat, fodder and sugar beet, and oats. The cropping team also grows squash in its 800 ha of annual crops.
More recently, the Waitatapia team turned their attention to growing brassica crops.
Hew explains: “We’ve grown squash for 30-plus years and both potatoes and onions have been grown here in the past. There was a phase of growing processing crops like peas, beans and sweetcorn. About three years ago, came the opportunity to supply fresh brassicas to Speirs Food in Marton which produces bagged, ready-to-serve coleslaw and other similar fresh vegetable options for supermarkets.
“It’s a different game when basically hand harvesting fresh greens like cabbage and broccoli compared to vegetables like squash where it’s all done by machine. Initially, we didn’t have the gear we needed and were fortunate to use some equipment owned by a Palmerston North business, Solar Produce, which leased a small area from us. We’d seen what they could grow here, such as lettuce, leeks and brassicas through the difficult times of the year.”
A couple of second-hand tractors and a chiller truck were purchased, trailers were made, and a planter and side-dresser were ordered.
The fresh vegetable operation got off to a good start with Speirs pleased with the quality and freshness. “Harvested cabbages and broccoli were virtually going straight to their processing facility as we didn’t have much chiller space. We added cauliflower and are reasonably happy with how we can grow that too.”
An advantage for the green vegetable operation is the flexibility of rotation due to Waitatapia’s land area.
“There’s about 100 ha in green vegetables and, to date, these haven’t been planted in the same paddock twice. It’s certainly an asset to help avoid brassica clubroot. We’ve also got the opportunity to expand the area in green vegetables and push into other markets.”
They have added new product lines such as flat-leaf parsley and coriander. Curly leaf kale and broccolini are being trialled this summer.
Hew says they focus on little and often nutrient applications on the sandier soils in which the vegetables are grown.
“It’s all about timing. You don’t want to overdo each application or risk nutrient loss. Maybe there’s a small downside, having a few more passes with the tractor for side-dressing, but in terms of overall fertiliser use, it’s about the same.”
Hew relays a story about feedback from an industry representative visiting the property. “They said it’s the second-best site they’d ever seen in the world for growing vegetables, praising the flexibility offered by the sandier soils for growing year-round. Being relatively free draining, if it’s raining today, we can probably still plant tomorrow. They take a bit more management and are prone to erosion, but we’ve got ways around that. More irrigation may be needed but having multiple pivots means we don’t need to rely on rainfall in spring, summer and autumn.”
This year Gavin Zander joined the Waitatapia team as the Fresh Vegetable Manager.
“Having worked for Speirs previously I was familiar with Waitatapia,” Gavin says. “This region isn’t well-known for growing brassicas but we’re getting really good results.”
Day to day, Gavin works with Waitatapia Production Manager Wayne Hosking and Fruitfed Supplies Technical Horticultural Representative Patsy Matthews.
“Being relatively new, having Wayne and Patsy help look over the crops to decide when and what to spray, while taking into consideration when we’re going to harvest, is great. We’re faced with the usual brassica pests and diseases like ringspot, mildews, black rot, diamondback moth and white cabbage butterfly caterpillars, and aphids.”
Gavin appreciates the fresh eyes that Patsy brings when she visits. “She sometimes sees things that we miss in a crop during the day to day. She always brings a bit of humour and a helpful attitude to find the best product to fit pre-harvest interval requirements.”
Waitatapia’s proximity to Speirs’ processing facility means they can cut cabbages today and tomorrow they’re being diced, packed and dispatched to supermarkets. “Compare that to vegetables transported from Pukekohe,” says Gavin. “Understandably they’re thrilled. There’s less transport and a much fresher product for the consumer. We also have a great relationship with Marton New World which can order from us today and I’ll deliver more tonight or tomorrow morning.”
Gavin manages the weekly transplanting of around 70,000 seedlings and harvesting schedules with a team of 12.
“If you can’t get it in, you won’t have a crop to harvest in three to four months. The sandier soils mean we can plant weekly right through winter to keep things growing to the right size and quality.
“The fact is the quality coming off the paddock is only as good as the team around you, from planting to the person cutting the cabbage. We’ve got a great team here and an encouraging environment where we like to help our people develop and learn new skills.”
Gavin embraces Hew’s focus on looking after the lighter soils with little and often nutrient applications. “We care about our waterways and the family is proud of their land and how it’s looked after. One of my jobs is soil and nitrogen testing every week. There isn’t a huge organic base to hold nutrients, so we measure what we put on and what stays on the paddock.”
