Allan and Sonia Richardson

Tapanui, Southwest Otago. Allan and Sonia Richardson allan [at] avalonorganic [dot] co [dot] nz

I was somewhat sceptical when I heard Allan was controlling serious gorse just with goats, as I know how hard they are to contain, and that it isn't their most preferred diet anyway. But one look at his hillside of dying gorse convinced me. The secret is numbers, timing and 3-wire moveable electric fences.

Allan and Sonia farm 1300 hectares west of Tapanui in Southwest Otago. The farm is at 420m altitude and exposed to cold southerlies. Despite this it was growing very good grass when I visited in early October.

300 hectares has been organic for 11 years and certified by Agriquality for the US and UK meat market. Allan's father insisted at that time that the organic experiment be on the least visible part of the farm, but it has been so successful that a further 500 ha has been converted since and the intention is to convert the whole farm. The inspiration for the change was hearing speakers at the Kelloggs leadership course he attended. Shortly afterwards, in 1998 Allan won a Nuffield scholarship and studied overseas markets for organic meat. That led to the decision to speed up the conversion process.

Gorse has always been the enemy of organics on hill country and the year they had it cut with a scrub bar it cost $13,000. This of course only sets it back a bit till it regrows. Less than a year ago Allan was seriously considering Plan B - to take the whole block out of organic certification, spray the gorse and start again - until the goats were acquired.

Now there are whole hillsides of brown gorse: large bushes with all the green stripped out of them, the branches splayed out where the goats have pushed into the centre and eaten out just above the crown. Some have a few flowers right at the top where the animals can't reach. To achieve this remarkable improvement, it took 250 goats just three weeks last winter to convert three hectares of heavy gorse bushes that were 1-2 metres high and wide. Allan reckons that after next winter's assault it will be dead.

This is not old man gorse, but heavy regrowth after scrub cutting when it is dense and vigorous - and at its most prickly, but the goats push right through that without seeming to mind.

Heavy goat stocking in winter means they have little else to eat and strip the bushes very effectively. They leave the gorse blocks having lost some weight, but make it up in summer on pasture and thistles. We discussed the timing and agreed that in another part of the country, where feed was shortest in summer because of a drought, that would be the right time to put the goats in.

The goats are a mix of Boer and feral cashmeres. The ferals do best when pushed, while the Boers have foot trouble with the wet ground and are less tolerant of parasites. The does are not mated at this stage in order to focus on gorse control without pushing pregnant and lactating animals too hard. They will be shorn next winter for cashmere which may be able to be sold along with the wool for blending. After 3-4 years when all the gorse is well under control the does will be mated to Boer bucks to get a better meat animal, and they will continue to rotate to control the gorse and thistles.

As part of the stock rotation, goats do well alongside cattle, and leave behind a clover-dominant pasture which is good for growing lambs.

Goats are notorious for being susceptible to worms so I asked whether this hadn't compromised his sheep given the organic standards preclude drenching. Allan thinks it may be the tannins in the gorse, but worms haven't been a problem. He doesn't drench any of his animals, even with organic alternatives, and if an animal can't hack it they don't stay. He lost 12-15 goats over the winter out of 250, which given the harsh regime is surprisingly few.

In the longer term greater use of lime will raise the soil pH above 5.8 which doesn't suit gorse at all and regrowth is likely to become less each year. The aim is to get to 6.2-6.5 across the whole farm.

Along with lime the fertiliser regime includes trace elements, seaweed and Probitas (a lime silica based soil conditioner developed by Waihi farmer Ewan Campbell), which Allan says has been much maligned but the farmers who actually use it in an organic system getting good results. Pasture species sown are a balance of 8-10 kg rye, 8-10 kg clover, with some chicory, plantain, timothy and yarrow. The balanced diet makes the animals healthy and highly resistant to parasites. Throughout the conversion to organics the previous stocking rate has been maintained.

Sheep breeding has focused on resistance to parasites, clean belly and rear end and short tails. Five different breeds have gone into the mix but there is now a strongly heritable short tail which reaches no lower than the hocks and, because it is lighter, is carried high and stays cleaner. The lambs are not tailed, which reduces work and stress on the animals, and pleases discriminating overseas markets.

Still with an eye on added value in overseas markets, the meat was tested for omega 3 which in 2004 was found to be 25% higher in the lamb and 75% higher in the beef. It also keeps longer. A test some year later did not find the same increase compared with a neighbouring farm. Allan believes the Probitas, which he had not applied for some years, had a role in this, as well as the fact that the later test was taken after a particularly tough year. I guess this is an area which could repay some more research.

Listen to a conversation between this farmer and Jeanette

Alan's analysis of the comparative performance of his organic and conventional systems

Read about other visits Jeanette has made

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