The eastern New England valley Rob and Katrina Blomfield have built their lives around was unpromising, at best, when Mr Blomfield began clearing tea-tree and stringybark about 40 years ago.
But thanks to a dovetailing of interests and hard work, the couple have built up enough personal wealth from their light, soggy and acidic soils to be planning a retirement in their early 60s that will be funded solely on income earned from their investments.
The timing of their retirement, in about two years, may help avoid some tough decisions about the future of wool on “Karori”, their 924-hectare home farm, north-east of Walcha.
Plenty of profitable farms have been built on wool, but the Blomfields’ superfine wool business was built within the limitations of a district with an annual average of 900 to 950 millimetres of mostly summer rainfall – a recipe for a trifecta of Merino evils: fleece rot, fly strike and footrot.
Ruthless culling of any sheep that showed these afflictions, and the influence of SRS founder Dr Jim Watts, have today given the Blomfields a plain-bodied animal that produces white, bright, well-crimped wool through the dampest of eastern fall summers.
Apart from one shot of Clik backliner on their lambs, they haven’t jetted for 10 years, and last year they gave up mulesing with no ill effects.
The “Karori” flock is also one of the most worm-resistant on the Sheep Genetics Australia database, with an ASBV of -30.
The Blomfields’ ewes cut about 4.2 kilograms of 17-micron wool, with a handy 80 per cent yield.
Since establishing Karori Merino stud in 1995, they have sold rams throughout the New England on their “ease of care”, and because of a fibre intentionally different from the Italian spinner wools.
Based on trends toward more casual wear, a decade ago Karori decided to aim for specialist “next to skin” wool – an objective they believe they have personally reached with a fibre that has exceptional natural softness.
However, they are frustrated the wool marketing system does not recognise the uniqueness of their product.
“The industry is dumbing wool down by having a system focused on letting buyers mix wool to a minimum standard,” Mr Blomfield said.
“We’re not able to breed for the consumer.”
Wool has been the central thread in a business partnership that, like a stocks chart in a bull market, has had its short-term ups and downs, but viewed across the decades has always trended up.
The couple’s land portfolio at one time also included nearby 1050ha “Winterbourne” – sold for a capital gains profit in 2005 after they were unable to get ahead of the debt its purchase incurred – and they still own adjacent “Hole Creek”, a heavily timbered 692ha farm where they plan to retire.
With some of the profits from the sale of “Winterbourne”, they applied 2.5 tonnes a hectare of lime to their land, taking the soil from an acid pH of 4.8 to 5.3 and substantially boosting pasture production.
10 of our best in The Land, November 26.
Email a friend