Production Standards for Kumanu Lamb

Paul and Muff Newton produce Kumanu Lamb, “the world’s most carefully raised lamb” at their Havelock farm. Most of the Kumanu Group farm in the South Island, many of them in North Canterbury and ANZCO is the brand partner. The initial idea was developed seven years ago in their Sheep for Profit group which was begun by Te Awamutu vet Chris Mulvaney. Paul explains that Kumanu differentiates the 20 farmers in the group from anybody else. “Through the discussion group, it was obvious we had more protocols in place than the average farmer.”

It took three years to set up and get to the point of selling Kumanu lambs in 2012. All the farmers involved invested considerable money into developing the idea and using a marketing company to come up with the brand and a booklet. “We were then able to say, who is willing to partner with us and kill these lambs for us. We talked to ANZCO, who have over the years been more inclined to this type of programme and they were really keen, and we have a partnership now with them. They found a Dutch buyer who buys all our meat, although this year for the first time we are selling our products into Countdown supermarkets in Auckland and Christchurch.”

Kumanu has four guiding principles or legs to the table:

1. Animal welfare: animals are raised under the Five Freedoms policy under conditions that optimise their physical and mental wellbeing. The animals are free-range for all of their lives; are consistently monitored and managed to ensure their well-being with six to seven regular hands-on health checks per year; all are managed using preventative animal health planning in conjunction with experienced veterinarians; all are handled in a manner that minimises fear and distress; and decisions are based on what will provide the best for the animal.

2. Environmental responsibility: the farming philosophy balances the needs of the land and environment with the needs of a small business. Every participant has a detailed farm environment plan; each plan covers every aspect of production relating to the environment including the preservation and improvement of water quality, native flora and sites of cultural or historical significance; environmental standards will be open to inspection by the public; works id done on initiatives for recycling, carbon mitigation and offsetting and farmers are seeking greater efficiencies in the way they farm.

3. Social responsibility: production systems balance the needs of staff, communities and the customer with the requirements of running a business. Each farm has to create a yearly plan for positive contributions to the local community. T hese plans and the documented results will be available to the public; farmers agree to provide opportunities to make land available for the public to share and enjoy; an important part of the Kumanu programme is a commitment to staff and providing a positive and inspiring work environment including regular training and opportunities for career progression.

4. Lamb quality and food safety: An assurance that Kumanu lamb will always be an excellent and safe eating experience: free from disease, antibiotics, hormones and any harmful chemicals; lambs are fed only fresh green NZ pasture grass and natural forage; farmed naturally where possible; but if chemicals have to be used it is the aim to achieve nil residue in the lamb; because the lamb is less stressed the pH levels in its muscles are lower, meaning the glycogen levels are higher, making the lamb more tender; the lambs are managed to minimise stress and every lamb is traceable back to the farm of origin.

Paul and Muff have been farming at Havelock since 1998. The home property and adjacent lease make up a hill property of 894ha of which 811 is effective. Only about 19% of the farm is flat to undulating. They winter around 7000 stock units.

They run 120 cows and finish all the offspring, with 300 cattle on the farm at any time.

They have 4300 ewes which are at a 138% lambing, and they retain 1200 hoggets. Apart from the hogget lambs they retain, virtually all of the almost 6000 lambs are finished, with the lease land allowing them to put in finishing crops. This year 40ha of crops were grown for lamb finishing.

Bush at the far end of the property is fenced and protected, with more bush dropping down steeply on the hills to the east of the farm.

Paul liked the idea of building on all the monitoring and recording work they were doing to produce good quality lambs, and also the certainty of returns from the fixed Kumanu contracts. “It puts you in a strong positio,” he says. It’s a far cry from when he had to compete with early season producers getting the highest schedules, even though he knew he was producing top quality lambs.

Paul says they didn’t have to do too much differently on their farm as with their Sheep for Profit (now Stockcare) programme. they had many of the protocols already in place. For example the animal welfare and recording protocols were already being followed. There were some small tweaks, such as not having any dogs working in the yards with the lambs.

The ewes are weighed and condition scored about five times a year, including before tupping. pPaul says “meat quality is what we are looking for, and we can’t do that if we have different levels of pH in the meat. We try and keep stress levels down on the lambs. We are all required to have a vet, and I work with Pete Anderson. I’ve worked with him for about 10 years before the Kumanu project.”

Paul says for them to meet their social responsibility plan is easy. “We have paragliders, horse riders, campers, Outward Bounders and tourists who visit our farm.”

They had a “substantial” environmental report written by Lachie Grant, based on Beef and Lamb Land & Environment Plans. All Kumanu suppliers are required to be at the Stage Two level of Land Environment Plans.

Vet Pete Anderson explains what they do differently to the average farm. 

“Paul and Muff have absolutely made gains from all the monitoring and measuring work they’ve been doing in the Stockcare system. And we can see the results of their management changes over the years.  Because they monitor and measure, they understand their business better than a lot of farmers do. They know where their stock are at any time. While condition scoring is only becoming a key part of management for many farmers now, Paul and Muff have been condition scoring for 15 years with Stockcare. They are proactive with decision making. They get their ewes up to similar weights most years. Scanning has almost been the same every year, and it has built up significantly. They just know what they have to do to reach their targets. Even though we have had a hell of year in Marlborough, Paul and Muff have weaned a similar number of lambs to any other year, but they did it a lot earlier, so while weaning weights are down, their weaning number is similar to any other year.”

“Their measuring and monitoring means they can make decisions with confidence.  Being in the Stockcare system gives a really neat three-way feedback system between the famer, Agrinetworks (the Stockcare parent company) and the vet.  Agrinetworks sends reminders to farmers every couple of weeks about what has to be done including what recording work is needed. Animal health plans are attached to these reminders.”

“For example just before weaning a reminder will come out about recording the weights of the ewes at weaning, the average weights of the lambs, and ensuring there is a good tally of both, along with a reminder not to forget about vaccinating lambs and preferentially feeding ewes with lower condition scores. When farmers feed in this information, the numbers come back to them immediately. This information is also used to benchmark a particular farmer against others, and the information is graphed.”

“For example if growth rates are good compared with others but lambing percentage is poor, then we know to concentrate on improving lambing percentage.  As advisors we don’t go there telling them what to do, it is about finding out what is going on and using the benchmarking to see what opportunities there are for improvement. Too many advisors just tell people to change policies, but a lot of people want to know how to do better in comparison with others. With this system you see the efforts of the management changes. The feedback system reinforces the changes, so farmers are enthused, and keep on monitoring.”

“I go and visit four times a year, and up to five or six times. There’s a set fee for the whole year, regardless of how many visits. It’s a neat working relationship.”

“To have Kumanu lambs you have to be in Stockcare because we have to be able to prove or show that all the four legs of the table are there.  We have to be able to show there is a management plan for animal welfare and an animal health plan. There are a few management issues, such as stress free lambs. I was at Paul and Muff’s recently when they were shearing lambs, which were all potential Kumanu lambs. There were no dogs used, the lambs were calm. They have been conditioned to being handled quietly. The lambs all have to pass a pH test to prove they will be tender, and that makes them different from other lamb finishing systems. It is not just about having a good carcass weight; it is the whole works to ensure eating quality. The Kumanu system is working and it is becoming a model for other systems.”