27-05-2025
Bumper swede crop wins award
Taieri Winter Crop Competition
An award-winning swede crop grown high on a Strath Taieri hill tastes better after being hit by its first frost.
Sheep and beef farmer Ash Beattie runs about 6000 Perendale ewes and about 200 cows, mostly Angus, on his more than 1400ha rolling to steep property Glenlee Run in Black Rock, about 30km northwest of Outram.
At a ceremony in Mosgiel earlier this month, Mr Beattie was announced as the winner of the category for swede cultivated on a hill at the Taieri Winter Crop Competition.
"It was quite nice to hear."
He enters the competition most years and it was the first time he had a win.
Calves, ewes and hoggets were now eating the 40ha prize-winning swede crop more than 600m above sea level.
Ewes were usually put on the crop later but they had been given early access due to a bumper crop.
"It is quite a big paddock and we thought we'll never get through them if we don't chew them off a wee bit with something else."
The first frost had hit the swede crop and made it taste good.
"It brings the sugar up and they're sweeter and nicer."
A pre-emergent herbicide was applied when the swede seed was sown to control weeds.
He credits the season for the top crop.
"We had a good growing season. A good spring set us up with good moisture and not too cold."
Summer played ball, the right mix of dry weather and consistent rainfall.
The great weather continues.
"It has been a really good autumn. It can be quite cold at this time of year but it has been pretty mild.
"We've been pretty lucky."
Winter could be challenging, snowing-in anyone on the farm for up to 10 days, but it had been pretty mild the past three winters.
The winter feed supply was once swedes, kale and hay but when it ran out they needed to buy sheep nuts to cover the shortfall.
Now baleage was made to feed out instead of hay.
Good-quality baleage provides more energy than hay.
"It has been 10 years since I've had to buy sheep nuts."
As the farm got more fertile and feed quality improved, the livestock had got bigger.
For the first time during their tenure, heifers on Glenlee Run would have calves.
A proposal to introduce genetics from a Hereford bull had been floated to obtain some hybrid vigour in the herd, he said.
The traditional focus on Glenlee Run to fatten livestock had changed this season to make the most of a buoyant lamb market.
"The prices were pretty good this year so we stored a lot of lambs early and kept the better ones and fattened them."
Rising sheep and beef prices were needed as farmers had been doing it tough in recent years.
"Prices have been very hot this year compared to last year."
The higher beef and lamb prices were allowing farmers to resume their full maintenance programme, such as applying fertiliser and fixing fences.
A focus of his sheep breeding programme was growing quality strong wool, even though the fibre was not worth much at market.
"I like my wool."
He liked Perendale sheep because they were easy to move around hill country and they handled the snow well.
There was no intention to change sheep breed.
"Why change something that isn't broken — that's my motto."
