Kim & Annemarie Goodwin of Kawera

2022 Finalist: Kim & Annemarie Goodwin of Kawera – Bulling Farming

This small but carefully managed semi-intensive Pukehamoamoa bull farm is providing its owners with good returns when it comes to profit, work-life balance and the environment.

Kim has farmed the 240ha property for almost 40 years. During that time, he’s implemented an excellent stocking policy that is tailored to the dry, variable climate. In 2020, about 365 bulls were sold and replaced with 300 Autumn-born dairy bull calves. Calves are bought from the same supplier each year, enhancing biosecurity and helping secure supply.

Kawera uses a simple, pasture-based system that is flexible and poses less drought risk – guaranteeing a good income regardless of the weather. For example, Kim destocks over summer and buys in animals when there is suitable feed. With careful planning and execution, he’s able to operate a minimal-input, low-emission farm.

The property is subdivided into 38 main paddocks which is split into 80 cells over winter. Fences are double outriggered, helping to keep mobs away from each other which ultimately reduces pasture damage.

Kim enjoys enhancing the environment and has put significant time and effort into planting and protecting native trees for shade, shelter and biodiversity. Trees have been planted along the property’s stream all the way to a lake at the back of the property that is protected by a QEII National Trust Covenant. Around the lake, willows are continually being cut out and replaced with native trees and oaks, attracting a wide range of bird species.

Drawing on past experience, Kim bases his decisions on what is best for the land and his family in the long-term – rather than focusing on immediate benefits. As part of this, he’s found that living off-farm is the best way of helping him strike an optimal work-life balance.

Kim & Annemarie are the winners of East Coast Biodiversity Award.