John Gavin followed in his brother’s footsteps when he started farming.
“They started doing it and I always wanted to so I thought it would be a good idea,” he shares.
After 23 years of farming in the hill country of Pahiatua and Eketahuna, John proves that was a good idea after all.
With his wife Denise, John runs both sheep and cattle. He puts about 2000 Romney ewes to the ram, cattle and rears Friesian bulls. Much of the work is done on 830 acres in Pahiatua with some on 250 acres over two blocks on the other side of Ekehahuna
Denise runs the homestead and offers a hand with docking, drafting, weighing lambs and cattle drafting. Their three grown children all work off farm on Monday to Friday jobs.
“I came into Primary Wool Co-operative when my wool man first started working with Elders Primary Wool,” John says. “He ended up going back to the old company but I decided to stay with Elders Primary Wool.”
John acknowledges the wool industry is tough but a necessary part of the farming operation but appreciates the good treatment at the store, the reps he has worked with in his time with the company. “The wool packs are also a good part of the contract,” he says.