The Hawke’s Baybased company has invested in Vytelle Feed Efficiency Testing technology, enabling it to capture information about individual animal intake which allows them to lower the cost of production, as well as emissions.
Rissington managing director Jeremy Absolom says the intersection between business and sustainability is one where Rissington thrives. He says the company has also transformed the traditional selling model of their bulls to a unique partnering model to advance their business and formed strong relationships with customers who have become extended family.
Not only do the Absoloms continue to grow the Rissington Cattle Company as a business but caring for the environment on which they operate has become a priority.
Rissington director Ben Absolom points out that the technology involved in farming has “come on in leaps and bounds”.
At the heart of this technological revolution is trying to make change for beef farmers and help them to be more profitable in an environment that’s only becoming more challenging.
The late John Absolom, husband of Star and father to Ben, Jeremy, Daniel and Willie, revolutionised the cattle market in New Zealand by importing frozen Simmental semen in the 1970s and embryos from Canada in the 1980s. After seeing composite breeds of cattle and the research behind them overseas, John realised there was huge potential for this back home in New Zealand.
“They were breaking ground as they did it,” Daniel explains.
What was seen as one of the biggest gambles ever taken in the stud cattle business in New Zealand in the 1980s is now noted as the moment where the industry changed. Auctioning the resulting cattle from the embryos fetched record prices and introduced the idea of widening the gene pool to New Zealand farmers.
Today, it has given farmers the chance to plan ahead with a selling model and unique genetics. The brothers have continued to innovate and change.
Jeremy says the Absolom family were one of the first to develop a land and environment plan spanning more than 20 years.
They acknowledge the need to work in harmony with the land for its sustainability.
“Every generation has done a huge amount of work to leave [the land] in a better state than they took it over.”
Bob Cottrell, a longtime customer of Rissington Cattle Company and family friend, sees the Absoloms as “continuing to follow in some of the kaitiaki values of early Māori, in terms of looking after the land and rivers”.
Cottrell believes that the land is in a very good state for the future generations of farmers and businesspeople to come.
The importance of existing harmoniously with the land is not lost on Ben, Jeremy nor Daniel.
“The land and the business have to be working in unison,” Daniel believes.
They recognise the impact of their decisions on the generations to come, and respect what those have done before them. For Ben, he hopes that his children will one day head up the Rissington Cattle Company and continue its legacy.
The Rissington story was featured in Can-Am’s original series ‘Livin’ The Land’, released at the National Fieldays.
The ‘Livin’ the Land’ Can-Am Original Series is a collection of cinematic, short films that takes a never-before-seen look into what drives the next generation of farmers to live off the land and their story.
