Rugby titan finds farming tough

Not surprisingly, at 69, Sir Brian Lochore is not the man he once was, not physically - a few extra kilograms have been added around the girth and characterful chiselled planes and deep creases are taking over the familiar features reports The Dom Post. But there is still an imposing presence and a steely determination behind the ready smile and you get the impression that if the call came again - as it did once after his retirement - he would love nothing more than to don the black jersey and run out to do battle again. It is not rugby that occupies his thoughts on this day, but farming. He and his wife Pam have put their three farms into a family trust and farm in partnership with son David and his wife Virginia, at Porangahau, and daughter Joanne and her husband Mark Mossman, at Blairlogie. "The last three years of drought have been the most difficult I've ever experienced in a lifetime farming," he says. "It's been really rugged. Normally, we would be able to shift stock around the three farms to avoid the worst, but we've all been in the same situation, bare and dry. "Contrary to the view of most people in the cities, we do care about our stock and when you haven't got enough feed for them and it's hurting them and it's hurting you, it's not very nice." The farms, covering 1300 hectares and, in a normal year, 12,000 stock units, are looking good again after a kind summer, but the stock are not there to take advantage of it. David had to sell almost all his 150 beef cows and lambing percentages have fallen. "My estimation is that most farms on this coast would be down a third on stock numbers. Few would have made any money. We were at break-even last year, which our accountant got quite excited about, but we took a big hit the year before."