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Sunday 15th November. We continued our journey south along the east coast of South Island to Hillcrest Farm, Wairuna near Clinton. We had met Rae Mitchell at the Christchurch Show where he was showing his Perendale sheep. When Rae realised we were heading south past his place to Invercargill, he warmly extended an invitation for us to visit his farm and stay the night. As we drove south that afternoon the outside temperature dropped considerably to around 7°C, and we got to understand the variance in climate within New Zealand!
Rae and his wife Roslyn run around 6000 ewes with the help of their son on 700Ha (+leased gound) of rolling flats extending to steep tussoky hills. They have about 320 ewes in the stud flock and sell around 130 Perendale rams each year. The farm is run very commercially and I was very struck with the results achieved by Rae in his sales of finished lambs, primarily to Alliance or Canterbury Meat Packers. His finished lamb results in terms of meat yield, cleanliness and hitting other desirable specifications were consistently in the top tier when he showed me his records.
The trip in his pick up around the steep hill side where his ewes lambed was memorable, not just for the quality of the ewes and lambs on show, but also the extreme steepness of the ground we travelled over! I am fairly used to steep ground on Llandre, but when Rae would casually say that the map in his head took him down a slope, you suddenly lost sight of the bonnet in front of you and I was reminded of certain roller coasters at Oakwood. What continues to amaze me on this study tour is the quality, and number of lambs reared by ewes in what are fairly demanding conditions in terms of climate and topography. The wind was so severe on the hillside that Sheila and I had a job of standing up, while a ewe and two lambs just looked on with amusement!
You occasionally come across people in life who fairly quickly impress you with their personal achievements. Rae would certainly be one of these people. He has with Roslyn built up a substantial farming business with careful financial management, prudent purchases of land and living within his means. He manages the farm with his youngest son Scott, while Brendan is involved in the hospitality business in Queenstown. The oldest son Paul, manages a flock of Merino ewes and wethers, on a remote area of land, which is accessed by boat from Queenstown. Merino wool is currently making a comeback due to branded clothes such as ‘Ice Breaker’ which are a big hit all over the world. We saw some incredible pictures of Paul and his dogs being airlifted by helicopter to the top of a steep ridge to start driving the ewes down for shearing. I have asked Roslyn to e mail some of the pictures so that I cam post them on the blog.
Rae and his wife Roslyn run around 6000 ewes with the help of their son on 700Ha (+leased gound) of rolling flats extending to steep tussoky hills. They have about 320 ewes in the stud flock and sell around 130 Perendale rams each year. The farm is run very commercially and I was very struck with the results achieved by Rae in his sales of finished lambs, primarily to Alliance or Canterbury Meat Packers. His finished lamb results in terms of meat yield, cleanliness and hitting other desirable specifications were consistently in the top tier when he showed me his records.
The trip in his pick up around the steep hill side where his ewes lambed was memorable, not just for the quality of the ewes and lambs on show, but also the extreme steepness of the ground we travelled over! I am fairly used to steep ground on Llandre, but when Rae would casually say that the map in his head took him down a slope, you suddenly lost sight of the bonnet in front of you and I was reminded of certain roller coasters at Oakwood. What continues to amaze me on this study tour is the quality, and number of lambs reared by ewes in what are fairly demanding conditions in terms of climate and topography. The wind was so severe on the hillside that Sheila and I had a job of standing up, while a ewe and two lambs just looked on with amusement!
You occasionally come across people in life who fairly quickly impress you with their personal achievements. Rae would certainly be one of these people. He has with Roslyn built up a substantial farming business with careful financial management, prudent purchases of land and living within his means. He manages the farm with his youngest son Scott, while Brendan is involved in the hospitality business in Queenstown. The oldest son Paul, manages a flock of Merino ewes and wethers, on a remote area of land, which is accessed by boat from Queenstown. Merino wool is currently making a comeback due to branded clothes such as ‘Ice Breaker’ which are a big hit all over the world. We saw some incredible pictures of Paul and his dogs being airlifted by helicopter to the top of a steep ridge to start driving the ewes down for shearing. I have asked Roslyn to e mail some of the pictures so that I cam post them on the blog.
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