48 | Baton changes hands at Tahora Sire bulls at Tahora. Karen Phelps Nick and Rebecca Barclay have just taken over ownership of Tahora Station after leasing the family property for the past seven years. It’s marked a significant milestone for the Barclay family, passing the reins on to the next generation. “It was quite epic,” says Nick. “We did open a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate but of course it does come with a lot of responsibility as well.” The 790ha total, 623ha effective farm is located 68km due west of Gisborne bordering Te Urewera National Park. It was originally a ballot farm Nick’s parents Nancie and William drew in 1983. Nick grew up on the farm and met Rebecca at Lincoln University. The pair did their OE then returned home to lease the family farm. Tahora Station is a traditional sheep and beef breeding and finishing property running 2500 purebred Romney, 620 replacement ewe hoggets and 50 rams along with wintering 200 purebred Hereford cows. The farm breeds and finishes just under 4000 lambs and the cattle are taken through to 18 months. The Barclays also breed 50 service bulls for the dairy industry in the Waikato, taking them through to the start of spring before they start lambing. “They are a very good temperament animal which the dairy market wants and that’s worked out well for us,” says Nick. He says they have been fortunate to inherit an efficient low-cost all grass farming system. They have made some changes since leasing the farm including adjusting timings of stock, paddock subRURAL PEOPLE » Nick and Rebecca Barclay division and a focus on improving pastures. This has included putting in over 200 culverts and 10km of fencing. Cyclone Gabrielle had an impact with 1km of fencing affected by slips from the cyclone and three stock bridges damaged. They applied to MPI for assistance and bought a hydraulic two-way grader blade to gain access to the back of the farm within the first couple of weeks after the cyclone. “Luckily we had plenty of feed due to time of year,” says Nick. “We also went and helped other farmers with initial clean-up.” A recent heavy rain event in June, which saw 300mm fall over seven days, has caused further slips due to the still fragile nature of some of the land following the cyclone. Other initiatives the couple has been undertaking has included a helicopter completing deer recovery to help protect their pastures from damage. The farm has a QEII block of 6ha and Nick says culling the deer has markedly improved the forest understory. Nick and Rebecca employ casual staff as required and William and Nancie still have a hand in the operation with William helping out a couple of days a week with Nancie also assisting during busy times as well as ‘farm sitting’ to give Nick and Rebecca a break. Both Nick and Rebecca are heavily involved in Federated Farmers. Nick is vice President of the Gisborne/ Wairoa branch of Federated Farmers and Rebecca works part time as coordinator for the Federated Farmers Meat and Wool Council. Their goal is to now consolidate and pay down debt, aiming to keep within the top 10% for profit- 027 842 4172 / 06 868 1525 beauguelfi@me.com 27 years in the industry Friendly crewwill have you covered And your sheep uncovered ability for hard hill country in the East Coast district. While children Oliver, 8 and Annabel, 5 enjoy the country life the Barclays aim to create a sustainable farm business that they can grow and continue to develop so the next generation has the opportunity to go farming. Main road to Tahora washed out. Annabel (5) and Oliver beside one of the many slips.
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