46 | RURAL PEOPLE » Rewa Rewa Station: Rod Clutton & Patrizia Vieno Couple honoured to take top award Rewa Rewa Station’s Patrizia Vieno sorting a fleece. Lou and Les take the fleece from one of the Cashmere goats. Russell Fredric A passion for livestock and the land have strongly coloured the choices and lifestyle of Rod Clutton and Patrizia Vieno. The Wairarapa couple are ex-pats from England and Italy respectively and farm just on 1000ha/600ha effective about 20 kilometres north east of Castlepoint. Having visited New Zealand a few times before emigrating, Rod and Patrizia decided to make New Zealand and Rewa Rewa Station their permanent home in 2011. They run the farm with the help of stock manager, Les Eden. Although Rod had experience running an intensive sheep and beef operation in the UK, Patrizia was previously an interior designer, so for her moving to a farm was a steep learning curve, but she can now competently outline the station’s operation in detail. They have made good use of their time in New Zealand and achieved an impressive string of awards this year, reflecting their passion and holistic approach to running the station. They were named the Greater Wellington Regional Supreme winners in this year’s Ballance Farm Environment Awards and were recipients of the Bayleys People in Primary Sector Award, the Norwood Agri-Business Management Award and the QEII National Trust Farm Stewardship Award. The QE11 award was for the preservation of native trees as well as for the preservation and restoration of some of the station’s buildings. “It was so unexpected to win the supreme award. We were honoured, but also shocked that we actually won,” Patrizia says. “We couldn’t have done it without Les. We’ve got a very good team around us.” The station is an extensive hill country breeding operation that supports about 3000 Romney breeding ewes, 1000 hoggets and 140 Angus cows. Due to the dry climate the lambs are sold at weaning before Christmas as stores and there is a strong focus on parasite management and body condition scoring. “We try to get as many off mum and straight to the works but the rest are sold to finishers as stores. When we wean they go straight off,” Patrizia says. Because of the climate, a lower stocking rate allows for a buffer and the farm system works with the weather, but during dry years replacement stock are sent to graze off-farm which Patrizia concedes is not a profit-making proposition. Diversification and sustainability are cornerstones of the station’s operation. 200ha of pine trees have been planted under the Government’s billion trees programme. In addition, the introduction of about 60 Cashmere Goats has helped with weed control and the valuable cashmere fibre does not go to waste, but is sent to be carded then sold as part of the wool and fibre business. The farm provides education opportunities for students and the community and has a farmstead business and a craft shop, from where courses and monthly craft days are also run which enables Patrizia to share her passion for fibre. She has her own flock of 60 coloured sheep consisting of small flocks of pure Polwarth, Romney cross Corriedale and Gotland. These are complemented by a few angora goats and alpacas while she also breeds some Highland Cattle. “When I came to New Zealand what I wanted to do was to learn to spin and it just escalated from there.” She has become thoroughly integrated into associations in the district related to the craft and to the breeds she spins from, along with the Spinners and Weavers Guild, Highland Cattle Society, Shire Horse Society, Rare Breeds Association and the Black and Coloured Sheep breeders Association. The wool business sells high quality wool either spun or carded ready for spinning, in addition to mohair and alpaca. Also available is a range of woollen products including blankets and creations such as felt mats, knitting packs and knitted items. Leanne Southey BBS, FCA Rebecca Schofield BBS, FCA 110 Dixon Street | Masterton 5810 P: 06 3700811 | E: ca@sosa.co.nz | www.sosa.co.nz We can assist you with all your accounting needs • GST & Payroll • Business Purchase/Setups • Succession Planning • Annual Accounts • Software Training & Implementation • Commercial & Agricultural Contact us for a no obligation chat about how we can help you today
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