52 | Red tape pushing Ed Palmer with wife Ro and family. The couple are sheep and beef farmers at Te Aratipi Station in the Hawke’s Bay Rachel Graham Ed Palmer knows he has a pretty special spot at Te Aratipi Station in the Hawke’s Bay, with its rolling hills and panoramic views. The station is about five kilometres inland from Waimarama Beach as the crow flies, or about 10 kilometres drive. The land has been farmed by Ed’s family for over a hundred years, with the family gathering in 2015 to celebrate one hundred years of connection to the land. The station covers about 1100 hectares of limestone hills and Ed Palmer says it has its own microclimate, with a good amount of rainfall. He says the station has long proved excellent land for sheep and beef. Ed is continuing the tradition of sheep and beef farming, focusing on breeding and fattening up the stock. The farm has capital stock of around 5100 ewes, with about 1500 replacement hoggets. They also have about 350 breeding cows, 150 R2 heifers, and 300 weaners or yearlings. In addition, they have around 50 rams and a dozen bulls. Ed says growing up he was always keen to take on farming, and he feels pretty lucky to be able to do it at the Te Aratipi station. Ed is the owner, director and manager of Te Aratipi Station with help from his wife Ro, plus a shepherd and a general hand. The farm is owned in partnership with his parents with his father now taking on more of a background role after running the farm himself for many years. While sheep and beef are the main focuses for the station, they are also looking at tourism RURAL PEOPLE » Te Aratipi Station opportunities, having set up cabins to offer an oldfashioned back country hut experience. The cabins are near Te Aratipi Bush, one of the most valuable pieces of remnant bush left on the Maraetotara Plateau, which the Palmers are working to help protect and restore for future generations. Ed says he hopes his two boys may look at becoming farmers when they grow up, but he says he won’t apply any pressure as he knows they will have to want to take it on. He says there is a lot of pressure on farmers at the moment, with increasing rules and regulations at every turn. Ed says one thing Covid proved was how essential farmers are to keep the economy going and the country fed, but he feels like that was quickly forgotten. “I think the Government really need to look at what makes New Zealand money. It is farming. It is still the backbone of our country. And I think a lot of people don’t really know that.” He fears all of the extra restrictions on farmers will push more people into looking at turning their farms into forestry blocks. “They are just making it so tricky for us. At the end of the day, the easy way out is forestry at the moment, especially if you are getting to the age of retirement with family who don’t want to take over. You can get an unrealistic amount if you are selling it to forestry. It’s a tough decision but at the end of the day money talks. Something needs to be done because otherwise there will be a lot of good land that’s going.” Our Rural Specialists: Adrian Barclay • Lincoln Reid • Caleb Hensman Napier | Ph 06 835 3069 | www@slw.co.nz Proud to support Te Aratipi Station For all your Hay - Silage - Cultivation Phone Mike 021 733 918 SERVICE & REPAIR • CUSTOM BUILDS • FIELD SUPPORT office@gcw.nz | 022 677 4504 | www.gcw.nz | Hawke’s Bay
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