70 | Vineyard adds another income stream to farm MEAT & WOOL » Tinwald Farms • from page 68 Seizing an opportunity when a retiring farmer with a ock of East Friesian Ewes was getting out of the sheep-milking business, the Currie’s purchased not only the ock of 170 sheep but also the plant for milking and cheese making. “We had the sheep milking parlour packed up and brought down from Kerikeri to this farm to start this new venture. Now we have a person studying the art and science of making sheep milk cheese in France. And what attracted Jason to take up the role four years ago was the thoroughly pioneering vision of the owners, who, like him, carry an attitude of giving something a go and not just continuing year in, year out doing what has always been done. Jason says East Friesian are good milkers but can be a bit soft for the conditions down South. “They don’t handle the winters so well. We’re thinking of crossing them with some of our commercial ewes from our ock of 3000. The bene t of this is that with the crossing it would also produce a very good lamb.” The biggest journey of late though has probably been around moving away from the use of synthetic fertilisers and chemicals to a more biological approach to enhancing soil health, as Jason explains. “We decided to go boots and all nearly three years ago and stopped applying nitrogen altogether. It created a slowdown in pasture performance but even more importantly gave the soil its own time to regenerate, by growing a much wider variety of grasses and plants, each providing speci c nutrition to the soil. Now we have the worms back and things are beginning to look good.” Really bad compaction was at the heart of the matter, created by a more mono-culture approach to pasture species and the over-grazing of pastures. Now, Jason says, they are much more aware of the need to move stock around. As a result, pasture gets a longer rest period and stock don’t remain on the same paddock as long as they once did. “We mob the sheep up into much bigger mobs too and move them three or four times a day before Christmas. The lambs love it. By having these big mobs, what they don’t eat they trample into the soil pushing vital nutrients into the ground. It’s a winwin for the stock and the soil.” Tinwald farm has just produced its rst vintage of Pinot Noir. The farm’s location on the rolling foothills of the Pisa Range, bounded by the Tinwald and Lochar streams, with gravelly terraces and semiarid climate are well suited to the pinot noir varietal. “Our two vineyards extend over 20ha. We’re very enthusiastic about this other development on the farm.” Silage & baleage Hands-on arable farming experience Minimum tilage, optimum cultivation, moisture retention, seeding, harvesting Cutting edge, top-performance machinery Cereals, brassica & grass Maximise your yield Latest GPS technology 492 Aubrey Rd, Wanaka greentogold@xtra.co.nz 027 221 9501 GREEN TO GOLD LTD SPECIALISTS IN ARABLE CONTRACTING Clydesdale horses are another focus at Tinwald Farm. Christina White and Brooke Egerton get aquainted with the working horses. Study high-country farming in stunning Central Otago and gain an extensive range of best-practice farming skills in the classroom, workshop, woolshed, and high-country. You’ll learn about animal handling and health, vehicles and machinery, pastures and soils, and food and fiber production. HIGH COUNTRY FARMING Proudly working alongside Tinwald Farm 0800 765 9276 | www.otagopolytechnic.ac.nz | 11 Bannockburn Rd, Cromwell Kei th Mackenzie Bui lder 9 Roberts Drive, Cromwell 9310 | 03 445 0857 | 027 619 5538 keith@kmackenziebuilder.co.nz | www.kmackenziebuilder.co.nz Proud to support Tinwald Farm
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