62 | Matakanui snow covered through winter They winter 25,000 stock units made up of 19,500 sheep and 1500 cattle, Virginia Wright Sprawled across the Dunstan Mountains, a bit more than an hour’s drive from Wanaka and Queenstown, High Country sheep and beef farm Matakanui Station’s 8700 hectares rise as high as 1500 metres above sea-level. With the snowline around 1000 metres this means much of it is covered in snow through the winter. Matakanui has been in the Paterson family for generations, with Andrew and Tracy Paterson taking over its management in 2004, and buying the rest of the family out over the following years to achieve sole ownership in 2014. They’re making the most of what the land has to offer with what Andrew describes as a mix of extensive and intensive farming. Their 2000 flat to rolling hectares lend themselves to the more intensive part of their operation, with 500 hectares of that irrigated, and 200 of those by pivot. The pivot irrigated paddocks are all grass which is used for fattening and finishing stock,while the spray irrigated are where they grow their lucerne and summer feed crops. They winter 25,000 stock units made up of 19,500 sheep and 1500 cattle, which the Patersons manage with an eye keenly focused on achieving the quality needed to qualify for premiums on both. “We run 500 Hereford cows and we fatten their young stock. All yearling heifers are mated and the surplus are sold in-calf to other breeders. We fatten all our steers with a combination of maize, grass and lucerne hay during their second autumn,” says Andrew. While they’re currently the only farm in the neighbourhood growing maize, the Patersons believe it’s the key to achieving the top IMF (Intra Muscular Fat) mark in the animals they supply to the hand-picked programme with Alliance, which MEAT & WOOL » Matakanui Station brings with it an extra $1 a kilo. “They sell it in restaurants as 55 day aged beef and if you get accepted into that you get top dollar,” says Andrew. Matakanui Station is home to their longstanding Polwarth Stud which Andrew and Tracy have developed with a focus on producing an easier care, dual purpose animal. “By introducing footrot resistance, and worm resistance, but also improving their fertility and their meat producing ability, we’re really emphasising the dual purpose of the animal. We want them producing a really high quality fleece but also to have a good meaty frame underneath,” says Andrew. Looking at the awards the Patersons have just collected at the first New Zealand Agricultural Show Day to be held in Christchurch for two years, it’s clear that ‘high quality fleece’ if anything is an understatement. They cleaned up the Supreme Fleece, Champion Fine Fleece, and Most Points in Wool Awards for their Polwarth wool. “The Polwarth is essentially a ¾ breed, ¾ merino and ¼ Lincoln, but they’ve been a stable breed for well over 100 years now. The Lincoln brings long length and lustre to the merino wool, and good meat,” explains Andrew. Andrew 027 224 7511 Tracy 027 493 4422 www.matakanui.co.nz Matakanui Station Matakanui Polwarths have proven results. Our commitment is to produce a true dual purpose animal that delivers both fine wool and meat, and is backed by solid genetic EBV’s. The Polwarth is established as one of the most versatile and successful breeds. D
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