48 | RURAL PEOPLE » Tinwald Farm Sheep, beef, a vineyard and Clydesdale horses The farm is part of the ‘ Growing Future Farmers’ training scheme. Seven Clydesdale horses make ‘the best compost’ Jason says. Sue Russell Jason Sutherland manages central Otago sheep and beef property Tinwald Farm, sitting on 744 hectares between Cromwell and Wanaka. While sheep and beef form the back-bone of the farm’s activity, Tinwald Farm is home to a variety of land-based enterprises, including a successful vineyard, Clydesdale horses along with providing a hands-on learning opportunity for students interested in pursuing farming as a career. “I’m fortunate to work on a farm where the owners have quite a pioneering attitude to trying new things. Amanda and Adrian Currie see this farm as offering space to carry diverse activities and they’re not afraid of stepping away from the traditional forms of farming,” says Jason. Amanda is passionate about working with nature and advancing the quality of the soil’s biology. The couple bought the property in 2012 and have certainly marked their stamp on its purposes. “Amanda doesn’t like to do the ‘one size suits all’ and my style, the way I run my life works well with this attitude. It’s my seventh year here and we’re very settled.” Milking a flock of East Friesian sheep was also a recent activity, however Jason says, the realisation of just how much was involved in the cost of setting up and meeting the stringent audit requirements has meant a rethink to producing ice-cream. (Jason do I have this right? Yes correct) Shifting to gain the best results from the market means the beef side of the operation has grown somewhat. “Beef prices in the last six months or so have really started to crank up. Now we have a better outlook we intensively graze the beef stock.” The sheep are not so well suited to this approach, Jason explains. He describes the flock as a licorice all-sorts. “Over the years we have been trying different breeds to look for a shedding tail and clean belly. We are trying to create a low input sheep with good production, we don’t want to get rid of all the wool as there is always hope it may come back one day. The base is mainly Romney but we have tried some ell de France and other Romneys but we have settle on tefroms and ultimate rams, Tefrom for shedding tails,high milking, scanning and growth and ultimate for also shedding but toughness, scanning and the low input traits we are after. Time will tell I’m sure if we are onto something or have fallen down the wrong rabbit hole.” Processing some Tinwald grown beef has resulted in discovering quite high omega 3 levels in the meat and Jason says this is something he’s looking further into. “We always keep an open-mind as to what to try and to take up opportunities that seem to present. This is a good example of that.” Seven Clydesdale horses make ‘the best compost’ Jason says and tourists visit the farm to enjoy the abundance of activity, including horse-pulled wagons. Jason says a key goal this year is to really focus on regenerative soil management. Making compost with is biologically complete is a big step in this direction. “Now it’s a case of shifting the compost from the heap on to the paddock.” Lincoln University summer student Teegan has been employed to trial composting methods and how best to apply it to the land Jason says he also still enjoys teaching young people. The farm is part of the ‘ Growing Future Farmers’ training scheme and currently Luca is assisting on-farm. “He’s in the programme for two years and we’ll then take another student in January. It’s a great way to introduce lots of basic farming practices so that they can see where there interests lie.” Most satisfying for Jason is the fact that the farm is really beginning to produce results. Last year lambs weaned at 33kg and calves at 240kg – really A RANGE OF MODERN EARTHMOVING EQUIPMENT + MACHINE GPS SUPPLIERS AND CARTAGE OF ROCK, GRAVELS AND LANDSCAPING MATERIALS SUBDIVISIONS / ROADING HORTICULTURE / WATER RESERVOIRS & LANDSCAPING TRANSPORTATION JOHN 027 273 2480 JOHNNY 027 696 6758 WWW.CONTRAXCENTRAL.CO.NZ pleasing weights. “It proves we’re getting our farm management practices tuned to what works well on this farm and it’s pleasing to see these visible results starting to show.” Located a comfortable 15 minute drive from Cromwell, Jason says Tinwald Farm is the perfect place to raise a family “We look out to Bendigo Hills and it’s a beautiful part of the world to work and live in.”
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