Business Rural Winter 2021

44 | MEAT & WOOL » Lake Hawea Station • from page 42 Important for farmers to know their carbon number The Lake Hawea Station team. But 40% of New Zealand’s land use is sheep and beef farms and a lot of those will be at a great start point in terms of the carbon number. Let’s get them certified first so we know the bulk of our land mass is actually carbon positive. There are all sorts of emerging techniques in regard to methane reduc- tion that dairy farmers will start to look at to help improve their position.” Embracing seven kilometres of lakefront, Lake Hawea Station encompasses 6500 hectares — 500 hectares of flat land that can be traversed by trac- tor, 2500 hectares of hill country that’s grazeable all year round, and the remainder fairly high summer grazing country. Flat terraces under irrigation by the lake are the farm’s powerhouse while gullies running off the lake towards the mountains in an east-west direc- tion provide good spring/summer farming. “In the spring the north facing slopes are very warm and are the first to shoot away. But in the middle of summer it’s the south facing slopes that manage to hold the green grass.” The farm is home to 8500 merino sheep and 200 pure Angus cattle. Moving to a breeding cattle herd, all progeny will be sold store. “The cattle play an important role in developing new pastures. Their grazing effect is part of building regenerative pasture. Run the right way, cattle can also help with soil sequestration, which as yet we still haven’t measured. And we’re moving towards regenerative pastures as well.” Fencing off the lake, while implementing a huge stock water system and running fresh water through many of the paddocks was followed by fencing off other waterways and planting 10,000 native trees endemic to the area. The Ross’ goal is to plant 10,000 trees each year for the next decade. To date, over 15,000 trees have been planted. Looking to the future, Geoff and his family plan to build on the farm’s positive carbon rating. “We think that’s the single most important selling point for food and fibre from the station. We believe we can lift production and the environmental credentials in parallel. One should not be to the detriment of the other.” “We think that’s the single most important selling point for food and fibre from the station. We believe we can lift production and the environmental credentials in parallel. One should not be to the detriment of the other.” Lake Hawea Station Boutique accommodation and mountain biking are part of the Lake Hawea Station experience.