12 | Buckwheat - the Nick and Kath with kids Tom and Sophie. Products: Groats, flour and honey, Russell Fredric ARABLE » Pure NZ Buckwheat A ‘hare-brained’ idea to plant buckwheat turned out to be a rabbit pulled out of the hat for South Canterbury farmer Nick Walters. The result is Pure New Zealand Buckwheat, a growing, harvesting and processing operation that incorporates a booming bulk sales and boutique online business. While operating his tractor on autosteer five years ago, Nick was inspired to Google buckwheat which at the time he knew nothing about. Today, 60 hectares of the 250 hectare property that he and his partner Kath Bruce farm is seasonally sown in buckwheat, which is actually not a wheat variety but a seed that comes from a flowering plant related to rhubarb and sorrel. “It’s essentially a pseudo cereal, even though it’s a seed, in fact it can be used as a replacement for most cereals. Like wheat, it’s got the same characteristics in terms of milling abilities and those sorts of qualities with the advantage that it doesn’t contain gluten,” Nick says. Buckwheat fits well into the farm’s system which includes carrying trading stock according to the season. It is a fast maturing crop, is harvested about 100 days after it is sown, and yields at about two tonnes per hectare. “This leads back into (sowing) milling wheat so it’s a great break crop. It’s a low cost option for us as well; it doesn’t need any inputs.” When buckwheat is planted, phosphorus that is bound in the soil can be released and it also attracts beneficial insects to the area sown including bees, resulting in high pollination. Because of Nick’s experience with arable crops, growing buckwheat was not difficult to work out, but the biggest challenge was in processing the crop, including through to the packaging and marketing stage for retail product being sold online through Pure New Zealand Buckwheat’s website. “That was a steep learning curve for us, taking that crop and doing the processing of it through to the packaging and end market so we are owning the entire process.” This involved a significant investment, purchasing a processing plant from overseas which is located off-farm12 kilometres towards the coast on State Highway 1 at St Andrews. Once harvested, the seed is processed by a seed dresser then transported to St Andrews to be further processed for sale and transport, or to be packaged on-site for sale on the website. The online shop sells groats, the hulled kernels of the buckwheat that includes the cereal germ and bran portion of the grain, as well as the endosperm, the core product of the seed, plus buckwheat flour, hulls, buckwheat honey and hull (bean) bags that are filled with hulls instead of synthetic material. Buckwheat’s gluten free status and its ability to be substituted in everyday cooking means it is great for those who have sensitivities to wheat or other grains that contain gluten. It is also cholesterol free and sugar free, a great source of natural fibre, low in both fat and sodium and it a great source of vitamins and trace minerals. Pure New Zealand Buckwheat has recently imported a flour mill and expects to produce about 100 tonnes of buckwheat flour a year. “We will be branching out into some other products as well.” The business was given a huge boost recently when it was featured on an episode of Country Calendar on April 23. “A prime time half and hour slot, it’s pretty impressive really.” Also impressive is the 3,500% “I kid you not” increase in traffic to the Pure New Zealand Buckwheat website. Nick says the business’ story of provenance, almost total ownership of the processing, the purity of the product which includes using dedicated equipment, and the inclusion of brand New Zealand are all part of the equation. The week after Country Calendar aired, a Japanese crew also did a story about the operation which was shown the first week of May. “It’s essentially a pseudo cereal, even though it’s a seed, in fact it can be used as a replacement for most cereals. Like wheat, it’s got the same characteristics in terms of milling abilities and those sorts of qualities with the advantage that it doesn’t contain gluten.” Industrial Controls are proud to support Pure NZ Buckwheat Main Road, St. Andrews PO Box 137, Timaru Cell: 027432 9555 Phone: 03 612 6605 Email: www.standrewstransport .co.nz satrans@xtra.co.nz Proud to be associated with Pure New Zealand Buckwheat
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