| 33 nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Limestone Downs Station Limestone Downs operates a 215-hectare dairy platform milking 550 cows as well as a 130-hectare run-off block. Karen Phelps 2026 marks the 100 year anniversary of Limestone Downs, One of New Zealand’s most storied farming properties. “A lot of things have happened over the years and lots of different trial work,” says general manager Paul Mahoney. “Limestone Downs has come a long way.” The 3,219-hectare property, which stretches between the Waikawau and Kaawa Streams and extends inland to the Te Akau Line, was purchased by Charles Alma Baker in 1926. At that time it was a property with rabbit-ravaged pasture, little road access and vast tracts of virgin bush. One hundred years on it operates as a diverse and intensively managed farming enterprise encompassing dairy, sheep and beef. When Charles first acquired Limestone Downs for £30,600, the scale of the challenge was formidable. There were few fences, no direct road access for much of the year, and the land had largely reverted to weeds. Yet within three years, sheep numbers had risen from 1,800 to 9,000 and by 1935 the property carried more than 12,000 head, all achieved despite the Great Depression. Post-war uncertainty cast a shadow over the property with Baker’s trustees facing death duties, wartime shortages and the threat of compulsory subdivision for soldier resettlement. Recovery came gradually through the 1950s, buoyed by strong wool prices during the Korean War and a rubber boom in Malaya that helped service the farm’s capital needs. The appointment of manager Dan O’Connell in 1950 ushered in a period of transformation. Over more than two decades, second-growth bush was cleared, the low-lying flats were re-engineered with heavy earthworks, fences were rebuilt and new infrastructure was established. By the time O’Connell departed in 1973 the farm could winter upwards of 12,000 sheep and 1,200 cattle. A further shift came in 1981 with the establishment of the C Alma Baker Charitable Trust and the involvement of Massey University, which moved Limestone Downs away from extensive station methods towards intensive rotational farming. Electric fencing, smaller paddocks, performancebased culling and bull-beef initiatives followed, increasing the property’s going-concern value by 73 per cent within a decade. The most recent chapter has been dairy. A 300-hectare milking platform and rotary shed were commissioned in 2013 and today Limestone Downs operates a 215-hectare dairy platform milking 550 cows as well as a 130-hectare run-off block. The recent reduction in herd size from 700 has been deliberate. “Long walking distances and poor feed quality on the back of the farm meant we felt we weren’t making best use of land,” explains Paul. 10 decades sees the land transformed For all your Excavating requirements give Steven a call today! Servicing Matira, Ngaruawahia, Te Akau, Waingaro, Waikaretu & Huntly areas SW Brooks Contracting Limited EXCAVAT I NG , TRUCK CARTAGE & S I LAGE SERV I CES Steven Brooks 0273361366 Matira Rd, Ngaruawahia SILAGE – FERT SPREADING – CULTIVATION – REGRASSING – MERICRUSHING www.facebook.com/MIchealViningContrac�ng – CARTAGE – PASTURE SPRAYING – MAIZE HAY 0800 4 VINING Proudly supporting Limestone Downs Station Specialist Services Budgeting | Business Start-up | Cash Flow Forecasting Payroll Services | Software Solutions | Valuations Business Services Company Accounting | Company Administration | Farm Accounting Information Technology | Rental Property | Succession Planning | Trusts Taxation Income Tax | GST | FBT Bombay 09 236 0437 Waiuku 09 235 7455 www.drk.co.nz “We have just completed our second season back on twice-daily milking after trialling once-a-day and 16-hour milking intervals. Since we are now in a smaller area, cows are not walking as much we are trying to capture the milk solids and create more efficiencies.” Sheep and beef remain central to Limestone Downs. Spread across 1,700 hectares, the operation runs approximately 7,000 ewes and 2,000 hoggets, with roughly half bred to either Suftex or Poll Dorset terminal sires over a Romney maternal base. Paul says the aim is to finish as many lambs as possible on-farm, though seasonal conditions typically see around half sold as store lambs. Beef cattle have also been reintroduced to the property. Limestone Downs now rears dairy beef calves sourced from the dairy unit and has bought a breeding beef herd in. This helps utilise rougher pasture unsuitable for finishing stock and also addresses a persistent kikuyu grass problem, using the cattle to improve pasture quality before finishing them for the works. Since 1987 Paul says Limestone Down has also hosted 143 Young Farmers exchange participants from the United Kingdom, reinforcing its reputation as a place of learning as much as production.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=