My name is Anna. My husband Mitch and I lease the family farm from my parents in Mt Somers. It is a fairly traditional 540 ha sheep and beef property in the foothills of Mid Canterbury, with historically good rainfall, although this El Nino summer has dried things out a lot.
I grew up here as one of four, the best upbringing any child could hope for. To be honest I had resigned myself to the fact that I would probably never be able to provide the same for my children. Then two years ago the opportunity to lease the farm came up. My two sisters had worked well together leasing Cravendale for 3 years, but one of them had recently bought a farm with her partner, so they would be ending their lease.
At this time Mitch and I lived in Hawea in beautiful Central Otago. I worked half the week as a physio in Wanaka and the other half shepherding at Ardgour Station in Tarras. Mitch is a builder and had spent 18 years building. We were happy! But they say you only get a few chances in life so when my sisters asked if I’d be keen to take on the farm lease, we decided to go for it!
Soon after I became pregnant and now wee Charlie is a squawking, into-everything 9 month old boy. We have just completed our first year of the 5 year lease, it has flown by! Not a year for getting rich with low lamb prices and high interest rates. We have got to know our bank manager well. There have been real highs and lows with having our first baby 3 months into taking on a farm business. Charlie has been lumped along from a few weeks in, sleeping in a wrap on my chest, or a fish box in the truck while we shift winter feed breaks. Mitch has learned the ropes quickly and we haven’t strangled each other yet which is a positive when you’re living and working together 24/7.
Our last lamb draft went to the works a few days ago. 100 of the squirts mob, 6 months after lambing, finally up to carcass weight after the last month or so on rape and italian grass. Time for them to go whether up to weight or not, we need the crop for our ewe lamb replacements.
The lambs came in fat, tossing their heads and jumping as they unknowingly made their way through the yards for the last time.
They loaded onto the truck nicely but halfway through I found myself dragging 3 lambs over the rails on their way onto the loading ramp.
Yes, we did give the pet lambs a blue eartag at tailing to ensure we would not, under any circumstances, retain them as ewe replacements. Yes, they were total bastards to have around and kept breaking through the fence onto the lawn and beheading the roses. Yes, I am aware that keeping animals you had to molly-coddle every step of the way is a fairly poor long-term breeding strategy. Yes, they are well below the cut-off hogget replacement weight of 35kg. And yes, we could do with the extra $87/hd.
But they followed me back to the horse paddock, and they look much better there than hanging on a rack, and the one which I retained on behalf of its cool bleat still comes running when I go out to feed the chooks.
Maybe I'm not cut out for this farming business.