Friday, March 29, 2024

Weather, terrain rule the farm

Neal Wallace
Otago’s Lambhill Station is remote, steep and exposed but through strategic investment and careful management it is achieving commendable levels of production. Neal Wallace met managers Chris and Lucy Thomson.
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Lambhill Station does not try to be anything but a large-scale breeding property.

Managers Chris and Lucy Thomson know better than to try to supply prime stock, acutely aware the climate and terrain always have the last say.

In many respects the weaknesses of the 22,000-stock unit Otago sheep and beef, hill-country property are also its strengths and knowing exactly where those boundaries lie and making early decisions are the keys to managing it.

The remote 4560ha station traverses rolling to steep hills above the inland reaches of the Taieri River, sitting at the end of a road between Strath Taieri and east Otago, an hour’s drive northwest of Dunedin.

Access to the station is across a joint road and rail bridge on the Taieri Gorge Railway line, which takes tourists between Dunedin and Middlemarch.

In the 13 years the Thomsons have managed the farm they have almost doubled its carrying capacity through an extensive regrassing, fertiliser and development programme.

Chris Thomson said it was never the aim to turn Lambhill into an intensive finishing property.

Its elevation, rising from 180m at the river to 700m above sea level, steep valleys and exposure to all elements of the weather limits options but also means they have to be prepared to make early decisions.

Grass stops growing in mid May and starts again in early September. In between Thomson has had snow 1m deep at the top of the farm and 70cm deep at the house.

Annual rainfall varies from 550mm to 800mm but does not always fall at the optimum time while prevailing west to northwest winds can dry the ground out.

“It’s not a property you can ever plan on. 

“There is no irrigation so you’ve got to do what the property allows you to do,” he said.

One of Chris Thomson’s working dogs.

In addition to the tractor driver he employs a shepherd to help him run the farm with Lucy looking after the books and administration.

Thomson said it is a small but busy team which, together with suppliers, is invaluable in making the business work.

The Three O’clock River splits the station in two, hence the decision to build another woolshed beside the homestead to reduce stock movement. 

The steep access out of the river valley means stock trucks have to be towed up the road to the new woolshed and fertiliser trans-shipped from trailers parked in the valley.

Similarly, access to the original woolshed is steep and difficult with trucks having to trans-ship stock to trailers at the bottom of the hill.

Their three children have been home-schooled but this year their youngest daughter makes the 35-minute journey to Outram School, a twice-daily trip done week about with a neighbour.

Thomson said access issues add to the time and cost but soon became an accepted part of everyday management.

It is a simple system with simple goals, albeit largely determined by the property’s challenging environment and terrain.

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