In the case of Richard Gloag, sustainability has economic, social and environmental definitions, and he doubted he would still be farming Buscot Station if he had not embarked on the radical changes that were now a feature of the station in the Omarama basin, just north of the town.
Irrigation, subdivision and a proposed dairy unit being developed had all transformed the high country property, and should ensure the fourth generation of the Gloag family was in a position to pass it on to a fifth.
Mr Gloag said his father, Tony, toiled hard to eke out a living from merino sheep and cattle, but to do so now was becoming increasingly difficult as costs rose and incomes fluctuated.
The secret for him was the arrival of irrigation water from Lake Ohau, which cost $4 million to get to the boundary or $500 a ha.
On-farm costs were in addition to that.
The water serviced six properties, with Buscot the last on the scheme 45km from the source, and it irrigated 300ha on Buscot and the proposed 450ha dairy unit, known as Little Ben.
Before the investment they had 65ha of k-line irrigation sourced from a creek on the property.
This summer, he intended adding another 50ha of k-line irrigation.
Mr Gloag said the irrigation was a huge investment, requiring a 10km race to service Buscot and Little Ben, and the digging of a 180m long tunnel, 450mm in diameter.
The water fed seven centre pivots, the largest 930m long.
Water had transformed the traditional dryland high country station, providing the family with a sustainable and viable business and providing work and investment to the community.
Before the irrigation, Buscot was running 4000 stock units made up of 2000 merino ewes, 1000 hoggets, 1000 wethers and 100 cows, with lambs sold as stores and calves as weaners.
"In a dry year we'd give them away.
Now, we fatten everything," he said.
They now ran up to 11,000 stock units and Mr Gloag still produced fine merino wool, but wintered lambs for finishing in the spring, ran a breeding cow herd, finished calves and grazed 600 rising one-year dairy calves.
"It's changed the way we farm."
An added bonus was that Mr Gloag's merino hoggets were named the country's top ewe hogget flock for this year.
His merino ewes consistently lambed between 105% and 110% and produced wool at an average of 18 micron and clip 5kg.
The lambing percentage was boosted by vaccination for abortion, campylobacter and iodine.
His ewe hoggets produced wool 16.5 to 17 micron at an average clip of 3.5kg.
Mr Gloag said the combined hogget production from wool and meat sales which met high spring schedules, boosted his income and was reflected in his winning the award.
Rams came from Alan Paterson's Armidale stud in the Maniototo, and combined with Buscot's reliable pasture growth from irrigation and a breeding policy of producing an even line of big-framed dual purpose sheep.
About a third of Buscot wool was sold under contract arranged through the New Zealand Merino Company, a move Mr Gloag said benefited growers in a year such as this with fluctuating prices, but it was something he was keen to look at extending.
"I'd like to have as many contracts as I can. It helps with the budgeting. You know what you are going to get and you avoid fluctuating returns."
Ewe wool has sold this year for $9 a kg greasy but has been as high as $12 a kg.
Even his lambs were sold under contract to Canterbury Meat Packers.
About 60% of Buscot was hill country, rising to 1240m above sea level.
Lambs were born on hill country starting in early October.
They were weaned in January, going on to irrigated pasture for a month or so before going on to saved dry land pasture to allow irrigated paddocks to recover.
From autumn, they went back to dry land blocks, where they remained until early winter, then returned to irrigated blocks and were fed baleage.
Later in winter, the lambs went on to turnips and grass from which prime lambs were sold.
Wethers this August averaged 18.6kg and returned $113.
The ewes spent their lives on the hills but were fed baleage for the two months before shearing in late August, after which they were set-stocked for lambing.
The cows also spent their lives on the hills but were mated on irrigated country.
Beef-breed calves were weaned in June on to saved pasture with baleage before going on to greenfeed rape and turnips in late winter.
They were sold after Christmas at over 300kg carcass weight for the steers and over 290kg for heifers.
Dairy calves arrived in early December and were wintered on grass then rape and turnips.
They left as rising 2-year-olds.
Wool remained Mr Gloag's passion.
He was recently awarded a Merino Inc scholarship, supported by New Zealand Merino and Meat and Wool New Zealand, to attend a Biella Masters Programme in Italy.
"It showed me why it needs to be done that way," he said of his wool clip.
Colin Wallace classed his wool and Mr Gloag said the visit showed him he was on the right track, but it also reinforced the need to do things correctly and the importance of tensile strength, style and crimp definition.
He was also heartened by the passion and the size of the investment of those processing his clip and returned home with a greater appreciation of how reliant they were on what he did on his Omarama farm.
A field day is being held on Buscot Station on November 27, starting at 10am.