That’s a line from Riverside Farms, a specialised dairy and beef grazing property in the Hakataramea Valley which has been undergoing major development since established in 2021.
That has included the installation of 15 centre-pivots and four hard-hose irrigators, which have transformed the landscape. As manager John Smart puts it, "it’s about capitalising on the potential and that’s what we are doing".
The land, on either side of the Hakataramea River, was bought by a group of investors led by Opotiki couple Ray and Lis Sharp. The Sharps’ business portfolio included the Tirohanga Fruit Company, which they acquired in 1995.
Kiwifruit was then a new venture for them, having been involved in beef and sheep farming, and intensive beef fattening, and they developed more kiwifruit orchards during the late 1990s and 2000s. Mr Sharp, prominent in the Bay of Plenty community, served as a director of kiwifruit marketer Zespri.
Securing majority shares in both Riverside and Sunny Downs, a 1600-cow dairy farm between Duntroon and Kurow, was a strategic move to diversify investment beyond the realm of kiwifruit.
The purchase of Riverside was to provide a large run-off block but, given the size of the property at more than 900ha, it now also incorporated a beef operation, comprising about 1000 Wagyu which were grazed on weight gain, 550 of Riverside’s own beef finishing animals and about 900 dairy support stock. The ultimate goal was to purchase a second dairy farm but that would be time-related, Mr Smart said.
Mr Smart and his partner Theresa (Rhizzy) Aburquez are approaching their third winter in the valley. Asked the appeal of the role, Mr Smart said it was the scale and diversity of the operation, of having three different units with three different microclimates, and the views from their home were "just to die for".
The expansive valley was a "beautiful place" and even though it was an intensive and busy operation, it was still quite a calm place to work. He recalled a Country Calendar episode in the 1970s which referred to the valley as being a dustbowl.
But both the environment and farming practices had changed and, with third-generation farmers still in the valley", he believed "it can’t be that bad".
Last year was described as the driest in the valley since records began around 1937 and that extreme dry tested the farm — "I think we came out pretty well" — but irrigation water extracted from the Waitaki River and irrigating 800-odd hectares provided "massive protection".
Mr Smart has had a diverse farming career over 40 years; brought up on a town supply dairy farm, he had a brief foray into furniture polishing and cabinet-making after leaving school, before starting as a general shepherd and working his way up to managing Mount Linton Station, followed by a large Landcorp-owned property.
Various other roles followed, including a stint at the Southern Dairy Hub followed by a season in the senior management team overseeing three dairy farms and two support blocks spread over Southland and North Otago.
He managed NZSF Broadacres FarmRight's large-scale runoff for a season, and then did two seasons contract milking for the New Zealand Super Fund farm, Longford FarmRight, before moving to Riverside Farms in 2023. His partner is originally from the Philippines and has been working in the dairy industry in New Zealand for the past 13 years.
The property is split over three blocks; Riverside being the main block where the winter grazing dairy cows come to, and the Ross (young stock and finishing stock) and Simes (development) blocks on the other side of the river.
Three different fertiliser systems were used on the different blocks — synthetic, alternative fertiliser, fish and seaweed. The idea was to phase in the change which was moving away from a reliance on synthetic fertiliser and sprays — "and going into big-time grass farming"
The biggest problem was that soils had become reliant on synthetic fertiliser which supplied the value required in the first three inches of soil, while "all locked up" sitting below that was "all sorts of good stuff", he said.
The move away from synthetics meant the ground became sweeter, which meant the weeds did not like it and eradication of them became more natural, root depth increased, and it became more frost and drought tolerant. There were also animal health benefits.
A mix of baking soda, brown sugar and white vinegar was used on crops to lessen the use of insecticides and fungicides.
When it came to dairy grazing, Mr Smart said he and his partner were "dairy people" and they understood the stresses and highs and lows of dairy farming. That included winter being the time for dairy farmers to relax, knowing their cows were being well-fed and cared for if they sent them off-farm for grazing.
Paul Edwards, from Compass Agribusiness, which operates specialist grazing management business 45 South Grazing Ltd, said Mr Smart’s hands-on experience of dairy farming gave him an understanding of what stock owners wanted from a grazier and recognised any changes that were needed.
Mr Smart said there was an ability to transition cows on to fodder beet, using kale and silage, and then transition them off again. If a farmer did not want their cows fed on fodder beet, then there was an ability to do a specific number on kale only. Having that flexibility was important.
This year, various fodderbeet varieties were sown, using the latest specialist fodder beet drill, which had different spacing to usual drills, and already Mr Smart had seen a "huge" difference in germination and seed population. Thermal imagery of germination of crops on the property was taken and it was getting up to 90% whereas last year was down to 70%.
They did all their own agricultural work, apart from drilling, to reduce costs, and Mr Smart believed crops were better as a result, as paddocks could be worked at the optimal time. In winter, grubbing was done behind the cows meaning there was 100% utilisation of the fodder beet bulbs and animals did very well, he said.
Ensuring the animals were well fed was paramount — sometimes twice a day — and while the valley was cold in the winter, it was dry and animals put on condition very quickly. Their crops were so far advanced this year, they were still looking for some cows to winter.
Cattle-handling facilities included an automated weighing system and Riverside was involved with a Gallagher development programme for a walk-on, walk-off system for the beef industry in which data was recorded and sent straight to the cloud.
Asked how he juggled daily farm chores with management, Mr Smart joked he had an office, pointing to his dusty Prado vehicle, and he had a cellphone. When it came to an operation of such scale as Riverside, "you need to be in the paddock".
"It’s in the paddock the money is made," he said.
With such a long involvement in farming, he had learned what he could and could not handle. He had also learned that if he was not good at something, get someone who was.
"This scale I can handle, it’s horses for courses," he said.
This time last year, he was on holiday in Australia. He reckoned the only time you could have a holiday from a farm was when you were not only not there, but not in the country. While his phone still rang a few times, he did not have to physically do anything.
The Sharps were regular visitors to the valley and weekly conference calls meant the owners always knew what was going on. "We’re very much an in-touch group," he said.
It meant they could react quickly in a changing environment. With not much heat this summer, the weather had a real autumn feel about it which signalled a longer autumn so already they were provisioning for that.
It was fortunate the farm owners were proactive about development and support based on financial outcomes, he said.
Farming was both an exciting and challenging career. He was proud of what had been achieved so far at Riverside Farms — it had come a long way in a short time — but there was still a long way to go and the property’s potential was "a lot more than what we see today".
Mr Edwards, whose involvement with the property was also coming up to three years, said what had been achieved was "mind-blowing".
While modern technology might be used, Mr Smart said the valley was "old-style farming" where neighbours knew and looked out for each other.
Last winter, when his gallbladder wanted to "explode" and he was rushed to hospital, neighbours turned up the next day when they heard and he received phone calls to say not to worry about the farm. "That for me was massive ... it’s a great valley," he said.
