Craig Robinson and his partner Lyndal Simpson have sold their rolling 1176ha sheep and beef farm Elgin in Wilden, north of Tapanui.
Elgin was bought by his grandparents Tom and Mary Robinson in 1955 and then farmed by his parents Neil and Lyn Robinson.
Craig said it was a hard decision to sell, as it was the only place he had ever considered home.
‘‘We will miss it but you look in the rear-vision mirror for lessons [and] you try not to dwell on it. You focus on what is out the front to make life interesting and exciting.’’
Nearly 140 people registered to bid at a clearing sale on Elgin last week.
The full clearance of more than 4000 Romney Coopworth ewes included up to $232 per head for first shear, up to $204 for second shear, $190 for third shear, $156 for fourth shear and $140 for fifth and sixth shear.
A plant clearing sale followed, where deals included a John Deere 6190 Tractor for $90,000 and a 1980 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ45 for $12,500.
As his legs were too short to reach the pedals, Neil would put the vehicle in first gear and pull the choke out to keep it moving forward so he could feed out, as his son steered.
Children worked on the farm as soon as they were able.
‘‘You are driving before you probably should be but you had to. He didn’t take you out there because you were the best option, he took you out there because you were the only option.’’
As Craig did not know the difference between left and right, his father painted two colours on areas of the dashboard either side of the steering wheel.
‘‘He would yell out purple or white to tell me which way to steer.’’
Feeding out became more fun when he was tall enough to touch the accelerator.
‘‘It was always funny to give it a little blip and watch him fall off the back,’’ he recalled
The last of the livestock, about 180 calves, will be auctioned at the Mt Benger calf sale on March 25.
Mr Robinson’s reasons for selling included rising interest rates making it more expensive to service debt and lamb prices ‘‘weren’t that flash’’ at the time.
Lamb prices had improved but sheep and beef property values had fallen from a time when farm sale prices were boosted by demand for forestry conversions.
‘‘Crystal ball-wise, we probably would have been better selling three years ago — we’ve probably dropped $1 million at least,’’ he said.
When asked if he ever crunched the numbers of blanket planting trees on Elgin, he said was not a fan of the landuse change and its impact on a community.
‘‘I don’t think Lawrence is going to survive with the number of farms that have gone to trees.’’
The couple had bought a lifestyle block near Clyde.
Once the calf sale was done, he would start thinking about looking for work in Central Otago.
‘‘I’d like a change of pace. I’d like to go [hard] out for five days and then have two days where I don’t have to worry about stock and who is going to shear them, all that sort of stuff.’’
A friend had left farming and moved to Cromwell and realised how much stress he had left behind him.
‘‘He realised how much you have to be thinking, running a farm.’’
Another reason for selling was his children Liam and Zara pursuing careers outside of farming.
Liam, a diesel mechanic at Otago Tractor Repairs in Dunedin, had spent his weekends cleaning plant for the clearing sale.
Craig had kept his working dogs as it was important to him they were part of the final muster to get the calves to the Mt Benger sale.
A decision on how long the dogs would stay in Clyde was a ‘‘work in progress’’ as they could help him secure some work but could also be a tie if they wanted to go on holiday.
‘‘If someone gave me a job that paid well and I needed dogs to do it, I’d keep them.’’
The last time he worked for someone else was 1994.
As Neil had worked on Elgin from leaving school until the age of 54, he wanted to chase a longheld dream of shepherding in Upper Clutha.
‘‘I started another career and worked fulltime for 18 years until 2019, age 72 . . . being a shepherd was a total adventure,’’ he said.
For the past six years, he has been working part-time as a driver for Ridgeline Wa ¯naka, taking tourists to high country properties.
Neil said the sale of Elgin had him feeling ‘‘philosophical’’.
‘‘It is a thing and you don’t want to get too tied up with things . . .so I accept it, it’s happening and I’m not going to get misty-eyed about it.’’
He was glad Elgin would continue to be a sheep and beef farm, so his family’s development would remain.
‘‘If you put it into trees, all that is lost.’’
Neil met his future wife when she was teaching at Heriot School.
Lyn said she had enjoyed her time on Elgin. ‘‘It has been so lovely.’’
