The McDonalds have bought the nearly 1200ha sheep and beef farm Elgin in Wilden, about 30km north of Tapanui, and take over ownership from the Robinson family in about a fortnight.
Mr McDonald said the plan was to ‘‘stick to the knitting’’ and continue to farm Elgin the the same way.
‘‘The Robinsons have done a fantastic job with this place — it is a real credit to them and hopefully we can piggyback on their good work.’’
The McDonalds hail from Five Rivers in Northern Southland and were once in sheep and beef equity partnerships, running several properties in Canterbury, Otago and Southland.
‘‘There was a lot of roadside farming, land everywhere from Mossburn to Lawrence, Diamond Harbour, Lake Onslow and Roxburgh,’’ he said.
Over time those partnerships had ‘‘unwinded’’ by selling properties or partners being bought out, which had allowed them to buy Elgin.
The McDonalds had farmed Cheddar Valley, a 2357ha high country sheep and beef property, near Waiau, in North Canterbury since 2002.
At the time, sheep and beef farms were selling for dairy conversions in Northern Southland and they took the opportunity to sell the home sheep and beef farm at Five Rivers.
At the time, the same amount of money could buy a farm three times the size in North Canterbury so they decided to scale up. At the time Cheddar Valley was 3300ha, carrying about 18,000 stock units. When a business partner exited in 2008, they sold about 1000ha.
Elgin was more suitable for breeding and finishing than Cheddar Valley, which was better suited to running store livestock.
At Cheddar Valley, the weather played a bigger part in dictating if livestock could be finished. About 400mm rain had fallen on the property in the past year, about half of normal, which had made farming difficult.
‘‘If you haven’t got any grass, you haven’t got many options,’’ Mr McDonald said.
An appeal of Elgin is its consistent annual rainfall of about 1000mm.
The McDonalds bought about 2000 of the Robinson’s ewes and will bring 4000 Snowline ewes from their stud.
Their stud business will resume at West Otago and the family will continue to sell in Canterbury and Cromwell.
Other Cheddar Valley livestock coming to Elgin includes about 200 breeding cows, fattening cattle and hoggets.
Its beef-breeding programme is moving from Stabiliser to Angus.
A reduction in the national flock was making sheep a niche product rather than just a commodity.
Several family members farm in the South, including Mr McDonald’s parents, John and Joy, in Cromwell, brother Glen and Alisa, of Roxburgh, brother Scott and Stacey McDonald, of Queenstown, in-laws Mark and Bev Woodford, of Waipahi.
The couple have four children — Baylea, 24, Jed, 22, Sophie, 19 and Archie, 15.
‘‘They are pretty excited. We all love the community up in North Canterbury. It is pretty special, but decisions are best made with your head and not your heart,’’ Mr McDonald said.
