Island farm has 110ha of prime farming land located 7km from Oxford at View Hill. It has been in the hands of the family of its founder, Henry Engelbrecht, since 1961.
But 87-year-old Owen Thomas, who has farmed the property for the past 64 years, is selling up.
‘‘I’m too old to continue working the land on my own,’’ he says.
Owen lost his late wife Margaret Thomas (nee Engelbrecht) last year and now the farm and its 130 Angus Beef breeding stock units are for sale.
‘‘I’ve been here since 1961 when Margaret and I bought the property from her father Percy Engelbrecht, the son of Henry.
The couple had met at the wedding of Owen’s younger sister and had been farming in the Oxford district.
Margaret’s grandfather, Henry Engelbrecht, was one of the many German migrants who had moved to the North Canterbury area to escape harsh conditions in Germany, when he bought the property.
History books say in the 1840s times were difficult for rural labourers in the north of Germany.
They were entirely at the mercy of the landowning aristocracy. They could leave the service of their master, but in doing so lost the right to live on the land. For many, emigration was the only answer. However not all immigrants were rural labourers, as many who came were from the educated middle class. They appreciated New Zealand’s civil rights and its advocacy of freedom of thought and speech, which contrasted with the severe censorship in the German confederation of the time.
Owen says when he and Margaret bought the then dairy farm it was still the same size as when grandfather Henry had originally established it.
‘‘We later bought two extra lots nearby on Sladdens Farm Road to raise it to 110ha in size.''
He says life wasn’t easy for the newly married couple when they took over the dairy property in 1961.
‘‘It was right in the middle of a drought, and we struggled for many years until we established two extra wells and an irrigation system out in the paddocks in the early 80s.’’
They milked 60 cows via a walk-through milking operation until they set up a herringbone shed.
‘‘It was very hard in the beginning, but Margaret and I, and the four girls (their children), persevered and as a family we got through it.’’
Owen was at one time the Canterbury Federated Farmers Dairy section head, while Margaret was well known for her community work in the local church and school.
‘‘We carried on dairy farming for 46 years until we decided to sell off the cows in 2007.
‘‘We reared dairy heifers for the next four years, then we traded beef stock until seven years ago, when we became a pure-bred Angus operation.’’
He says he has scaled back from 160 cows to 130 now, and that stock is going to Canterbury Park for auction.
‘‘We have always been a regenerative farm.
‘‘People forget that Henry started this farm back when green was only a colour, much of the processes he set up is still being practised today.’’
Owen says he has fielded a bit of interest in the farm, and he hopes it will be sold to a young couple beginning their association with the land.
‘‘He doesn’t know what the future holds, but his daughters are standing beside him as he faces the next step in his life.
