WORDS & IMAGES BY ANNIE STUDHOLME
Paul and Kerry Harmer farm Castle Ridge, a 5,900-hectare station in the middle of the Ashburton Gorge where they run a 15,000-merino ewe breeding operation alongside 800 Angus beef cows and 250 red deer hinds.
With the homestead sitting at 650m above sea level, the high altitude and extreme weather, from hot, dry summers to harsh winters and short growing seasons, present its own challenges. Having farmed there for more than 30 years, the Harmers have learnt to make decisions early, stay on top of the weather, farm to the conditions, and grow a lot of winter feed and baleage to combat the dry. “It is what it is; we just have to farm for it. You can’t manipulate it,” says Kerry.
But this season had been one of the toughest, Paul admits. “We had a really dry summer, and it’s basically carried on. We’ve had less than half our annual rainfall to date. Usually, we make around 1,000 bales of lucerne baleage, and this year, we only got 380 and have to buy in 640 bales and 100 tonne of barley so far.
We normally grow 200–300 hectares of turnips and swedes (winter feed) but only a third of it struck. It’s not unusual; we’ve had seasons like this before. But it’s a bit different this time. Usually, we can rely on rain in the autumn, but we didn’t get any, and we didn’t get as much snow either.”
Castle Ridge was originally part of the old Clent Hills Station (later Barrosa) covering some 54,000 acres extending from the Stour River valley to the eastern shoreline of Lake Heron and took in the western flanks of the 2,333m Mount Taylor. Having been first taken up in the 1850s, it was sold many times before being broken up in the early 20th century. The Clent Hills name was retained for the Mt Taylor portion and part of Lake Heron, while the rest was renamed Barossa. Castle Ridge was later separated off.
Paul and Kerry had worked on Castle Ridge before purchasing it in 1992, having moved from the family farm at Mount Alford. The Harmers bought part of neighbouring Clent Hills when it was sold in 2004, forming the Hakatere Conservation Park and when Barrosa went through Tenure Review in 2011, the Harmers bought the land that had more farm value than conservation value, as well.
Today, they run a streamlined operation with Paul and Kerry working alongside just four full-time staff. Like generations before them, sheep remain the mainstay of the Castle Ridge farming operation with a dual focus on growing sustainable fibre and food for the world.
Paul credits part of their successful lamb operation on introducing Poll Dorset rams to get around the challenging climate and terrain. Not only do the Poll Dorset-cross lambs seem to thrive in the environment and are “up and running” as soon as they hit the ground, but there is also a short turnaround, as they are only on the ground for four months before being sold. “It gives us the best of both worlds: fine wool and good finishing lambs,” he says.
All Castle Ridge’s mixed-aged ewes go to the Poll Dorset while the two-tooths and the better-woolled ewes (about 2000) go back to the Merino for replacements with more bought in when required.
The Harmers have been buying their Poll Dorset rams from George Lowe’s Windermere Stud, near Ashburton, for more than 20 years. They use the Patterson family’s Armidale genetics from Gimmerburn for their Merino rams.
Despite Castle Ridge’s extensive nature, the Harmers put much effort into lambing time. Starting around September 20, most tend to lamb in early October. While the two-tooths lamb a month later on the hill, the rest are split into four mobs and shedded off daily with any obvious spares bought in.
Merinos are not known for their mothering abilities, says Kerry. “Our scanning percentages are usually pretty good, around 140 percent, but our lamb survival is poor because the ewes don’t count very well. We also don’t have a lot of shelter, and it’s quite exposed, so we can lose lambs to hypothermia. I absolutely hated seeing lambs dying. Not only because it’s a loss of profit, but it’s an animal welfare and caring thing.”
Kerry had always reared lambs on a low-cost, bucket-type system, but when it got to the point where she was rearing over 100 orphaned lambs, it became too labour-intensive. They thought there must be a better way. Fourteen years ago, they discovered automatic lamb feeders. While it was trial and error initially, Kerry has since developed a system that works. They now operate three automatic feeders and rear 700 to 800 lambs that would otherwise not survive as well as actively mothering on.
While the costs increased slightly with the automatic feeders, Kerry says it’s been worth every cent. “Every year we have done it we have made a profit ranging from $20/head when milk powder was more expensive, and the lamb price was low. On average, we make $40-60/head profit, taking into account the extra labour, power, and milk powder.” Though this year may be different with the low lamb price, Kerry says they will continue to save lambs and mother-on.
Most of the ones they’ve hand-reared are on a par with those out in the paddock on their mums, with a good proportion going forward to their on-farm lamb sale in February. They’ve been running a successful on-farm sale since 2005, selling upwards of 8,000 Poll Dorset-Merino cross lambs. One of the biggest sale days on the Canterbury calendar, they have developed a reputation for selling “top-notch” un-drafted prime and store lambs sought after by repeat buyers. Those 1,000-odd leftover lambs are taken through winter and sold after they’re shorn in July for their half-bred wool.
Though the lamb cheque has sometimes made up more than half the farm income, the Harmers remain equally passionate about their wool clip. A longtime supplier to The New Zealand Merino Company, they have been part of Icebreaker’s elite Growers Club on a 10-year contract since 2018.
Wool is selected based on fibre length, strength, diameter, consistency, colour, and cleanliness, and that’s where daughter Sam comes in. Having worked at home, for a shearing contractor and spent time working in Australia, she has inherited her parent’s passion for a fibre they all believe in. She recently completed her studies at the Southland Institute of Technology (SIT) and is now a fully-fledged wool classer. Sam was also one of two recipients of the NZ Merino Wool Classer Scholarship, which pairs students up with a mentor to gain practical experience and training in high-quality merino sheds. Sam’s “passion” project is her own 50-strong flock of ultra-fine merinos (below 13 microns).
“Growing up here, I have always been fascinated by the whole process, from the sheep right through to the garment. I understand the whole supply chain, and I think that helps when you’re classing, when you’re taking fleeces out. If you know where a product is going and what it’s going to be used for, you have that in the back of your mind,” says Sam.
Shearing takes place annually starting at the end of July and can take anywhere up to a month. Kerry is tasked with the mammoth job of feeding the gang three meals a day, plus smokos. They usually do about 17 or 18 days of shearing during that period, depending on the weather.
With the property prone to cold and snow at any time, Castle Ridge continues to employ the age-old art of blade shearing. “Blade shearing leaves more wool on the sheep and only cuts the staple in half, so it doesn’t comb the grease out. These things are important because the grease is the waterproofing, which enables water to run off and keeps the sheep warmer and drier. This is important due to our climate and altitude,” explains Kerry.
As part of being a grower for Icebreaker, the Harmers are part of the ZQRX programme, a pioneer quality assurance programme committed to strict animal welfare codes and having strategies to protect and enhance the natural environment they work in. But for the Harmer’s, being part of the ZQRX programme is not just about “box-ticking;” it’s central to how they farm and has always been.
“You don’t live in this environment without thinking about it. We live here all the time, and we love it and respect it,” says Kerry. “We are only caretakers, here for such a short time looking after it for those who come after us. We can’t change what’s happened before us, but we can leave it in the best way we can for the next generation. It’s not just a business, it’s a lifestyle, and it’s everything to us. We have a real tie to this land, not dissimilar to Māori values.”
Kerry, a townie born and bred, has seamlessly taken to life in the high country. Her father, who worked as a journalist for The Press, was a keen botanist and she inherited his love of the environment and trees. “I had always had an interest in farming and animals. I was always going to go to vet school, but then I met Paul and went to Lincoln University instead, becoming a farm consultant. All I ever wanted to do was go farming. Being an agricultural consultant was the next best thing because I was helping farmers.”
Even after she and Paul moved to Castle Ridge, Kerry kept working as a consultant. She’s found her farming knowledge and multitude of skills have been called on more and more in advisory roles in recent years as the pendulum has swung against agriculture and farming.
She’s been a member of Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Farmer Council and Environment Reference Group and represented the Mid Canterbury and high-country branches of Federated Farmers. Earlier this year, she was reappointed to the Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) High Country Advisory Group. She is also a committee member of the Mid Canterbury Catchment Collective, current chair of the Ashburton Lakes Catchment Group and a trustee of the Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers Charitable Trust.
Over the Harmer’s years farming at Castle Ridge, the rules and regulations placed on their farming practices have grown exponentially and many were contradictory. Being in a “sensitive” lakes red zone, they’ve required consent to farm from Environment Canterbury (ECan) for a number of years. Their previous consent was for five years, and they’re in the process of trying to renew it but Kerry says the new process is proving more complicated due to the amount of environmental legislation that is up in the air at the moment.
Back in 2019, the Harmers, along with the other farmers in the Ashburton Gorge, joined the Ōtūwharekai Working Group, which includes members from the local iwi, Department of Conservation (DOC), LINZ, Ashburton District Council (ADC), ECan, Central South Island Fish & Game, the Ministry for the Environment, and the Ministry of Primary Industries. They are all looking to collaboratively halt and reverse the degradation of ecology and values in the region.
On the back of that, in early 2023, the farmers officially launched the Ashburton Lakes Catchment Group, which falls under the Mid Canterbury Catchment Collective, to actively monitor impacts on water quality in a planned way and work on ways to lessen their environmental footprint on their own farms.
Though one of the smallest catchment groups nationwide in terms of members, the Ashburton Lakes Catchment Group encompasses some 58,000 hectares over four extensive sheep and beef farms. The catchment group area includes 13 Lakes, the Te Araroa Walkway, numerous recreational hunting, fishing, water, tramping, and snow opportunities, and is enjoyed by many in the extended community.
While they had individually been tirelessly working to relocate winter grazing to reduce the nutrient load near waterways and lakes and have continued to invest in riparian planting, fencing, and stock water systems, Kerry says they needed to know if what they were doing was making a difference.
“At the moment, all the heat is on us as the landowners, but actually, we are only part of this, only part of the problem, and only part of the solution. So, we want to build the science with everybody as part of that and find out exactly what is going on. Up until now, the finger has been pointed at us as the sole cause of it all based on computer modelling, assumptions, and hearsay, and we are already working out that we are not.”
Since last September, farmers have been measuring water quality where the water enters their properties, at a midpoint, and as the water departs. These nitrate tests range from less than 0.002ppm to 1.05ppm, which is extremely low, says Kerry. Some are less than 10 percent of the nitrate levels in the drinking water of the Ashburton town water supply.
She says in 60 percent of areas measured, the water quality does not change or improves as it travels through the properties. In areas where the water quality deteriorates slightly, it relates to the addition of spring water to the streams. Research is currently being undertaken to identify the source of the nitrate (animals, nitrogen fixation, organic matter breakdown or from parent rock material) and the age of this water with hopes that armed with this information; they’ll be able to find ways to reduce nitrate levels coming from the springs.
In June, they received a grant from MPI over the next four years from the Catchment Extension Services Fund, which will allow them to further their research and work to develop practices that will improve their environmental footprint in the basin and then share their findings with others.
Ultimately though, success depended on all landowners, including DOC, working together to balance farming interests with preserving the environment. There has to be some common sense. It wasn’t as simple as fencing all stock off from every waterway and putting in reticulated water sources, says Kerry.
“We’re not talking about metres; we’re talking about kilometres. It would cost over $1 million to do all the fencing that regulations have suggested. We need to have ways to water stock that enables them to use it but with minimal impact. Long term, we are committed, but it’s hard when you aren’t making any money. Nothing happens overnight; this is a long-term challenge.”
With the Harmer’s children - Ben (24), Sam (22) and Annabel (18) - all showing an interest in farming, they’re pushing harder than ever for meaningful solutions that address the whole problem and produce long-lasting solutions. Ben is currently working for the Ensors at Glenaan in the Rakaia Gorge, while Annabel will start vet school at Massey University next year after returning from a gap year in the UK and Sam plans on continuing to work in the industry when she is not wool classing.
“We’re passionate about looking forward and looking after the place. The kids are really keen to continue the legacy and in order for them to do that we need a healthy environment and healthy farming business.”
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