New direction for traditional farm

A young farmer is changing the farming landscape on his grandparents' 250-hectare property between Ashburton and the sea.

Ryan Cockburn has embraced regenerative agriculture, swapped cross-bred sheep for Japanese beef cattle and installed rows of shimmering solar panels.

After working 10 years for Les and Annette Tindall, Ryan was shoulder-tapped by his uncle Allan to run the family farm.

“When I started working here it was a typical mixed farming operation with 3000 ewes, a little bit of crop and a few beef cattle.”

Now half the farm is in pasture and the other half in crops.

Recently they’ve been harvesting grass seeds, feed barley, malting barley and feed wheat. Sweetcorn and carrot seeds are the next cabs off the rank.

Paddocks rich in mixed pasture species are a happy place for about 600 easy-going First Light Wagyu.

“There’s a bit of lucerne, some plantain, red and white clover, chicory, cocksfoot, timothy and some ryegrass.”

As a result, the cattle put on weight quickly and achieve excellent beef marbling scores.

Back at the farmyard, long rows of solar panels absorb the sun’s rays.

They’re designed to run two irrigation pumps that take water from a couple of 80-metre deep boreholes on the farm.

“This one here’s 77 kilowatts which matches our pump behind us, and then we’ve got a 25-kilowatt setup as well and yeah, when we’re irrigating in the middle of the day and the sun’s out, we’re running at a neutral cost,” he said.

The systems are returning between eight and 12 percent on the investment, depending what the sun does throughout the year and once they’re set up there are no running costs.

Les and Annette, who live in the original farmhouse, have struggled a bit with all the transformations but have put their faith in Ryan.

“Ma was pretty good, she just said as long as we’re happy doing what we’re doing then keep doing it. Pop and Allan sort of sat back on the fence and I dare say Pop thought ‘what the hell’s going on here’ a little bit. When you’re throwing fish fertiliser and stuff like that on, he scratches his head and complains about the smell of it but all in all the farm soil health is better,” Ryan said.

Annette says the biggest change they’ve been through on the farm is the advance in technology.

“I rang Ryan one day when he was out in a paddock on a tractor and said ‘what are you doing?’, and he said he was watching a movie!”

Les was born in 1930, 75 kilometres further south at Pleasant Point.

Back then his father used a horse-driven plough to work up the land.

He says he always wanted to be a farmer and at 16 he went shepherding on a farm at Valletta.

Working on a farm was tough yakka back then.

“The lambing down was always done with a horse and a jogger.”

“I had quite a big area to cover so I’d take one horse one day and change it with another one for the next day.”

Despite his age, the 93-year-old still has a passion for livestock and getting out on the land.

“I like to go out each day and have a drive around to see if the stock have got water and food and are doing all right.”