The Patersons run 10,000 Polwarth ewes, including a stud of 800 ewes, and are proud of the family\u2019s wool legacy.<\/p>\n
Andrew Paterson is the third generation to farm Matakanui Station in its almost 75-year history. Photo \/ Alan Gibson<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sheep are three-quarters Merino, and if you looked at the wool, you would think it\u2019s straight Merino,\u201d Andrew said.<\/p>\n
The other quarter of their polled sheep genetics comes from other breeds as required, allowing them to grow their lambs to an average of 21.5kg carcass weights.<\/p>\n
The continual development of the hill country, including pivot irrigation on the flats, has allowed a change in farming practice, from selling stores on farm in summer to carrying all lambs through the winter on greenfeed cereal crops, and buying in fine wool stores.<\/p>\n
Warmer winters have seen the cereals grow through the colder months, and breeding now must also focus on resistance to worm burden.<\/p>\n
The couple have an eye on the future and have plans well beyond the next season. Photo \/ Alan Gibson<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a time we would have solid frosts for months, but it doesn\u2019t happen anymore,\u201d Andrew said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re lambing later, mid-October, to escape the spring snow.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year we had no snow all winter, then over Labour Weekend we had three inches around the houses, six inches on the flats and more on the mountains.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019re pleased with their breeding goals.<\/p>\n
With the lambs not sold as stores, their extra time on-farm means they can be shorn before leaving.<\/p>\n
Wool from Matakanui Station is sold on contract to Icebreaker and other premium brands locally and overseas. Photo \/ Alan Gibson<\/p>\n
Andrew is a third-generation Owner Wool Classer, but when Tracy started helping in the shearing shed, she quickly realised it was a skill that needed to be shared.<\/p>\n
\u201cAndrew would disappear outside on the phone, and the wool would start piling up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Not from a farming background, she completed a Certificate in Wool Technology from Lincoln University and now enjoys it.<\/p>\n
In the days of Andrew\u2019s grandfather, wool used to be 80% of the farm\u2019s income. Now, it\u2019s 25%.<\/p>\n
The wool is sold on contract to Icebreaker and other premium brands locally and overseas.<\/p>\n
Matakanui Station won the Regional Supreme Award at the Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards in 2025. Photo \/ Alan Gibson<\/p>\n
As well as the sheep, 1000 Hereford cattle roam Matakanui Station, but they don\u2019t get into the 132ha of alpine t\u014dtara forest that spreads across the boundary and into the neighbouring property.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the largest known stand of its kind in Central Otago, and when fencing is finished, it will be protected under a QEII Trust covenant.<\/p>\n
Making sure the workload is manageable for the couple is farm manager Nick Gee. <\/p>\n
Libby Miller is the stud shepherd.<\/p>\n
Her partner Archie McRae joined her last year, but they will be off on their OE next month, so Sophie Wright is taking over.<\/p>\n
Keeping everyone connected is a suite of farm apps, used for vehicle tracking, stock records, health and safety, irrigation control and soil-moisture monitoring.<\/p>\n
The Patersons run 10,000 Polwarth ewes at Matakanui Station. Photo \/ Alan Gibson<\/p>\n
App MyEROAD is used to keep accurate records of the farm vehicles\u2019 off-road activity for claiming on tax and automatically buying diesel fuel miles, as well as for health and safety and staying in touch.<\/p>\n
Mobble is used for stock records and making sure there is always enough drench and other animal health products on-farm to do the job. <\/p>\n
The electric fencing and irrigation are controlled through other apps, along with the monitoring of soil moisture meters.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool technology, and it makes everything easier,\u201d Andrew said.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re also looking into using virtual fencing technology with Halter to help the cattle graze the hills more effectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is on the apps, so we can all see what is happening on-farm,\u201d Andrew said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven our kids are on them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Niamh and James are both studying at Lincoln University, while Ciara is beginning a marketing and geography degree at the University of Otago this year.<\/p>\n
Niamh is completing a master\u2019s in planning, while James, with a BComAg, hopes to return to farming once he graduates. <\/p>\n
Like their parents, they\u2019re thinking long-term and building for the future.<\/p>\n
\u2013 By Karen Trebilcock for NZ Farm Environment Trust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The project required consents from the regional and district councils, as well as a green loan from ASB,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[95,20251,192,27245,1853,48954,71,167145,167147,221,17577,167146,111,43,139,1536,69,21518,167144,12229,6926,22889,13655,17178,1960,124294,15871,6436],"class_list":["post-305599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-and","tag-andrew","tag-are","tag-beyond","tag-central","tag-cleaner","tag-from","tag-futureproofing","tag-gravityfed","tag-how","tag-hydro","tag-matakanui","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-next","tag-nz","tag-otagos","tag-paterson","tag-result","tag-season","tag-smarter","tag-station","tag-systems","tag-thinking","tag-tracy","tag-waterways","tag-well"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}