Our Environment

Sheep in the Environment

A gentle footprint

Sheep have a low environmental footprint.
They have been farmed thoughout millenia in a range of challenging environments.
Sheep have adapted to produce meat, wool and milk with relatively little food themselves and they return small amounts of effluent back to the land as a result of this.
Sheep create minimal soil compaction, reducing their impact on pasture growth. This is why they are well suited to the light, sandy and stony soil type found on this farm.

Our Environmental Impact

Another way to farm the Canterbury Plains

We are very mindful of our environmental impact.
A farm nutrient budget is generated each year to regulate our farm inputs, such as fertiliser and feed, against our outputs.
The farm has a potential nitrate loss of only 9 kg N/ha/yr (measured on Overseer) which is extremely low for our soil type and farm system.
Fertiliser recommendations are based from soil test results.
In general, we use small amounts of fertiliser to encourage clover growth on the relatively unfertile soils.
We work closely with Isaacs Wildlife Conservation Trust, Environment Canterbury (regional council) and Fish & Game to maintain the excellent water quality which flows through our farm.