Day 10

Alistair Campbell describes the variances in paddocks on Earnscleugh Station.

On the 16^th of May, the group left Alexandra and headed just outside of town to Earnscleugh Station. This property was originally purchased in 1862 and has changed owners over the years. The current owners are Alistair and Judith Campbell, and their son and daughter are also shareholders of the station. This high country property consists of 25,000 hectares, and they are leasing another 8,000 hectares from a neighbor. They currently have 25,000 sheep and just over 1,000 head of cattle. Over the years, they have had to battle the infestation of rabbits on their property. They currently spend $80,000 a year to keep the population at a controlled level. 

They have three breeds of stud cattle including Angus, Hereford, and Simmental. They also have a four-way cross of the previous three breeds and the fourth being Gelbvieh. They have an annual bull sale, and this year’s sale will take place in about a month on June 17th, and they will be selling 112 bulls. Angus will be the most popular breed at the sale due to the large demand from restaurants. On average, they are thinking they should get $17 to $18 per kilo at the sale. The cattle tend to weigh about 100 kilograms lighter than flatland cattle due to the land of the station being in the high country of New Zealand. They have been breeding for calving ease like most cattle operations. They also have been breeding for the cattle to be “lighter boned” to assist in their ability to navigate the steep slopes and rocky terrain. The altitude of the station varies from 170 meters to 1,850 meters, which is 560 feet to 6,000 feet. They tend to get a lot of snow during the winter up in the high country, and oftentimes if it snows an excessive amount they will have to use helicopters to bring the cattle down off the mountains back to the lower paddocks. It was mentioned that the cattle tend to clean up the paddocks after the sheep by eating the native grasses and annuals on the property including silver tussock, snow grass, blue tussock, and alpine herb-field. 

This is a view of the wool shed where the artificial insemination was taking place with a large pile of “dags” on the floor, which is the dirty wool from the rear end of the sheep. Even the dirtiest merino wool is worth up to $5 per kilogram.

The majority of their 25,000 sheep are merino which produce a very fine, high-quality wool, but unfortunately have low fertility rates, which they have been trying to breed out. Through their aggressive breeding practices and cross-breeding, they were coming across issues with having a decrease in the quality of the wool. Upon this notice, they have transitioned their flock genetics back to 87% merino blood lines, which took ten to twelve years to do so. The Merino wool makes up 55 to 60% of their income, due to its high-quality and demand in the market. 

This pile of merino wool is 11.8 micron and may be worth up to $1,000.

Their flock produces a variety of wool with microns being the unit of measurement. A micron describes the diameter of a wool fiber, and merino sheep produce the finest wool. For the wool to be considered very fine, it has to be smaller than 24 micron. The majority of their wool is 16.5 micron, which in turn can be used to make Italian suits costing over $2,000. Once the wool is above 20 microns, it can feel scratchy against the skin, so merino wool is used for clothing worn against the skin including sportswear. It also has the ability to absorb sweat without smelling. The demand for high-quality sportswear is not affected by price as much as work wear tends to be, as consumers are willing to pay more for sportswear made with merino wool. When it comes to selling the wool, they have moved away from auction systems and moved toward forward contracts through the New Zealand Merino Company. This allows them to lock in prices and follow their wool through to the manufacturer. One manufacturer they work with is Icebreaker, which is a popular merino clothing company in New Zealand. 

The sheep are brought in to the wool shed and marked with blue chalk as they are given a shot of sedative.

We happened to be at the station on a great day, because they had veterinarians on the property artificially inseminating their ewes with Australian semen. Earnscleugh Station AI’s 400 of their ewes, and the vets can get through about 200 in a day. Artificial insemination results in a 60% conception rate in their ewes. We were able to see and learn about the entire process. They bring the sheep into their wool shed and give them a sedative to calm them down. They are secured to a cradle, the belly is sterilized with an alcohol solution, they are given a mild anesthetic, and their bellies are shorn. The vet will sterilize and make two incisions and fill the stomach with carbon dioxide to inflate it. The semen is stored in 0.25 ml straws stored in liquid nitrogen. The straw originally had 80 million sperm when it was first collected, and over time it decreased to 30 million. Using a laparoscope, the semen is directly injected into the ovaries which allows a more uniform conception date among the various mobs of sheep. 

Workers shear the belly of a merino sheep to prepare it to be artificially inseminated.

The veterinarian uses a laparoscope to artificially inseminate a merino ewe.

The Clyde Dam which is the third largest hydroelectric dam in New Zealand.

Upon departure from the station, we traveled to Queenstown on our way to Te Anau to stay for the night. Along the way, we traveled through the Kawerau Gorge and saw the Clyde dam which is New Zealand’s third largest hydroelectric dam. We also traveled past many orchards and wineries in this area of the country. Once arriving in Queenstown, we were able to do some shopping and eat lunch. We later continued our journey alongside Lake Wakatipu, a glacially formed lake which gave it its great depth reaching 750 feet. We then arrived in Te Anau for the night. 

This view of Lake Wakatipu from Queenstown is a great illustration of the weather variances New Zealand can experience, from sunshine to snowfall in just a few kilometers.