Day 13

19May2019


The SDSU students started off their day eating breakfast at their farm host house. Breakfasts included omelets, bacon, coffee, tea, different jams, and of course some good ole’ Vegemite. I think most students would say the vegemite was not a fan favorite. The students then made their way back to the Millers Flat town hall to gather before we made our way up to Avenel station. The students got to hop in the back of 4x4 vehicles of their farm stay hosts and maneuvered through the hills to make their first stop of the day. Arriving at the station, the group was greeted with tea, coffee, and some pastries. At the station, we were introduced to Nick and Dave where Nick gave us a rundown of the operation. They started the operation in 1965 with around 11,000 acres and formed a partnership up until 1989, and have since then reduced to 5,000 acres which are now run by three cousins. 

Nick explaining the operation to the group

Herding sheep up the hill

They currently run 4,800 mostly crossbred sheep and 300 head of Hereford Angus cross cattle. The operation runs by lambing in late spring which is the end of October. In addition, they calve in late September. Some challenges Avenel Station faces is the birth of triplet and quad lambs as one ewe only has two teats. The lambs that are typically born in threes or fours are fragile and underweight and cannot survive like singles or twins. The lambing percentage is 140%. The operation also takes pride in maintaining the sheep condition scores by measuring four times a year. They do this by placing their hand on the ewes back. 

Students looking at Dave’s cattle

The Avenel Station sits at 3000 feet and still receives a lot of snow in the winter. The station has only around three weeks of snow during the winter. Calves are wintered on fodder beets and are given supplements for around 160-170 days. They aim for 90% calving rate, and they have to supplement iodine and selenium because their soils in that area are deficient. When cropping, their first season is under no cultivation and brassicas are planted and then for the second season they cultivate and plant either fodder beets or kale. They apply fertilizer in the springtime which includes sulfur and phosphate which is very important. They also apply a maintenance fertilizer by plane of glyphosate which is important because it reduces the amount of tillage needed. 

Dave and his cattle dogs herding last year’s calves

One of the Moeraki Boulders

Our next stop was in Dunedin for lunch. The town was settled by Scottish immigrants in the 1800’s. We were running quite a bit behind schedule so we only had 15 minutes to eat! From there we went to see the Moeraki Boulders which are stones on Koekohe beach that have been smoothed, worn down, and rounded by constant erosion from the waves hitting them and it took them 4 million years to get to their current size today! 

The waves hitting Moeraki Boulders

We then made our way to Oamaru where we got the chance to see the Little Blue Penguins!

Little Blue Penguin (Google credit)

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures due to the birds being highly sensitive to flash photography. They leave in the early morning before sunrise to spend the day in the Pacific Ocean fishing for small fish and squid to eat and bring food back for their babies. They then return to land after dusk. The penguins live to be about 8-10 years old, weigh around one kilogram (2.2 lbs), and are around 30 cm tall. During the day, they will either stay hidden in their nests or go out to sea. Everyday, they travel out around 45-50 kilometers and back.

Calissa, Abby and Brooke pose for a photo at the Blue Penguin visi

To end the night, we all made our way to the hotel for the night where we all ate dinner separately and have been winding down the trip to head home in a couple days. We are all very tired and ready to be back! 

-        Kaelyn and Connie