Farm Stays

Olivia, Kelsey, Dani and Abby with their farm stay host Pia Lampp

Abby, Dani, Kelsey and Olivia stayed with Roger and Pia Lampp at their homestead. After talking over tea, they headed to the neighbors, Jill and Charles, to join another group for dinner. For dinner, they enjoyed a traditional New Zealand meal of lamb, sweet potatoes, vegetables, dessert and wine. They headed back to the Lampp’s home until they traveled back to Jill and Charles farm for a tour of the farm as well as tea and coffee. On their farm, they have beef, sheep and crops on 400 acres. They sell around 9,000 lambs a year, each lamb at 50 kilos. They also purchase Fresian/Angus cross and Hereford cows at 300 kilos and sell them at 600 kilos. We also had the opportunity to see the sheering shed and the shoots in which they run sheep through for weighing and spraying for flies. 

Brooke and Maggie with their farm stay host Dave and Maureen Smith

Brooke and Maggie E. stayed with Dave and Maureen Smith in their RBnB on a 3,000 sheep, Black Angus, and Jersey dairy steer farm. The farm was operated by the husband and wife and their two 40 year old sons that were really into racing dirt bikes. For dinner, they ate lamb with potatoes and carrots followed by an amazing apple crumble dessert. They mostly talked about each other’s culture and helped feed the cows hay in the morning. 

Calissa, Megan and Kayla with their farm stay host Ron and Sally (Sally not pictured)

Calissa, Megan, and Kayla stayed with Ron and Sally in their home. Ron used to be a dairy farmer 3 hours north of where he lives now, but his son took over the dairy farm. Now Ron and his wife run Hereford/Angus Beef cattle along with a few sheep. Sally also works a local farm store located about 15 minutes from their homestead. We enjoyed a typical New Zealand meal before bed that consisted of a lamb roast with veggies and potatoes along with ice cream and peaches for dessert. The next morning, we visited Sally at the farm store, and we took a look around.

Collin, Denver and Ben with farm stay hosts Alan and Prue Deighton

Collin, Denver, and Ben stayed with Alan and Prue Deighton on their beef shorthorn farm. The cows are grass-fed, but Alan has to supplement a diet of hay, magnesium, and molasses in the winter when the grass is low in nutrients. They only have 20 cows now, and will buy his herd bulls. They do not keep any of their replacements, and sell them shortly after weaning. The cows are mainly polled, but some cows are heterozygous polled and they bought a bull that was also heterozygous polled, so some of the calves wound up being horned. Alan is the fourth generation of his family to live in New Zealand and a third generation shorthorn farmer. He buys some sheep to fatten up and re-sell when the market is good.

Corey, Adam, and Jon stayed with the Lampps at their home in Hunterville. The Lampps are both retired dairy farmers and Barry now locally drives a stock truck. Barry was able to give us a tour of his stocker truck and explain how transportation works within the different commodities. The Lampps are both very knowledgeable of with many different facets of the agricultural industry in New Zealand, therefore we really enjoyed asking questions. Additionally, the Lampps have been involved with the horse racing industry in the past and we discussed their time as owners and then the industry as a whole. New Zealand horse racing cannot compete with the purses that Australia can offer. Other topics we covered were comparing between the different countries with anything relating to the economy and government, education, and population challenges. 

Madison, Sidney and Kaelyn with their farm stay hosts Dick and Sue

Madison, Sidney, and Kaelyn stayed with Dick and Sue on their farm. On this farm, they have sheep, beef, and dairy cows. When we got into their car, Dick gave us a tour of his land and gave us an amazing opportunity to look over a cliff to see mountains and his land. They are a retired couple so they hope to build atop of the cliff to overlook the breathtaking sight. When we got to their home, we were greeted by their two herding dogs and the sight of a beautiful New Zealand home. Sue has a massive garden where there are fruits like the native feijoa, lemons, apples, and a walnut tree. She also showed us her magpie traps! We got carrots from her garden where we then ate them for supper with our lamb roast and vegetables; this is a typical New Zealand meal. After we ate supper, us three and the couple talked about how their son, Chris, is taking over the farm himself. We then talked about politics, earthquakes, and some differences between the US and New Zealand. Sue and Dick are skiers, so they have been to the States quite a few times, such as Utah and Colorado. Sue actually lived in Indiana for a few years before the two got married. We then ended our night with a small apple desert. Once we woke up, we met their son Chris who just ran a half marathon in the South Island. We ate breakfast with homemade honey and Sue’s favorite fruit, the feijoa. Here, we talked about New Zealand birds, the states of Minnesota and Iowa, how big the SDSU college was, and hobbies we like to do. One interesting fact about this family was that Dick was on a ship to the US and, interestingly, this was the same ship that David Bowie was on and wrote some of his most famous songs that we know today. This was an experience we will never forget! 

Peyton, Alaina and Connie with their farm stay hosts John and Sarah Woodleigh

Peyton, Alaina, and Connie stayed with John and Sarah Woodleigh who live in a historic home built in the 1800’s. They live on a 100 hectare plot where their son fattens up his Romney lambs before sending them to market. John and Sarah used to have a Suffolk stud farm, but sold out when they wanted to retire. John also used to be a sheep buyer for a sale barn where he worked a lot with the farmers in the area. For supper, we had lamb roast with potatoes and other vegetables from their garden. John and Sarah enjoy spending time at home with their grandchildren, their dog and cat (Roy and Max), and playing bridge in town with their friends. The next morning, we drove around the high country and low country to see the farms in the area as well as went into the town of Marton to have a look at the all-girls private school that is big into equestrian activities.

Andrew, Anthony and Jarid with their hosts Alan and Claire Bruce

Anthony, Jarid, and Andrew went to stay with Alan and Claire Bruce who have a 700 hectare farm.  They farm both sheep and Angus Hereford beef cattle.  They farm with their son Will.  They have been farming at their current location for the last 30 years.  Will generously offered to take us on a four-wheeler ride to show us their pasture ground and hills.  We checked on their sheep, but they had sent off all their cattle because their pasture dried up worse than normal this year and they ran out of grass.  We got to watch the sun set over the hills on our ride through the pasture, and made our way back to their farm site.  Will showed us their shearing shed, which they were planning on shearing their herd within the next week, depending if the sheep get wet from the upcoming rain that is expected.  The family hosted a traditional New Zealand supper, which consisted of lamb, potatoes, and vegetables.  They also served us Pavlova for desert.  We got to talk with the family about their perception on United States politics and regulations.  The next morning, we had the opportunity to help sort off and load out the last lambs that they were selling for the year.  It was very interesting to see how they load stock trucks.  After breakfast, we got to take the new dog that they had just gotten a few days before to the vet clinic for its first round of shots.  On our way back to the bus, we visited a dairy and saw more sheep and beef operations, along with an equestrian performance center.

Matthew, Daniel, Josie and Jonalyn with their farm stay hosts Jean and Murrary

Matthew, Daniel, Josie, and Jonalyn stayed with Jean and Murray. The farm consisted of a beef and sheep operation. They also farm with their two sons who live in the hill country. Murray finishes the sheep and beef after they are weaned of the hill country. This is done by annual grazing rye grass then go on a crop to be grazed before harvest. They are also a part of the Hospice program and raise two steers to finish each year and all proceeds of these two cows go to the program. Once we arrived for dinner we talked about our trip, the areas we are going, their children, New Zealand and United States ties.  We had Lasagna, cheesy potatoes, and a really good homemade cheesecake. The following morning we had breakfast and we went to the sheep yards. We learned how their sheep operation works, the shearing, and drenching that would be done that morning. 

Maggie, Libbey and Nicole with Jill Simpson (Charles not pictured

Maggie, Nicole, and Libbey stayed with Jill and Charles Simpson on their 344 acre farm where they finish out sheep and bull beef, which they have since handed down to their youngest son, while their oldest son has a contracting business. We had a lovely evening with plenty of company as their neighbor Pierre joined us with the group of girls that she was hosting for the night. In the morning, Charles took us out for a stool around the property and showed us the shearing house and the many pastures. They grow kale, plantains, and chicory on their land, and the sheep and bulls rotate through these crops to eat them up. The typical New Zealand wool shed was shown at the end of the tour, as well as the system to deworm and process sheep.