Our Food Story - Waihora Farm
#EatNZKaitaki Ruby Mulindor of Waihora Farm in Tihoi shares a snippet of her farm story.
Summers just around the corner they say, however at present we are being battered and bruised by some feverishly cold winds for November, torrential rain, and lack of sun for weeks now. I’ve even got to the point of not looking at the weather forecast in the hope to wish away pending rain that’s still to come. Wet weather clothing is damp and the gloves and woollen hat draw is still open.
We live and farm on the western side of the beautiful Lake Taupō, which works like a deep freeze when the wind blows over her waters and sweeps up the farm. Mind you, in summer it’s a delightful spot that doesn’t experience the same intensity of heat felt elsewhere, good for both pasture production and animal welfare.
When your boss is mother nature, every day we go through a series of decision-making processes to try and forward foot her next move and therefore continue to grow and produce quality grass fed lamb, beef and sheep milk - day in, day out.
Farming huh, some seasons can make it a real battle, and this season is no exception. My thoughts go out to all those who have struggled through one of the most relentless winters and springs to date. However, like most farmers our bond to our whenua and livestock is strong. It’s built on the back of raw hard work, both physically and mentally.
For me, I have been privileged to have had a strong link back to the whenua and moana since childhood. My father managed a coastal sheep and beef farm. We produced and ate the highest quality meat, and our abundant vegetable garden filled our plates. Often the only part of our meals that were not home produced were the condiments. A Sunday tradition was to take some newspaper, matches and a billy down to the beach to collect cockles and pipi for afternoon tea, we would light a fire and sit and consume the billy of succulent treats that had just been collected. The simplistic kiwi dream.
Now as first-time farm owners my husband and I own 140ha of land of which we are the caretakers for this part of its journey. Farming and farm ownership comes with its sacrifices and that’s all part of the New Zealand food story. To produce food, we have the daily responsibility to work for our animals and environment in the hope that when we strike the balance right both stock and land will look after us in return.
As the next generation of farmers we are not shy of challenging the norm and stretching outside standard practise. Since purchasing the farm we have changed the system from beef finishing to a mix of lamb and beef finishing as well as a sheep dairy operation milking 550 ewes all while reducing our environmental footprint. Our focus has been on finding a farming system that meets our expectations as well as those of the public and consumers. Therefore, we allow our ewes to rear their lambs for the first 40 days of life until they are of an appropriate size to wean. At this stage the ewe then enters the milking shed and we carry all the lambs through to a finished state or they enter the flock as the next generation.
We have based our farm system around being wholesome food producers. We appreciate the nutrient dense nature of meat and milk and see all animals on farm as being part of this journey. Therefore, no animal is seen as a by-product and they all get the opportunity to graze and grow until a time in which they are ready to be processed.
The farmers ‘food story’ is one that is experiencing many challenges at present- we have forever been the price takers in a system that generously clips the ticket along the way. Often the farmer is left to find ways to produce meat and milk in the most cost-effective way to allow for enough margin to be generated to cover debt and endless inflating inputs.
We are vested to our whenua, stock and our position as nutrient dense food producers of Aotearoa. It is a privilege to be a part of the Eat New Zealand Kaitaki and to stand beside those who are challenging the norms, driving change and representing the next generation of conscientious kiwis.
To see more from Ruby and life on the farm head over to @waihorafarm on Instagram.