Newbies

Hi,

My husband and I have just bought 3 acres with a house in Greytown. We don't move until end of September but are really looking forward to it. We are an older couple (45 and 49) with a 2 year old son (I also have 2 adult children) so are looking forward to him growing up in this environment. We will be commuting to Upper Hutt daily for work (45 min commute one way).
We are true novices, will start with chickens and maybe a couple of Alpacas later in the year
We are looking forward to learning a lot from this site

Welcome!

I wouldn't call you an older couple. Perhaps I am in denial....

Welcome! 3 acres is a good size for newbies! Maybe you have already started with a veggie garden, if not make this a priority as having your own spray free produce is a great asset. Chickens are great and will clean up your food scraps. Alpacas are suspect - with only 3 acres I would go for a couple of Dorper or Wiltshire sheep as they don't need shearing and make good meat.
Don't be tempted to do anything commercial as the hassles with IRD and insurance are not worth it. If you have a spare room you can have Woofers to help in the garden.

45 and 49 is nowhere near old, it's just the right age to be newbies

Thanks, I will look into those type of sheep. Yes, vege garden is first on our list. I would like some potatoes for Christmas dinner

new spuds for Christmas sound great! You should get some Swift seed potatoes and set them out in egg trays to sprout. At the same time get some Agria for the main crop. The Swift take 60-70 days and the Agria take 110 days. The Agria keep well but you will have to cover them with fine netting to avoid the Psyllid bug. The Swift will be eaten before the bug wakes up, hopefully!

Putting an orchard plan together early in the piece is a good idea too. I have had mandarins planted for a few years now and this year was our first ''real'' crop.

Yes, this was something we were just talking about last night. Once we move in in September we will have more of an idea of what is already there and can go from there

Awesome. Knowing the basic location (for many things) at the beginning is a great start.

Hi,
I registered ages ago, but have just started looking in here again, so I guess that makes me a do-over newbie.

We were dairy farmers now on a lifestyle block, 10 acres is so small. I keep pigs and have just found out the local private abattoir has closed!!! I am interested in, perhaps, setting up my own abattoir, but need advice of where to start...

Meantime I have 4 pigs with litters, a smallish flock of sheep with lambs, 3 bottle fed lambs (we have had three sets of triplets so far this year) and will be hand rearing a couple of calves.
We have been dairy farmers and so have experience with raising our animals, but feel like we are trying to stand on a postage stamp. And some people think a lifestyle block is easier than running a dairy farm..

well the first thing that comes to mind is do you need a resource consent! I would contact your local council and then MPI for guidance. It would seem that there has been a huge reduction in the number of small abattoirs recently, due to the more stringent MPI regs. You could also talk to the local butcher and see if there are any ways around the rules.

tonybaker wrote: well the first thing that comes to mind is do you need a resource consent! I would contact your local council and then MPI for guidance. It would seem that there has been a huge reduction in the number of small abattoirs recently, due to the more stringent MPI regs. You could also talk to the local butcher and see if there are any ways around the rules.

Not only MPI Tony. A number of new, modern, MPI approved small abattoirs recently accredited have stopped doing local kills because they have been bought out by overseas concerns who have their own agenda.

Hey Spud, yep sometimes trying to do things on a small scale is harder than a large one! Trying to fit everything in is a mission - a week doesn't go by when I don't check the real estate listings for a larger property! You will get the hang of it and just think of all the mud you don't have to slog through milking twice a day at the moment, I spare a thought for our dairy farming neighbours as I drive out the drive to my cushy office job as he trundles past with the tractor to feed out most days.

Hi,
Yes MPI have sent loads of info, thanks.

I think going forward, I will start talking to registered home kill butchers. There is a gap in the law that allows home kill butchers to slaughter and dress the carcass if it is inspected on a registered property and then the meat can be sold. This also allows for processing other farmers meat. I have read regulations for days, doesn't help that there is a draft of upcoming changes that may or may not happen about now as well.

Thanks for your reply

Yes it seems the majority reason for small operations ceasing business is not MPI, but the cash that overseas companies are offering, then once they have NZ investment, they close the business.