Energy and optimism keeps focus on next 140 years

Strong succession planning has played out as Hugh and Judy Akers hoped it would with their son Willie and his-now wife Laura Akers running Broadlands Station, a 1650ha sheep and beef farming operation in Ashhurst, Manawatū. The farm, which has been in the family since 1886, was named the Regional Supreme Winner at the 2015 Horizons Ballance Farm Environment Awards as ‘an excellent example of multi-generational farming for environmental stability and financial success’.

Although 10 years on the farm is not quite as big as it was when they won the award. “Some of it got washed away,” says Willie. It’s a ‘we need to laugh, or we might cry’ philosophy as the couple remains optimistic about the work that lies ahead after the devastating floods caused by Cyclone Gabrielle that hit the region in February 2023.

The floods ran through the paddocks the Akers were using as finishing blocks. “We had a beautiful crop at the time, and half of it was washed away and the rest of it ruined. That was heartbreaking,” says Laura.

Fixing the problems, however, has come with challenges in the way of red tape and hoops to jump through. “It can be really demoralising because it’s hard to know the right people to talk to, or who can answer our questions,” says Willie.

He adds that the couple came to the decision that they had to ‘make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear’.

“We knew we had to get the most out of the land as we could,” says Willie. “It’s going to take a long time to get back to where we were, so we decided we would need to do things differently.”

That meant doing cut and carry bailage, or maybe a future cash crop. “What we are reluctant to do is put the fencing back, and have it flood again and wipe out our fencing, so having things we can do that are low risk is important,” adds Laura.

Now it’s the season for crutching, drenching and tidying up. Recovering from flooding is a long, ongoing, slow process. Where once they wintered about 11,500 stock units with a 70:30 sheep to cattle ratio, those numbers are now around 11,300.

When the couple and Willie’s parents won the Regional Supreme Winner title, Willie and Laura were engaged. They are now married with two children aged two and six, and even though Laura has swapped being an agronomist for being a farmer, she says she doesn’t miss her old office. “I love being outside and I love being hands on. There is always something to keep you busy.”

Even becoming part of a 140-year dynasty hasn’t phased her. “Lucky, I had a son first go,” she jokes. “I really like family history, so it’s like we’ve been handed the baton in a way.”

The couple’s energy and optimism is also keeping them focused on ensuring their wool-crop remains the quality product they’ve worked hard to achieve, despite the depressed sector.

They firmly believe it won’t be long before the wool industry will swing back. “We are optimists,” says Laura. “It’s going to make a come-back.”

Willie agrees that they have no intention to scrap wool production. “We’re not following people out of it,” he says. “We have kept our quality of wool, while some people have given up on the quality of the rams and shearing, but we haven’t because if you lose the micron and curvature, it’s really hard to get it back. We’ve been working for the past 20 years to get this right, so we aren’t going to let that go.”

“It’s got to get better,” echoes Laura. “If you look at the global swing against plastics and polyesters, wool is just such an amazing product.”

Since the awards the couple has been using technology more, and are currently looking at a range of high-tech digital farming options such as halters for cows. “There’s lots to think about,” says Willie. Including, it seems, succession planning.

“We are starting to work out succession plans for us with our children,” says Laura. “There’s no better time to start than yesterday,” adds Willie.

• Hugh and Judy Akers were the 2015 Ballance Farm Environment Awards Regional Supreme Winners for the Horizons region. 

• The Ballance Farm Environment Awards promote sustainable farming and growing across the country, and are facilitated by the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust.