White Rock Mains – Duncan & Tina Mackintosh

In 1909, White Rock Mains was brought to life through the vision of Duncan Mackintoshes’ ancestors. Today, Duncan and wife Tina are the fourth generation to farm the sheep, beef and dairy support property, purchased by the pair in 2012, in partnership with Duncan’s brother and his wife.

15/02/2019

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The Regional Supreme Winners of this year’s Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Awards, the couple were very humbled and pleasantly surprised by their amazing achievement given they were in the company of other farmers and growers doing very special activities on their farms”.

Hardworking ‘early-adopters’, the Mackintoshes embrace new innovation, which is reflected in the farm’s technological evolution. They were one of the first customers to buy Landcorp sheep genetics, and through their long-term involvement with the development with FarmIQ, have a fundamental appreciation of utilising data-driven insights to inform business decisions.

Moreover, technology plays an essential role in maintaining and improving farm efficiencies, including the variable rate technology used with aerial top dressing.
The Mackintoshes show an admirable dedication to helping their environment prosper, and a 91ha QEII covenant was recently established.

It was the Mackintoshes strong community spirit and their involvement with many social initiatives that really impressed the judges. The family’s local school, North Loburn, is just one of the beneficiaries of their generosity of spirit through the Garden to Table programme Tina is integrally involved with.

North Loburn loves the programme, which starts with growing produce, and runs right through to picking, cooking and eating what is grown together. Tina is passionately advocating for the inclusion of meat to teach kids about where meat comes from and its nutritional benefits.

Another initiative dear to their hearts is the Shear-a-Thon they devised to aid in suicide prevention. The 24-hour shearing challenging saw $45,000 raised by the local community with $10,000 donated to four different organisations playing essential roles in mental health and wellbeing.

Needless to say, the future is bright for White Rock Mains, and the couple is thrilled to have entered the Ballance Farm Environment Awards as a way to inform their decision making.

“We are really proud of Duncan’s mum and late father who started the ball rolling. They were very forward thinkers regarding their environment. Going forward, we would like to establish walking tracks in the QEII Covenant and invite urban schools to step foot onto a working farm, and experience the birds and the bush.”

Awards Won