Station — Mount Peel Station

The environment

Mount Peel Station has been under the stewardship of the Acland family for five generations and as a family we are totally focused on ensuring its managed sustainably for future generations to enjoy.

The Station is run as a grass based sustainable farming operation, employing best farming practices to ensure a healthy environment for our livestock, land and people.
The property includes 300 ha of regenerating native bush, which is fenced off to ensure its protection.
We have 250 ha of plantation forestry which is harvested on 25 year rotation and helps offset our carbon emissions.
We minimise soil cultivation and employ minimum till technology to protect and nourish our soils and build up carbon and organic matter.
We have an ongoing programme to fence off our waterways with over 10 kms already completed. We have developed our water reticulation systems alongside the fencing programme.
A deciduous and native tree planting programme is ongoing over all areas of the station.

The Station

Mount Peel Station extends 20kms up the Rangitata Gorge with the river as our natural boundary. The altitude ranges from 300 meters above sea level through to 1300 meters at the highest point.

In total the 5500ha property comprises of:

1700 ha of flats
2500 ha of grazable hill country
250 ha of exotic forest; and
the remainder is made up of native bush and hill country that has been retired from grazing to protect its natural characteristics.

This good balance of hill country and flat land is blessed with a 1200 mm rainfall which makes it an ideal breeding and finishing property. The property is managed adopting best farming practises and sustainable principles, taking care of our land, our stock and our people.

Our Stock

Today Mount Peel runs 35,000 stock units consisting of:

9500 Romney X Ewes and 3000 replacement Hoggets

1000 Angus Breeding cows and their progeny

400 Fresian Bulls

2500 Breeding Hinds and their progeny

1300 Velveting stags

livestock at mount peel

SHEEP

The Sheep Flock is a high producing Romney Coopworth Cross. We run 9500 Ewes and 3000 Hoggets who consistently produce around 16000 lambs a year. The majority of the lambs are finished for the export market and are farmed on the improved pasture land on a grass fed diet.

The ewes are sent out to the hill country after weaning where they spend their summer months.

WOOL

Our Sheep are shorn twice a year and produce a 38 micron coarse cross bred wool used in the carpet industry.

CATTLE

The station carries 1000 Angus Breeding cows. 700 are mated to an Angus Bull and 300 to a Charolais. All the calves are taken through the first winter, after which the sales policy is flexible depending on the current markets and seasons. However, we have consistently supplied Five Star Feed Lot since its inception.

We are focussed on using genetics aimed at producing superior carcass attributes, resulting in a high quality eating product with superior marbling.

The cows spend the winter grazing the hill country, cleaning up roughage and keeping pastures intact. In the summer months, they are bought down to the flats, where they are utilised to groom pasture in preparation for the lamb and deer finishing systems.

A Bull Beef finishing system is run on the station, which is supplied from our Dairy unit, situated 20 kms away on the Canterbury plains. 400 Bulls are finished by 18 months of age, which goes into the manufacturing beef market, mainly hamburgers.

DEER

Mount Peel has farmed deer since the early 1970’s with the foundation of the herd captured from the wild.

Our deer herd was originally based on the reknowned Rakaia bloodline found in the wild.

Today we use English Genetics aimed at producing offspring with both high growth rates for carcass genetics and also superior velvet production, to supply replacements for our Velvet Stag herd.

Today’s herd consists of 2500 breeding hinds, 1300 of which are mated to a terminal sire. The remainder are mated to the Red Stag.

2200 weaners are wintered, some then go to the export market at around 12 months of age. The rest are used as hind or velvet stag replacements.

The velvet is harvested in the spring for export to the traditional Asian medicine market. For the past 35 years we have maintained a strong relationship with the same family operated business who have bought our velvet to supply this market.