From generation to generation - a century at Daisybank
Strong family support, innovation and a dash of good luck have seen the Harvey family of Wairarapa clock up a hundred years on Daisybank Farm near Martinborough. They're banking on a similar mix to see them through the next century.
The Harvey family of Wairarapa have called Daisybank Farm their home for more than a century and are looking forward to another 100 years with a keen eye for continuity, innovation and succession.
They received a Century Farms centennial award this year, an accolade which recognises any farm or station which has been in the same family for 100 or more years.
John Harvey, third generation, has spent all 76 years of his life on the farm, near Martinborough in South Wairarapa.
Several generations of Harvey family cousins gather together in front of the old woolshed at Daisybank farm.
Harvey Family
Related stories:
John's grandfather, Thomas Harvey, bought the original 166-hectare block in 1923. John and wife Yvonne ran the farm successfully for more than four decades before stepping back to allow son Owen and daughter-in-law Emma to take charge.
A formal portrait of Elinor and Thomas Harvey, taken in 1887.
Harvey Family
From generation to generation - a century at Daisybank
The farm now consists of more than 1100 hectares over two blocks and operates as a sheep and beef farm with a busy sideline in agritourism.
Emma Harvey believes they are building on the successful system developed by John and Yvonne and, while the couple plan to open up the farm to trail biking and farm walks, they intend to largely stick to that formula.
"I don't think it will change drastically. We'll just be tweaking it as we go. But the agritourism thing is cool. Just diversifying income, a little bit. And we're so close to Martinborough, we get quite a few tourists coming over from Wellington and internationally as well. So that's a bit of an opportunity for us."
John and Yvonne Harvey, standing inside the old woolshed at Daisybank Farm.
Harvey Family
- Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts.
The dry, warm weather the farm experiences enhances that tourism opportunity but makes farming the land hard work.
Daisybank lies in one of the driest spots in the North Island with an annoyingly consistent north-westerly wind.
Harvey Family
It's Owen's job to wrestle with that as well as keep an eye on the challenges being posed by climate change.
He has begun introducing woolless sheep to the farm's flock and shares what he's learned with a local discussion group of farmers.
Stuart, Jessie and John Harvey, outside the old shearer's quarters at Daisybank farm.
Harvey Family
Handing over the farm from one generation to another has always been an 'organic' process, according to John.
When his grandfather Thomas passed on the farm to his sons, he simply walked into the local stock firm which held the farm's finances and told them to change the names on the account.
Emma and Owen agree that there was no one moment when they took charge and John and Yvonne stepped back, but John still works hard each day.
He says if you're lucky in farming you get to be "the boy twice and the man once. And that's what I am now, the boy again".
McKenzie Harvey sits proudly atop a wool bale in the old woodshed. McKenzie is one of the fifth generation of Harveys to live and work at Daisybank Farm.
RNZ
Owen says the way he looks at it, they "don't so much own the farm as being the ones at the steering wheel now".
But he and Emma would certainly like to see another 100 years of Harveys on Daisybank.
"We'll do everything we can to make sure it stays in the family," Emma says.
"Providing someone who wants to farm it, I guess!"
Applications for this year's Centenary Farms awards are currently open and close on 30 November. You can find more information on their website.
