Ward Tour 2012

Sunday 25th Wednesday 28th March 2012
Nelson / Marlborough Ward
For more information contact:
Paul Hickman, PO Box 8, Ward 7248
Phone: 03 575 6878 Mobile: 021 575 155
paulandnadine@clear.net.nz

Sunday 25 March
2.00pm: Registration
Scenic Hotel Marlborough (formerly Heartland Hotel),
cnr. Alfred and Henry St, Blenheim.
4.30pm: AGM
6.30pm: Welcome Dinner, Scenic Hotel

Monday 26 March
Leave after breakfast to visit:
Brackenfield
Waterfall
Woodbank- including Allflex lunch
Taimate
Return to Blenheim
6.30pm: Merial Dinner, Drylands Restaurant

Tuesday 27 March
Leave after breakfast
Drive through Awatere Valley
Morning tea at Upcot
Molesworth Station- including Allflex lunch
Drive to Hanmer Springs
NZ Farmers Livestock “Happy Hour”
Landcorp / Rabobank Dinner, Hot Springs Hotel

Wednesday 28 March
Leave Hanmer Springs after breakfast
Drive through Rainbow Station to St Arnaud
Allflex lunch
Visit Martin Farming
4.00pm: Tour ends

At the end of the tour there will be a BBQ at Martin Farming.

Transport will be available to Nelson Airport, for those wishing to leave.

Accommodation has been reserved at Quality Hotel Leisure Lodge, Nelson, for those who wish to stay on. This will be at extra cost. It is not part of the tour package.

Please indicate your preference on the booking form.

Transport back to Blenheim will also be available. See booking form for details
 

It is with pleasure I welcome you to the 2012 Angus Ward Tour – The Back Country Tour.

The Marlborough/Nelson region is as diverse as any in New Zealand, with early-finishing, very dry coastal land, and rugged high country, with everything in between. Sheep and beef, dairy, viticulture, horticulture, forestry and marine farming are all found here.

Those of you who attended our last tour will notice the “explosion” of the grape industry, which has caused stock numbers to fall dramatically in recent years. Twenty years ago the Marlborough Ewe Fairs had 50,000 head of stock. In 2011 there was one Ewe Fair with 3500 sold.

Cattle numbers have not fallen to the same extent. On the drier hill country there is usually a pronounced flush of grass growth in the spring and cattle are an invaluable cleanup tool. Most farmers sell their calves in the weaner fairs in the autumn.

Geographically, it is a massive area, but farm stocking rates are very low compared with the rest of the country. To give you a taste of this, we have put together a tour which will give you the chance to see some famous and historic high country stations that are well off the beaten track, and normally difficult to access.

 

We’d like to thank our following Sponsors:

Merial Ancare
Landcorp
Allflex NZ Ltd
NZ Farmers Livestock
Rabobank
PGG Wrightson
Rural Livestock Ltd
Austins Ultrasound Ltd
Downlands Deer Ltd
EmbryoCo
Xcell Breeding Services
CMP
Silver Fern Farms
AngusPure
The National Bank
Whitehaven Wines

 

Nelson/Marlborough Ward Tour Map

1) Brackenfield                 4) Taimate

2) Waterfall                        5) Martin Farming

3) Woodbank                - - - - Tour route

 

 

Registration to:

Clare Waddy
The Waterfall, 632 Waterfalls Road,
RD Seddon, Marlborough, 7285.
Phone 03 5757388
waterfall@xtra.co.nz

Registration and full payment due by 28 January 2012

Payment enclosed/direct credited:

 

$735 per person (Shared room)
$945 per person (Single room)
$90 per person (Extra night in Nelson)

NB: If you are arriving at Blenheim Airport please advise your flight arrival time.

 

 

Previous Ward Tour reports in the Ward Tour Archive