Riding the land at Awapiri

Awapiri Station owners Eric and Sally Smith are balancing high country farming with diversification and planning for the next generation.

There are easier ways to farm than how Eric and Sally Smith do it at Awapiri Station.

But easier isn’t the point.

Set deep in the Awatere Valley, Awapiri stretches long and narrow across high country, climbing from valley floor to hilltops where access is often old-school.

Here, farming still happens largely on foot, on horseback, or increasingly, by mountain bike.

“We’re quite a simple operation really,” says Eric.

Simple, but not small. The Smiths run around 4,700 Merinos and 140 cattle across more than 7,000 hectares, much of it steep, native country.

It’s a system built around wool, with most of their clip heading into a long-term Icebreaker contract through Zentera (formerly  New Zealand Merino) - a natural fit for a property where the environment favours fibre over finishing.

“It just doesn’t justify a lot of labour,” Sally says. “We’ve still got a mortgage, so you’ve got to be careful where you spend your money.”

That thinking shapes everything at Awapiri. Labour is minimal. Vehicles are used sparingly. Much of the work is done the old way, with horses still heading into the back blocks three times a year to bring wethers home along a historic pack track.

Awapiri’s Merino wethers are mustered through steep high country where access still relies heavily on horses, bikes and footwork.

It’s a long way from their previous role managing Mt Arrowsmith Station in Mid Canterbury, where intensity was higher and scale demanded more inputs.

“We learnt what we were capable of,” Sally says. “But it’s not something you can sustain long term.”

Their children grew up in that environment. Most of their childhood was spent at Arrowsmith, a busy, full-on period that shaped both family and farming life.

The move back to Awapiri came through succession, after the loss of Sally’s father.

The couple took over the farm, running the operation in a way that works with the land, rather than against it.

“You’ve got to farm to your environment,” Sally says. “That’s the only sustainable way.”

Now, succession is on the horizon again. Their son Alex is keen to return to the farm, and decisions being made today are already being shaped with that in mind.

“We’re starting to think about what it looks like for the next generation,” Sally says.

Visitors to Awapiri can stay in backcountry huts scattered through the station’s rugged high country landscape.

That thinking is part of what has driven diversification.

Awapiri now offers accommodation in the old shearers’ quarters and has opened up its network of farm tracks to visitors on bikes, creating a low-key tourism arm that fits around the farming operation.

What started as a practical way to get around the property has become a point of difference. Riders can follow four-wheel drive tracks through the station, stay in huts, and experience high country farming up close.

“It’s about creating options,” Sally says. “You can’t just rely on farming alone anymore.”

It’s not polished tourism. The old shearers’ quarters are still exactly that. The huts are basic. But that’s part of the appeal.

“A lot of people get a lot out of that,” Eric says.

For the Smiths, it’s also about telling the farming story in a way that sticks.

“You can talk all you like,” Eric says. “But when people come here and see it, they understand it.”

That connection works both ways. Having visitors on farm has made them more aware of what they have.

“You do take it for granted sometimes,” he says. “But then you stop and look around and think, yeah, this is pretty awesome.”

Awapiri’s bike tracks have grown from practical farm access routes into a low-key tourism venture attracting riders keen to experience high country farming up close.

Alongside that, the couple have continued refining how they farm the land itself. After years focused on scrub control, they began using Optimise fertiliser pellets around 2017, following soil testing across the property.

“The big thing is you’re putting on exactly what you need,” Eric says. “You’re not carting a whole lot of bulk you don’t require.”

The pelletised system allows them to target nutrients more precisely, while also lifting soil pH through the inclusion of lime. Over time, they’ve tailored applications to suit different areas of the farm.

“It’s more about what the soil is asking for,” Sally says. “Not just guessing and throwing fertiliser on.”

That same measured approach carries through the rest of the business.

Genetics are selected for resilience rather than extremes.

 Footrot is managed through a combination of breeding and practical management. Native areas are largely left to regenerate, with stock naturally avoiding much of the rougher country.

With grandchildren now coming out to the huts and the next generation not far away, there’s a sense things are starting to come full circle at Awapiri.

The system will evolve, as it always has.

But the core of it stays the same: low input, practical, and built around the country it sits on.