(DOGS BARK) (WHISTLES) - Always a favourite on every rural road ` (DOGS BARK) Managing three big farms... - He gets up at 3 o'clock in the morning and springs out of bed. I don't exactly know how he does it. - ...and running an innovative business. - Work dogs are up and down hills all day. We've got a lot of natural vitamins and minerals keeping them going. Captions by Faith Hamblyn. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024. Come here! (WHISTLES) What's our plan? - I'll go over that way there, clear that space there. If you go down to that side, and then we go down those ridges, down to the poplars at the bottom there. - Yes. - That'd be good. - Righto. - Sam Duncan, general manager of Otairi Station, 20 minutes from Hunterville, gets around the hill country the same way his family has for more than a hundred years. - This is quite steep hill country. (DOGS BARK) A horse is the only way you can get round it. It's a lot easier to work your dogs off a horse ` you've got them all in behind you, and you can get down to a lot more points to work your dogs from. (DOGS BARK) - Late November, early December is a busy time at Otairi. - (DOGS BARK) - (WHISTLES) Come here, Star! - Sam and manager Taylor Hill are mustering 2500 ewes and lambs for weaning and shearing. (WHISTLES) - We're three-quarters of the way through the station. You can see the boundary behind us on the skyline, and you can see the mountains out to the right. (DOGS BARK) I love getting out on this place, especially with your dogs. You'll get here first thing in the morning, and the staff are always happy to see you and get on well, and it's a good culture up here. Taylor's bloody good at steering the ship. He's got all the guys well under control. He's very valuable to the business, and takes a lot of pressure off me. Taylor's got 10 dogs with him. They're all well broken in. (DOGS BARK) He's got them going good, spends a lot of time with them, and that follows through to the rest of his farming. You find the guys that put time into their dogs, they're prepared to put extra time into other things to do with the farming business. These dogs, they're running a lot, especially following a horse ` doing a lot more extra miles than what you would be with them, hopping on a motorbike, and the steepness of this hill country and the size of the runs they're out on. - The steep terrain is ideal for sheep breeding, but flatter country is needed for the wintering and finishing sides of the operation, so Sam's family owns other blocks as well. - I first started managing Otairi when I was 25, going back 12 years ago. My role is just to go round the properties and make sure they're all working in together and working out where things can compensate the other. (DOGS BARK) Me and Taylor are starting this muster to take these sheep down for our weaning draft, and we'll also shear them, once they get down to the yards. (DOGS BARK) (WHISTLING, DOGS BARK) - Mobs of this size will be brought in off the hills every second day now, until late December. It's a huge task. (WHISTLING, DOGS BARK) - We've got a busy few weeks in front of us to wean all the stock on the station, get all the lambs sorted before we knock off for Christmas and have a holiday. (DOGS BARK) These ewes would still be, like, 24 kilos, would they? - Yeah, at least. Those Flockhart ones are 31.5. - The muster has already taken hours, but there's still a full day's work ahead, drafting the ewes and lambs. Some will be fattened on the finishing blocks; others are ready to go straight to the works. - These are weaning our older ewes which went to a terminal ram, black face, and then we've got... fats coming out to go off to be killed, and then we've got store lambs going down to one of the finishing blocks, and they're drenching them and dipping them, ready to go, at the moment. Brother Mark, he drafts for Silver Fern Farms ` all these lambs will be getting killed there. He's handpicking the best ones. Mark's gotta be pretty accurate on weight ` if he puts any that are underweight in, then we get penalised. So it's all on him ` there's a bit of pressure on him. He considers himself the Beauden Barret of sheep drafting. (CHUCKLES) Hopefully he's got his eye in and he's on to it. - It's still only 7am, and Sam's fiancee, Sarah Stephens, and their kids, Delta, Mila and Flynn, have time to hang out in the yards before the school run. - Wanna watch the boys do some crutching? - What is crutching? - This is crutching. (SHEEP BAA) The kids love coming up into the yards and helping Dad and chasing the sheep. (DOGS BARK) I love it. I worked up here for... quite a few years. I worked on the farm all through my pregnancy. And then I had Delta, and even then, I put her in the backpack and carried her round on my back until she was 2 years old. I don't come from a farming family, but I've always worked on farms, driving tractors and trucks and shearing gang, rousing gang, and then became an AI technician. - As well as being drenched and weaned, the sheep are here for their second shear for the year. (RAZORS BUZZ) Once the weaning's done, the boss gets in the pen to dag the dirties for the shearers. - Dagging's definitely not the most fun job, but whatever there is to do, everyone sort of hooks in and pulls their weight. No one's too good to do any job, really ` just gotta knuckle down and do it. (LAUGHTER) - Sam works some big hours, definitely. Super-proud of what Sam does. He gets up early, and we're talking anywhere between 3 o'clock in the morning and 6am, and always the positive attitude, springs out of bed. Don't exactly know how he does it, but he has such a big drive to continue on many more things. - And despite raising three children, running three farms and working massive seven-day weeks, Sam and Sarah have just embarked on a new venture. - Definitely takes a little bit of craziness. But we won't give up. Giving up's not an option. VOICEOVER: Get your free 'Consumer's Guide to Hearing Aids', New Zealand's only independent guide to all the latest models. Choose the right hearing aid for your lifestyle and budget. Call 0800 45 45 42 for your free copy. (GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC) - I can run as fast as Star! - November and December are the biggest months of the year at Otairi Station, near Hunterville. Sam Duncan, his family and his whole team are working seven long days a week, mustering sheep for shearing and weaning. (WHISTLING, DOGS BARK) Jake Jones has been a shepherd here for three years. - Just bringing some two-tooths home for a bit of shearing. Bit sticky, being eight-month wool, but, yeah, get them home, eh? (WHISTLING, DOGS BARK) - The work is demanding on dogs and musterers alike. - Pretty steep country round here, so you gotta have a few dogs to chase the sheep around. You gotta run a fair way. Coming into the summer months, you're sort of on a horse pretty much every day. (WHISTLING, DOGS BARK) - There's a lot of pressure on the dogs. They've gotta follow a horse; they're not getting a ride on a motorbike all day. The summer is a lot of stress on a dog, to run up and down these hills and bark at the sheep all day. Once they get down, they're working in the yard, so it is a long day. Their energy requirements is very high in this sort of country. (BIRDS SQUAWK) (GENTLE MUSIC) (DOGS BARK) (DOGS BARK) How's it going? - Yeah, good. How are you? - Good. You need good-quality tucker. You need a lot of fat and protein to get them through the day, and you need to also maintain body weight, so you don't end up with a skinny dog at the end of the day as well. We thought the food that we were buying wasn't up to it, so we started playing round ourselves with a few diets, which weren't that successful, but it did teach us pretty quick that we needed an energy-dense diet and we needed to use the best ingredients. Once we worked out the nutrition and what they actually need, we thought we were on to something, so that's when we went on a venture to start making our own dog food. (GATE CREAKS) - That lead to Sam and his fiancee, Sarah, taking over a former Wattie's factory in Feilding. (DOOR CREAKS) - We brought in nutritionists and brought in all the professionals, and with their brains and our drive, we're here now. We imported machinery, and we've gone big ` we've gone seriously big. - They've called their dog-food product Impact. Sam and Sarah do just about everything here themselves. - At 4am this morning, we were up and gone and straight down here. I'm here all day most days, Monday to Friday. When we are actually processing, we need two people in the factory. And then Sam's running Otairi and different farms as well, so he's up super-early, and he can be home late. We've added the lamb in and... start mixing it now to release the proteins. And then we'll add the minerals in. Adding in the fish oil, for healthy shiny coats and for joints. Fish oil actually doesn't smell at all. It's fine (!) - Our main ingredient in this is obviously the lamb. Work dogs are up and down hills all day, so we've got some good additives in here for that. We've got mussels in the fish oil ` that'll keep them going all day. It's real high in Omega-3s. - What we put in is all natural. You see what you get ` there's no hiding anything. It is very physical, and you're lifting boxes and pushing heavy things around. - (CHUCKLES) You're stronger than when you first started. - Starting to get really strong. - She's stronger than what she looks. - (BOTH LAUGH) - Don't need to go to the gym at all, any more, after moving boxes around and pushing this and pushing the trolley. Yeah. Back to pre-baby body, so nailed that. (LAUGHS) - Once the meat's come out and it's all mixed, and then the end product comes out clipped, the only last process from here is to get it cooked, which is quite an important process ` it preserves the product. We have to cook it up to 70 degrees, to kill off all the bugs and bacteria, to make it shelf stable. This is the machine here which we load it into to cook, which cooks a ton at a time. - Having perfected their rolls for working dogs, Sam and Sarah are now developing a lower-fat, grain-free diet for pet dogs. - It's definitely a tipping point. So there is room for huge expansion in different areas, and we do have a few things in the pipeline, but they're still to come. (GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC) - The steep and expansive hill country of Otairi Station, in Rangitikei, is ideal for sheep breeding. Generations of Sam Duncan's family have run sheep here. But recently, they've added cows to the mix. - Traditionally, we've always run steers, to try and hold the pasture, and then reduce numbers in the winter. Five years we've been into cows now, and they hold on to condition a lot better in the winter than what our steers used to in the past. It's a bit more work ` the cows and calves ` to what the steers traditionally were, but they're doing a lot better job at cleaning out the pasture and compensating the sheep a lot better. - Today, shepherds Toby Proude and Jake Jones are separating these calves from the heifers for marking. But instead of a race and a drafting gate, they use horses. (COWS MOO) - Saves your legs ` a lot easier to get round. The cows respect the horse a lot more than when you're just on your feet, and it saves you getting chased round too. (COWS MOO) - Toby and Jake, they're getting around pretty good on the horses. They don't mind if the odd cow charges them ` they can still hang on and stay on, which creates a bit of humour. Taylor's on the gate, and he's standing up to the cattle ` he doesn't mind if the old one comes at him ` he takes the odd risk that he'll get flattened. (COWS MOO) (WHISTLING) - Go on! (WHISTLES) Hurry up! (WHISTLES) (WHISTLES) - While the cows wait, the calves are tagged and marked, and the males are steered. - Steering's just castrating ` taking their balls away to make them into a steer. - (COWS MOO) - This is crazy time for us. I'm mainly in the dog factory now. We don't get out on the farm as much as I'd like to. Any time is always busy, but leading up to Christmas is particularly busy, and having three kids is... can get quite crazy, but it's good. (COWS MOO) - You're going good, Flynn. Fast as ever. - Keep running. Go, go, go. - Generations of Sam's family have ridden horses before they could even walk, and Sam and Sarah want the same for their kids. - Do you want me to run in front of you? I bet you won't be able to get me. - Where are you going? - I bet you a hundred bucks! Ooh! Goes that way. - Watch where you're going. You'll crash. - No! - We try spend as much time on the horses as we can. Eh, Deltie? That's it. That's it. Good girl. Sam's been bought up on horses since before he could walk, and it's the same with all three of our kids. Keep going. - Flynn, he definitely rides more like you, and Mila's like me. - (BOTH LAUGH) - More of a cowboy. I'm sort of the nicer rider. (LAUGHS) - Good job, Meels. Did you give him a pat? - Even when I jump, he might run. That's not right. - Incredibly proud to watch the kids grow up and learn how to ride. Down this way, Flynny. I didn't learn how to ride until I was about 16, so it's a huge privilege for them, and carrying on the, sort of, Duncan family horse stuff, it's really cool. - I'd like you to come and run a dog for us. (LAUGHTER) - The oldest member of the Otairi team, Cecil McKenzie, is a hugely experienced horseman and a dog-trialling veteran. - (BARKS) - (WHISTLES) You've gotta aim for that thistle, see? If you get there, you'll be right on target. - Just having a practice for these fullas that go to a few dog trials. It's just good to run them up and have a couple of laughs, and it's quite fun to do. - (BARKS) - (WHISTLES) (WHISTLES) - Full marks for that one. - Not bad, not bad. - (WHISTLES) - About a 98. - (LAUGHTER) - Or a 6, maybe ` 6. - (WHISTLES) - (BARKS) - (WHISTLES) - Cecil started dog-trialling as a child and has a wealth of knowledge to offer. - (WHISTLES) - Half a point off when he's up there, and that's about it ` it was pretty good. - As good as they get, straight up, dog had good contact ` couldn't ask for much more. - Good for a boy, anyway. - (LAUGHTER) - Pretty good dog ` that makes a difference. Dunno about the operator. - (LAUGHTER) - Cecil, he's been around for quite a while on the station now. He's definitely got a few more years on the rest of us, probably in all sorts ` he's got a bit more wisdom. - They kept 40 horses shod at the blacksmiths shop in the '30s. Two blacksmiths shoeing in those days, full time. Would have been some exciting times. - Although officially retired, Cecil keeps himself occupied as the station's saddler. - Always been busy. Keep busy or ya die! - He's a handy guy around the front, and he does a bit of leatherwork. If you break a bit of gear or something on a horse, then Cecil's here to fix it for you. It's pretty traditional, I would think, leatherwork and the art of doing it. There wouldn't be too many people coming through these days, doing that sort of thing. - Pretty good sewing. I'm still learning. The boys are always bringing things in broken or half worn out. Pretty good. Satisfaction when you finish up with a nice job like that. That's half a bridle, nice leather. And end up with it, and... should last for 25 years. (SEWING MACHINE CLATTERS) - Morning! How are we? - Oh. Jeez, that looks good. - I've got a job for you. - Yeah, do you wanna repair them? Nice and clean. Yeah, righto. And the same one on that one. - The same on that one. Do you reckon if you could put a buckle in there? And in there? - Yeah, the strap on that ` nearly as old as you are. - It'll be older than me. - Older than you. - No, that'll look good. Thank you. - All right. You'll be good. You'll be up with the play again. - Yeah. - Shit of a job, but there you go. We run a good crew, and everybody's happy, and that makes a big difference. We give a bit of shit, and we get a bit of shit back amongst ourselves, but they look after me, and what goes around comes around. (GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC) (INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS) - Here you are. Homemade pizza. - (CHUCKLING) - Yum. - It's a real good crew. They're the sort of guys you hang around, whether it's at work or off work. It's a pleasure to have them around you. 'We like to provide a good culture. It's a lot more enjoyable out on the farm 'if everybody's joking around and getting on well. 'Makes the day a lot shorter.' (ALAN MOORHOUSE'S 'HILLBILLY CHILD') - Next time ` he's the first mate helping the country's fishermen smooth out life on the waves. - It's the difference between, you know, survival and doom ` it's new regulation, it's cameras, it's cost of living; the cost of running your business with diesel prices skyrocketing. If one person listens and gets help, it's a massive win for me. - That's next time on Hyundai Country Calendar. (COUNTRY MUSIC FADES)