In the episode Becks sits down with Amanda Hasselman from Temple Peak Station, a Toitū Certified Carbon Zero Sheep and Beef farm at the head of the Wakatipu Valley. As well as farming alongside her husband Mark, Amanda has been a trustee on the Routeburn Dart Wildlife Trust for 10 years since its inception, and is part of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary and within both roles is deeply passionate about predator management for the restoration and protection of our native biodiversity. 

Having farmed Temple Peak since 1979 through the era of Livestock Incentive Schemes, Tenure Review, a change in breed and now the shift to Regenerative Agriculture and becoming a Toitū Carbon Zero farm they sure have seen some change, challenge and opportunity in their time.

I hope you enjoy this episode and the perspectives of someone who after walking the hills for many years, is "now starting to hear the music of the valley", who sees a real role for farming and conservation to occur in the same space, and is excited about farm succession and the potential within our industry with the continued opportunity to learn.

Episode Resources:

• Campaign for Wool video on Temple Peak Station | ⁠Watch here

• Routeburn Dart Wildlife Trust | Website

• Southern Lakes Sanctuary | ⁠Website

• Book Mention | ⁠Aroha - Dr Hinemoa Elder

• Nicole Masters | ⁠Soil Resilience Tour - North Island

• Nicole Masters | ⁠Soil Resilience Tour - South Island

Within this episode Amanda refers to AF8 - this stands for Alpine Fault 8 which is the alpine fault running down the Southern Alps which is overdue for rupture and will have a catastrophic impact on New Zealand, especially the Glenorchy region as they are sitting directly on the Alpine Fault.

🎙 Podcast brought to you by The Whole Story, with support from FMG Insurance.

🎵 Music by nobody, check them out on SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/nobody535 or Instagram @n0__b0dy____

In this episode Becks is joined by Alexis Wadworth, Alexis is farming with her husband Nick and 2 year old daughter Addison down at Bare Hill Farming in Central Southland. Bare Hill is a sheep and beef property running almost 8000 stock units with a significant portion of ineffective land area. In all her spare time Alexis is also Chairwoman of the Makarewa Headwaters Catchment Group.

With farming heritage and a banking background Alexis has brought a significant skillset into the farming team, but likewise engineer Nick is pretty handy to have around too. They are passionate about being responsible land stewards and building a sustainable farming business; creating an environment that future generations can thrive in. But not doing this alone, ensuring they are growing alongside their community, valuing partnerships within the business and holding space for their own values and interests alongside their wishes for quality time together as a family.

Nick and Alexis were 2023 finalists in the Balance Farm Environment Awards and worthy recipients of the Norwood Farming Efficiency Award. This episode is a must-listen as Alexis shares with us the unique challenges faced by a property where under half the total land area is effective hectares, their changing stock policies to manage this challenge and learn about the Japanese Lean Management principle of Kaizen which is pivotal to their business. 

Episode Resources:

• Alexis Wadworth LinkedIn
• Bare Hill Farming Instagram
• 2023 Ballance Farm Environment Awards - Bare Hill Farming Story
• DJI Drones for Agriculture
• More information about Kaizen

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🎙 Podcast brought to you by The Whole Story, with support from FMG Insurance.

🎵 Music by nobody, check them out on SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/nobody535 or Instagram @n0__b0dy____

The employer and job title my have changed since this episode was released but the incredible insights, enthusiasm, inspiration and relevance that this woman provides in this podcast most certainly have not!

She has just done the West Coast Recharge Tour with B+LNZ and it has definitely left a few of us feeling a need for our Julia fix! So here it is!

We are on a two-week break with Season Two of the podcast (as Becks has finally got off-farm for a holiday) but it's a timely reminder of how to face adversity and challenges head-on and tackle that all important mindset piece.

Take a listen if you haven't already, or if you just want a reminder, and we look forward to bringing you fresh episodes in a weeks time!