North Canterbury News: September 16, 2021
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RURAL LIFE<br />
24 The <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong>, <strong>September</strong> <strong>16</strong>, <strong>2021</strong><br />
Phil discovers farming lifestyle<br />
By DAVID HILL<br />
Tucked in the hills above Manuka Bay,<br />
near Cheviot, is aYorkshireman who has<br />
discovered apassion for farming.<br />
Phil Varley moved to New Zealand 10<br />
years ago with his Kiwi partner<br />
Catherine Campbell and began ajourney<br />
which led him to the land.<br />
‘‘I come from Yorkshire and Igrew up<br />
in the country, but Idon’t have any<br />
farming background. My dad had avege<br />
garden, but Iwasn’t that interested<br />
growing up.<br />
‘‘It’s been over the last 10 years that<br />
I’ve been on aselftaught and learning<br />
journey, and I’ve picked up alot from<br />
farmers.’’<br />
While Phil may not come from farming<br />
roots, Catherine does, as her father, Don<br />
Campbell, managed farms around the<br />
<strong>North</strong> Island and has ‘‘been areal<br />
treasure trove of information’’.<br />
Phil and Catherine own the 21 hectare<br />
Pihi Farms and lease another 90<br />
hectares, farming sheep and beef cattle<br />
and growing amarket garden.<br />
The recent drought has seen stock<br />
numbers reduced to just 50 breeding<br />
ewes, while they take on up to 30 cattle<br />
from weaned calves.<br />
His cattle breeds of choice are Lowline<br />
Angus and belted Galloway, which<br />
remind him of his childhood adventures<br />
in the Dumfries region in Scotland.<br />
‘‘They are two breeds which suit the<br />
hilly landscape that we have here, with<br />
their short legs, stocky frame and being a<br />
bit smaller than other breeds.’’<br />
The ewes are mostly Wiltshire and<br />
were chosen as an easy care breed, but<br />
Phil has been trialling Coopworths,<br />
Suftex (SuffolkTexelcross) and Romney<br />
2410273<br />
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Rural lifestyle ... Catherine Campbell (left) and Phil Varley have embraced afarming<br />
lifestyle at Cheviot.<br />
PHOTO: SUPPLIED<br />
ewes to get acomparison and has found<br />
the composite breeds are performing<br />
better.<br />
The meat is processed at the Harris<br />
Meats abattoir in Cheviot and supplied<br />
directly to households, mostly in<br />
Christchurch.<br />
In the market garden, Phil is growing<br />
some specialist crops including taewa<br />
(Maori sweet potatoes), Jerusalem<br />
artichokes, yacon and garlic, which he<br />
supplies to restaurants in the city.<br />
‘‘We are very much alow input system.<br />
We are not certified organic and we don’t<br />
see the need to be certified, but we are<br />
aligning our philosophy with those<br />
principles.<br />
‘‘The advantage for us in staying small<br />
is that we know pretty much who we sell<br />
too.<br />
‘‘For our customers, quality is ahuge<br />
aspect and they increasingly want to<br />
know personally who is producing their<br />
food and the story behind it, and people<br />
are increasingly aware of the impact on<br />
the environment of farming practices.’’<br />
When last year’s Covid19 lockdown<br />
struck, Pihi Farms was just starting out.<br />
‘‘We had planned out what we were<br />
doing, but it impacted immediately on<br />
our distribution and our engagement<br />
with our customers is different because<br />
of that,’’ Phil says.<br />
‘‘We didn’t want to lock into home<br />
deliveries, but we had to shift our<br />
thinking in terms of direct selling.’’<br />
This year’s lockdown again had an<br />
impact with atemporary loss of sales to<br />
Christchurch restaurants, but Pihi<br />
Farms was able to pick up more<br />
residential customers.<br />
Phil has joined Enterprise <strong>North</strong><br />
<strong>Canterbury</strong>’s Made <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong><br />
provenance brand initiative and says it<br />
has opened some social media marketing<br />
opportunities and some ‘‘oneoff<br />
connections in Wellington’’.<br />
‘‘But we are really focusing on local.’’<br />
Bring home<br />
Kiwi bacon<br />
Kiwis are being encouraged to bring<br />
homethe baconduringthe Covid19<br />
restrictions, butmake sure it ishome<br />
grown.<br />
New Zealand pig farmers are deemed<br />
an essential serviceand are continuing<br />
to farm through Alert Levels 2to4,but<br />
with many restaurants closed, thesector<br />
is concernedabout apossiblesurplus of<br />
pigs.<br />
NZPork has launched asocial media<br />
campaign to encourage Kiwis to back<br />
localfarmersand choose New Zealand<br />
born and raised pork over imported<br />
pork.<br />
‘‘Around60percentofpork consumed<br />
in New Zealand is importedwith much<br />
of it produced usingpracticesillegal in<br />
this country,’’ NZPork chiefexecutive<br />
DavidBaines says.<br />
‘‘Consumers shouldcheck product<br />
labels to ensure it is 100% New Zealand<br />
pork or look for the ‘Born and Raised in<br />
New Zealand PigCare’ label.<br />
‘‘If it says ‘madeinNew Zealand from<br />
localand imported ingredients’, then<br />
chances are it’s imported.’’<br />
Mr Baines encourages people to ask<br />
theirlocal retailer for homegrownpork,<br />
and when buying online,search for<br />
‘100%NZPork’. ‘‘Youwill be buyinga<br />
freshand healthy product and<br />
supporting farmers working hard<br />
throughthe Covid19 restrictions to<br />
maintain high standardsofcare for their<br />
pigs and keeping New Zealanders fed.’’<br />
As partofthe campaign,Kiwis will get<br />
the chanceto‘meet’ some of the farmers<br />
behind their pork.<br />
‘‘Pig farmers know that the more<br />
contented the pig, the betterthe pork,’’<br />
Mr Baines says.<br />
‘‘We’ll be sharing the stories of some of<br />
New Zealand’s pig farmers talking about<br />
what makesNew Zealandpork sucha<br />
delicious and quality product.’’<br />
Imported pork is often heavily<br />
subsidised,which coupledwiththe<br />
lower welfare standards, means it is<br />
cheaper thanNew Zealand pork, he<br />
says.The pork sector is closely<br />
monitoring pig supplies to ensure there<br />
is no animal welfare crisisduringthe<br />
Covid19 restrictions.<br />
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