Today I Met Mr. Acland by Sean

 

Mr. David Acland is one of the two renowned owners - the other being his wife Kate -  of Mt. Somer’s station, a massive farm, sat just below a mountain in the highlands of New Zealand. His farm was founded by his father in 1983, a man who helped create the red deer farming industry by jumping out of helicopters onto the backs of wild red deer, capturing them for agriculture. When his parents passed in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s, the property was divided between Mr. Acland and his two brothers. He bought the entirety of the property in 2016 off his two brothers, one of whom works in the clothing industry and the other in investing. Mr. Acland and his wife have three children and all of them work on the farm moving sheep into different paddocks, helping with cattle, and completing other farm tasks. On top of running a farm, he is the president of the local farmers union and works in the carbon industry, selling carbon sequestration as a commodity to industries to offset their carbon emissions. His farm contains 3800 hectares of land, or about 9400 acres, with roughly 300 hectares dedicated to dairy, 2700 hectares dedicated to beef cattle and sheep, 300 hectares dedicated to forestry and carbon sequestration, and 500 hectares of native vegetation for producing honey. This equates to about 9000 romney ewes, 3000 hoggets / 1-2 year old sheep, 180 angus cattle, 890 kiwi cows (a special crossbreed of cattle specific to New Zealand), and 450 beehives. This massive amount of animals is handled by himself, his family, and 12 others. That’s it. Just 17 people running a 3800 hectare farm with over 13,000 animals. While there are still some deer on his farm, their numbers are dwindling. The deer industry, that is velvet and venison, is a very volatile industry, and with no government subsidies, is very risky and not the safest for farmers to stay in. Along with his staff, he personally has 2 dogs, with about 30 other dogs on the farm working with the shepherds to corral sheep or move herds. We got to see some of the dogs working, the header dogs gathering the sheep silently accompanied by the loud huntaways which could be heard from far away on the other side of the farm barking. His farm was definitely a spectacular place with views of the mountains and hills in the distance covered in white specks which were individual sheep. He’s a great guy and a good farmer, and I hope he continues to do well and profit.

Mt. Somer Station

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