After a lifetime of farming in Hawke’s Bay, William Tait has decided to move on.
William began his farming career on the coast at Pūtōrino, between Napier and Wairoa. At age 20 he took on the 640-hectare farm at the mouth of the Waikare River that had been in his family for the previous three generations.
In the early 2000s he made the big step of selling that property to shift closer to town.
“I wanted to live somewhere I could get home while the fish and chips were still warm,” he says.
After selling up at Pūtōrino that meant a move to a 158-hectare block at Puketapu, seven kilometres south west of Taradale. While the new farm comprised medium to rolling country with plenty of flat land, and offered good water, it had no house. William oversaw construction of a two storey, four-bedroom elevated family homestead.
“Building took nearly a year, and was quite an effort, though it has been a wonderful home, with panoramic views, out to the ocean, and on a clear day taking in both the Kaweka and the Ruahine ranges.”
After his previous marriage ended, William married Shona in 2006. Since then, improving the farm’s productivity has been their focus.
“Like most other farmers, I’ve been keen to leave the property in a better state than when I took over. When we arrived, the farm was a blank canvas with nothing more than a set of cattle yards.”
They’ve done plenty of subdivision, into more than 30 paddocks; extended the water supply to ensure every paddock has a trough; built new sheep and covered yards; and added a wide range of sheds.
Retaining the Angus breeding herd he brought across from Pūtōrino, they’ve also focused on early lambing ewes to meet the premium in October, and raising steers. Now the property is capable of carrying around 1100 to 1500 stock units. They’ve grown commercial sweetcorn and maize on the flats, while other seasons taking 80 to 100 bales of baleage off these paddocks.
“We feel we’ve left our footprint on it,” says William.
During William and Shona’s tenure the farm has had its moments. Among them Cyclone Gabrielle, which ripped into the region in February 2023.
“While it had rained heavily the day before, there was a break in the weather around 3pm and I went to bed thinking ‘we might have escaped this one.’ However, when I woke up next morning, we’d had 300 millimetres overnight, while further up the valley they’d had 500, which did the damage,” he says.
Two local rivers burst their banks, lifting raupō over the height of their deer fencing. A lake that straddles theirs and a neighbouring property rose between five and six metres. Fortunately, the water receded that afternoon.
“While we lost some fences, all the stock was OK. Our neighbours on the flats had their houses underwater, and our flats took nearly 12 months to dry out. Although we were inundated with willow weed, it could’ve been worse,” says William.
Three years on, with the after effects fully dealt with, they have entrusted the sale of the farm to Paul Harper of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Hastings, who is marketing it as a joint listing alongside colleagues Hamish Goodwin and Gary Brooks.
“This is a meticulously developed farm, characterised by the care and attention that the Taits have put into it over the past two decades. Surrounded by small lifestyle blocks with large homes on them, and near to central Taradale, its potential for a new owner is readily apparent. While the current market enthusiasm for red meat prevails, it will likely attract plenty of interest from committed purchasers,” he says.
While they’ve embraced technology on the farm, William reckons making the most of that, and the other technological developments coming on stream requires a different mindset to the one that has made him a successful farmer.
“Farming is becoming more IT focused. While I can see the merits in that, you need to be the type of person who can fully take it on board to make it work to its proper advantage,” he says.
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