Graduate Stories

Ella Eades
2021 Fairlight foundation graduate

Before being accepted into the Fairlight Foundation programme, Ella completed a Bachelor of Science majoring in Animal Science and had some basic farming experience doing the odd bit of drenching and tailing and she had also worked with cattle in the yards Bovis Testing in her role for Assure Quality.

Ella’s first role after graduating from the Fairlight Foundation was as a shepherd at Glen Eden Station which is predominantly a finishing property, consisting mostly of lambs but also included steers and bulls too. There was a small ewe breeding flock and small mob of cows which they bred to finish as well.

Ella loved the team culture and environment because everyone got to pitch ideas at Glen Eden. The stock manager and owner had overall say, but every morning the whole team would meet and talk what was happening for that day, and also had discussions about general animal management. Ella learnt a lot from this and eventually got brave enough to pitch her own ideas as time went on. Ella was given the responsibility of looking after the day-to-day decisions on a block which included pasture management and stock rotations. There was a lot of yard work like weighing of stock (both cattle and sheep) drenching, vaccinating etc and there was also a period of time for about 3 months when they didn't have a stock manager where Ella was then required to plan most of the stock shifts animal health work during that time.

At Glen Eden, Ella was also part of a 2IC discussion group which was run by Baker Ag which had meetings every 2 months. She also attended Wormwise workshops, Atkins ranch meetings and a Rabobank financial skills workshop. The owner of Glen Eden also did sessions with Ella to explain the financial side of his farming operations and he was very transparent about what things cost on farm and she learnt a significant amount from this.

Now, Ella and her farming partner Toby are leasing a 515 rolling/steep hill block in Otoko, just 45 minutes north of Gisborne. They have 2000 breeding ewes and 300 steers, all of which will be finished or sold store. The farm is strong country that is generally summer safe, and the infrastructure needs re- establishing. Toby and Ella have had to create financial budgets, yearly stock management planners and make all stock policies/ animal management decisions together.

They have had a lot of support to get here, especially from Toby’s family who farm close by. They are part of a discussion group run by Ag First which has monthly meetings and since being in Gisborne, they also took part in a Rabobank 2 day workshop focused on getting to farm ownership.

In the next 5 years or so Toby and Ella will also be leasing Toby’s parents Hill country farm off them which is another 700 odd hectares. They are hoping to eventually buy the place they are leasing now and potentially also purchase Toby’s parents place off them even further down the track.