FIELDS OF DREAMS

TWO WAITAKI FAMILIES FARMING IN PARTNERSHIP FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS HAVE DEVELOPED A BIRD-LOVING BUSINESS OUT OF A CROP SOWN ON A WING AND A PRAYER

Two Waitaki families have spent the past 50 years feeding the birds

RIOTOUS ROWS of yellow sunflowers beaming from fields south of Ōamaru are a shot of happiness in the Waitaki landscape. Sandwiched between crops of golden wheat and barley, the big friendly giants turn up the colour dial to a saturated yellow. The exact location of the flowers, grown by the Mitchell and Webster families for more than 50 years, is usually kept on the low down. Sometimes they are planted on Thousand Acre Road between Ōamaru and Kakanui, sometimes further inland towards Enfield. Crop rotation is the official reason; sunflowers need a five-year interval before being replanted in the same field since they are prone to fungal disease. However, transplanting the lots has the bonus of tricking the birds and keeping humans on their toes until the flowers hit their full two-metre height and yellowy glory at the end of January.

Jock Webster won’t elaborate on the sorts of funny things some people attempt in the sunflower fields. The passers-by who take selfies (sometimes minus their clothes) in the flowers can get in the way of the birds as they swoop in for free tucker.

Two hectares of sunflowers planted on a whim in 1974 by Jock and his brother-in-law Ross Mitchell have now grown into the bird- and pet-food company, Topflite. The two men have since passed down the business to their sons Greg Webster and Peter Mitchell. Ross and his wife Ainslie started the partnership with Jock (Ainslie’s brother) and his wife Helen 50 years ago on their farms in Weston and Tōtara in Waitaki. “Farming in a partnership is like being in another marriage,” says Helen. “You have your own marriage going on and then your business arrangement with another family who you end up seeing all the time.” Adds Ross: “It hasn’t always been easy, but this arrangement has allowed us to be a bit experimental on the farm and try some interesting things.”

The two families initially grew sunflowers for the margarine industry; the flowers were such a novel crop in New Zealand that there was no machinery available locally for the purpose. A bit of Webster ingenuity and Ross’ “Mitchell modifications” saved the day. A silverbeet-seed sower, which distributed seeds in 17-centimetre rows, was the closest thing to a sunflower sower. Jock had to stuff a piece of newspaper in every second hole of the drill to give the sunflowers the wide spacing they needed.

Jock reckons the neighbours must have thought they were a bunch of hippies. At the time, other farmers were finding golden opportunities in barley crops. The Mitchell/Webster flower farm was a little odd. “The price of barley was getting better and better, and here we were trying to grow sunflowers. We had some big challenges at the beginning battling a fungal disease. People probably thought we were a bit funny in the head, especially when we planted more.”

The families discovered there wasn’t a enough of a margin on margarine oil. However, several bird breeders asked to buy the sunflowers for birdseed. A woman who worked with pet birds bought their entire harvest — 27 50-kilogramme bags. She sold the seed to owners of aviary birds, such as parrots and cockatiels. New Zealand-grown sunflowers were in short supply, and imported seeds are heat-treated and less nutritious to birds. Jock, who looked after the sales side of the business, saw a market niche.

Farmers often regard wild birds as freeloaders that steal crops. But, in Topflite, Jock and Ross have a business that’s as close as possible to making the birds pay for food —or, at least, their owners. They expanded their range to include other pet birdfeed, including canary, oilseed, rape and linseed. These were mixed with sunflower seeds in a granary at the Mitchell farm, Rosedale.

“Just about every piece of equipment was welded or modified to be more efficient in some way; it’s just what you had to do,” he says. Eventually, a unique sunflower header front attachment was purchased from a tobacco-chewing farmer in Minnesota. The company expanded from wholesale-only to direct sales, and the Topflite brand was launched in 1996.

In the years before the North Otago irrigation scheme came into action, farming in Waitaki was challenging. “There was a drought about every three years, but that climate meant we were always open to new ideas,” says Ross.

“We had some tough times. In the 1980s, the barley price crashed, and the sunflowers turned out to be a real godsend. It was an alternative market for us,” says Jock. “We’ve always told our kids to never, never, never give up. Sometimes you have to hang in there.”

The partners took a scientific approach to farming, utilizing Jock’s degree in agricultural science and Ross’ knack for engineering. Crop rotation, monitoring and diversification were vital, and seed selection helped ensure a robust genetic plant line. Peter, who manages the farm today, keeps this up with modern technology such as GPS, variable rate irrigation and grid testing for soil fertility to monitor crops and minimize the need for fertilizers and water use. In 2013, the farms won the supreme award in the Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

“Jock and Ross were quite ahead of their time. These days, there’s a greater push to look after the environment. We’re always looking for sustainable ways to grow that are also economical,” says Peter.

Greg Webster grew up helping his father Jock harvest sunflowers in their fields near Ōamaru. Greg now runs the business side of the family birdseed company, Topflite, and is no longer involved in the harvesting. His children Sylvie (2), Jack (5), Molly (8) and wife Carolyn have also been spared crop- gathering duties, but they are still big fans of the sunny blooms, which bring joy to humans and birds alike.

THIS PAGE: Not a bad place to work — a 30-hectare field of sunflowers grown by Peter Mitchell at Tōtara in Waitaki has views of the Kakanui Range in the distance and Tōtara Estate Hill (in the foreground). OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE: Canary grass seed, which Peter grows for Topflite, is enjoyed by many birds, including canaries; Peter and Sandra have been married for 28 years and have two adult sons, William and Henry. Sandra manages the accounts for the couple’s farm, Rosedale; safflower seed is used in bird bells and parrot seed mixes; Topflite staffers Dawn Dunjey and Trish Murphy assemble seed bells at the company’s warehouse in Ōamaru. They have worked at the company for 14 and nine years respectively; bumblebees and honeybees both pollinate sunflowers; Topflite’s Poultry Pecker is a seed block for good chooks who deserve a treat after a hard day’s laying, says Greg.

TURN ON THE SUN Topflite sunflowers are planted in October and harvested in late summer. The variety of flower is ‘ Pole Star’, and it is used for oil and birdseed; it doesn’t produce the type of sunflower seeds eaten by humans. Young sunflower plants move from east to west following the direction of the sun during the day (heliotropism). Mature plants settle down to face the east. The sunflower’s sun-loving tendency helps its blooms get nice and warm, which attracts pollinators. In a domestic garden, sunflowers can be planted between August and January. They tolerate poor soil but can compete with other plants. Sunflowers need at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight a day.

THIS PAGE: Jock and Helen have lived in their home, Tōtara, since they were married in 1978. The original part of the house is 140 years old, and some of the internal walls are made in Ōamaru stone with plasterboard over the top. “It’s been a lot of work. Some people said, ‘ Why don’t you bowl it and build a new house? But we’ve always loved our old villa and try to keep it in its original style,” says Helen. OPPOSITE: The Webster and Mitchell families (left to right): Jock Webster, Greg Webster, Sandra Mitchell, Ainslie Mitchell, Helen Webster (front), Peter Mitchell, Ross Mitchell, Carolyn Webster (front).

CLOCKWISE: Although Helen and Jock have retired from most of their farming interests, they still keep 20 sheep and 15 chickens. “They are probably the best-fed chickens in New Zealand,” says Helen. The garden has apple, apricot, nectarine, plum and quince trees and the greenhouse extends the growing season for tomatoes and salad greens; Greg and Carolyn’s youngest child Sylvie is an animal-lover and likes to get hands on with Helen’s chooks.