Benlea Farm

Benlea Farm Cattle and sheep farm in the Rakaia Gorge, Canterbury, New Zealand and farming in a regenerative style.

Visit our website to book a real farm tour or accommodation in Benlea Cottage. Benlea is our working farm, situated in the Rakaia Gorge and surrounded by the foothills and mountains in Canterbury, New Zealand. The farm runs alongside the Rakaia River ranging from 300m at the river to 900m altitude at the top of the Snowy Peak block. The farm is 1100 Ha in area on which we farm sheep, and beef catt

le and grow crops such as barley, wheat or clover. We are also involved in tourism with accommodation at Benlea Cottage situated on the farm and run on a holiday house basis, and farm and garden tours. The aim of the website is to offer an insight into day to day farming in our region.

Bit of snow today. Still snowing but a fair bit of melting going on. Wasn't predicted at our altitude until well after i...
25/10/2024

Bit of snow today. Still snowing but a fair bit of melting going on. Wasn't predicted at our altitude until well after it started. Bit frustrating!

Filling the grain bin for the ewes under Cole's watchful eye. Have used a bit this year with the lower covers going into...
18/08/2024

Filling the grain bin for the ewes under Cole's watchful eye. Have used a bit this year with the lower covers going into Winter. Felt like Spring a bit on Friday but not so much today.

Out on the hill block yesterday checking how the snow was clearing. The cows are heading back out here after a few weeks...
06/08/2024

Out on the hill block yesterday checking how the snow was clearing. The cows are heading back out here after a few weeks down near the river. Third photo they are heading through past the Benlea yards on route to the hill. A ewes now back out on the hill as well.

The B ewes about to head onto the last break on this paddock yesterday. A multi-species pasture sown earlier this year a...
06/08/2024

The B ewes about to head onto the last break on this paddock yesterday. A multi-species pasture sown earlier this year and grazed by lambs several times already. We have had a pretty good clearance down here near the river.

Ewe hoggets drafted and heading off to grazing as is standard practice for us at this time of year to ease things up rea...
01/08/2024

Ewe hoggets drafted and heading off to grazing as is standard practice for us at this time of year to ease things up ready for lambing.

Some more photos this morning. Out before 5am this morning, hoggets out of shed and onto a paddock for a feed. Electric ...
30/07/2024

Some more photos this morning. Out before 5am this morning, hoggets out of shed and onto a paddock for a feed. Electric fences to come down so big mob of B ewes can spread out for a good feed. They were having no trouble nosing the snow aside. Bit heavier on the track up to the hill block - around 12 cm. Not lambing for about 5 weeks yet but this very early girl is doing a great job with her three!

A few shots from around the farm this afternoon. Hoggets recently off shears are in the shed for the night. B ewe mob ma...
30/07/2024

A few shots from around the farm this afternoon. Hoggets recently off shears are in the shed for the night. B ewe mob managed to score some extra feed with snow affecting the electric fence wires so off into a different paddock. They are looking to see if we have grain on board - love their barley! Definitely cold wind out there but not too much snow - pleased to have good shelter.

Shearing is underway now. End of day one with tomorrow's ewes in the yard, wool heading away from the shed and a full mo...
23/06/2024

Shearing is underway now. End of day one with tomorrow's ewes in the yard, wool heading away from the shed and a full moon in the sky.

Bit misty this morning bringing the lambs in.
23/05/2024

Bit misty this morning bringing the lambs in.


Southerly front heading in late yesterday - left a little bit of the white stuff as we headed out to check stock last ni...
08/05/2024

Southerly front heading in late yesterday - left a little bit of the white stuff as we headed out to check stock last night. Just a skiff but will be cold tonight.

Shifting the A ewes on the hill block the other day. It's quite a big mob but they are spreading out on the blocks well ...
24/04/2024

Shifting the A ewes on the hill block the other day. It's quite a big mob but they are spreading out on the blocks well and shifted every day or two. Was a stunning calm morning, not like today which is pretty windy.

Feeding barley to the B ewes to train the young ewes for feeding out in winter. Getting some good pasture growth after r...
15/04/2024

Feeding barley to the B ewes to train the young ewes for feeding out in winter. Getting some good pasture growth after rain this week. Rams are out with the ewes now.

Store lambs loving the diverse mix pasture a few days ago.
10/04/2024

Store lambs loving the diverse mix pasture a few days ago.

Our guests from Texas enjoying the view and checking out the diversity in one of the multi-species paddocks yesterday. L...
21/03/2024

Our guests from Texas enjoying the view and checking out the diversity in one of the multi-species paddocks yesterday. Looking pretty green despite the lack of rain we have had this Summer. Glad to have had a few mls this last week.

That's a lot of very relaxed sheep. Keeping warm on a very frosty morning on Saturday.
16/03/2024

That's a lot of very relaxed sheep. Keeping warm on a very frosty morning on Saturday.

Lamb sale day in pictures. Many thanks to all involved. A successful day all round.
01/02/2024

Lamb sale day in pictures. Many thanks to all involved. A successful day all round.

Cleaning out the troughs and adding copper. Good job for a hot day!
20/01/2024

Cleaning out the troughs and adding copper. Good job for a hot day!

Address

728 Coleridge Road
Windwhistle
7572

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9pm - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+64274319079

Website

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Videos

An easy shift last night for the B ewes. Dogs did get to help with the last few through the gate. Shifting every day onto fresh pasture the girls (and boys at the moment) are looking pretty happy. #sheepfarming #sheepfarmtoursnz #regenerativefarming

So many birds in this paddock with the lambs. A multispecies seed mix treated only with fish fertiliser and molasses. #regenerativefarming #multispecies #symbiosis

Bringing ewes in from hill block for sorting for mating. #sheep #sheepfarmtoursnz #farmtoursnz #mustering

Hoping this rain might reach us today - getting a bit dry! #nzfarming #nzweather #rainbow

Some bulls heading off today. GG and Flopsy the lambs waiting for their feed in the front. #benlea #farmtours #petlambs

George, the eldest of the pets here at Benlea enjoying a scratch! #sheepfarmtour #sheepfarm #farmtoursnz #nzfarming

Cows and calves the other day. Calves now weaned and steer calves at Coalgate sale today.

Getting a mob of 3900 ewes over the road quickly takes a bit of encouragement but Fly is on the job!

One of the Suffolk/Romney and Suftex/Romney cross lamb mobs last week.
One of the Suffolk/Romney and Suftex/Romney cross lamb mobs last week.

Our lamb sale date has changed from what is on the calendars. Now Thursday 2nd February at 1pm, all at Benlea. We have 5200 Suffolk/Romney and Suftex/Romney cross mixed sex lambs, and 1600 Romney (mainly male) lambs. All weaned in December and trained to a three wire electric fence. #PGGWrightson #HRL #lambsales #hazlettlivestock

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Benlea Farm - an insight into our farming operation.

Benlea is a family run, working sheep and beef farm, situated in the beautiful Rakaia Gorge surrounded by the foothills and mountains, in Canterbury, New Zealand. The farm runs alongside the Rakaia River ranging from 300m at the river to 900m altitude at the top of the Snowy Peak block. The farm is 1100Ha in area on which we farm sheep, and beef cattle and grow crops such as barley, wheat or clover.

We are also involved in tourism where you can stay on the farm at Benlea Cottage for a taste of quiet country life, or better yet come with us on a Sheep and Cattle Farm Tour for a private, inside look into how a farm in New Zealand works and the way we raise our animals.

If gardening is your thing, we have that too with a gorgeous 1 acre homestead garden full of many types of native and exotic species. Tours of this are also available as well as extensive gardening information on our Country Garden page.

This page is for anyone who loves farming, who wants to improve their education of what happens on a farm, but also for us to be able to share a piece of our life with you.