Philip and Alexander take care of the cropping operation and the day-to-day stock management.
Catherine fits doing the books around her young family.
Philip's parents Kipper and Esther Holt were well-known for their love of planting native trees in the 1950s when other farmers were clearing them.
"In 1949 the farm was gorse, rushes and rabbits without a tree on it.
"I also had a very determined paternal grandmother who had a hard time in the 1920s and 30s keeping the farm going. Her name was Catherine Christobel de Vere Holt and she kept hold of the home block through drought, depression and earthquake."
When Philip took over the farm in the 1980s he too had to face drought, depressed commodity prices and the effects of Rogernomics when interest rates went above 20 per cent.
The farm has a low rainfall of 900mm and no natural water supply. To ensure a summer supply to the stock the Holts have built more than 70 ponds and dams. The biggest is a nine-million litre dam measuring about 40 metres square. There are also 150 gravity-fed troughs around the farm fed from hilltop tanks.
The need to reduce the demand for water in the summer is one more reason for planting trees as trees provide shade for stock.
The various exotic species other than pines have been planted for erosion control, leaf litter, colour and food for the birds and bees.
Himalayan cedar, gleditsia and carob are among the varieties planted.
There are also many single specimen trees planted simply because Philip likes them. Oaks and blossom trees stand out at certain times of the year.
"Beautiful trees take my mind off that mob of daggy ewes in front of me. I want to focus on the positive."
The variegated thistles have been sprayed by helicopter but the 23 power pylons running through the farm limit how much they can do. The Boer goats are there to fill in. Philip's philosophy is for a more holistic way of weed and pest control without the need for repeated chemical spraying.
"There has to be a future in goat meat. More than half the world eats it."
Other weed threats include Chilean needle grass and apple of Sodom.
The farm's eastern boundary is the Ahuriri Estuary. The Holts graze parts of the tidal flats to keep them tidy in flood times for the many varieties of wading birds living there. However, 48ha of the flats were the gift of the 1931 earthquake and remain extremely flood prone, especially at times when rain coincides with king tides.
The family has made the most of their view over the estuary and built a place they call Te Wahi a Tara, the room with a view, where they can take a picnic and relax.
The future for Maraetara is bright with the family continuing to be involved and much of the hard, infrastructural work done.
Holt farm facts
Located off Seafield Rd in the Eskdale district.
Area: 1484ha, 1305ha effective.
Activity: Sheep and beef breeding and trading, forestry.
Trees: 65ha of pines 14ha of alternative species, 21ha planted natives, 18ha unproductive.
Stock: 11,687 head of stock made up of 1250 ewe hoggets, 1020 two-tooths, 3660 m/a ewes, 665 male hoggets, 70 rams. Cattle: Angus, 346 m/a cows, 196 R1 steers and bulls, 121 R2 steers and bulls, 16 breeding bulls. Goats: 250 m/a does, 60 R1 bucks.
The cattle are Angus. The sheep are coopworths with a Suffolk-Texel ram used over the five-year-olds and the B mob in the main flock. Lambing averages 135 per cent. The goats are mostly for weed control, especially the variegated thistles which plague this area.
Soil types: eight different types of soil, mainly Crownthorpe sandy loams. The 100ha of flats are vulnerable to floods and king tides. 48ha of the flats were raised by the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake. They are salty with high micro-mineral levels. The hills have shallow, erosion-prone soils over a clay pan.
