Family live and work on Glenkelrie farm for five generations

In the sheep yards of sheep and beef farm Glenkelrie are Colin (83) and Marion (79) Woodhead and (from left) their son Duncan Woodhead, daughter-in-law Kate and grandsons Daniel (9) and identical twins Adam and Ben (7). Photo / Shawn McAvinue

Five generations of the Woodhead family have lived and worked for more than a century on sheep and beef farm Glenkelrie, in Milton.

The farm, about 60km southwest of Dunedin, is now about 380ha - more than three times the size it was when the family bought it in 1919.

Colin Woodhead's grandparents, George and Henrietta "Ettie" Woodhead (nee Allan), bought the more than 120ha farm and the Romney Marsh sheep on it.

During their time on the farm, George and Ettie had six children - Mona, George, Jean, Eileen, Allan and Alec.

The couple introduced a small herd of dairy cows and a milking machine to the farm in 1924.

The following year, Colin's father, also named George, and his mother, Emily Drinnan, were engaged.

The couple leased the farm in 1926.

After George and Emily married in 1929, George and Ettie retired and moved to Dunedin.

Times were tough in the 1930s due to the Depression.

George and Emily had their four children - Alix, Allan, Shirley and Colin - in the decade.

In 1932, the family bought an 185ha neighbouring farm to expand the operation to more than 300ha.

In 1933, the farm house burnt down, destroying everything inside.

A new two-bedroom house was built at a cost of £250, including a new outside toilet, and a generator to charge batteries, which supplies power to the house.

The new technology was a luxury, Colin said.

"Everyone else had Tilley lamps."

The cows were sold, after a dairy inspector visited in 1934 and decided the herd was making the farm yard too muddy.

Glenkelrie returned to running solely Romney cross sheep in 1935. Annual sheep returns show sheep numbers more than doubled from 324 sheep in 1935 to 669 sheep in 1936.

Heavy snow fell in July 1939, stayed for a month, the weight breaking gutters on the roof of the new house.

Food was scarce during the war-torn 1940s, as most dairy products were shipped to England.

Inspectors visited Glenkelrie to ensure the family was not churning its own butter. Consequently, a butter churn was hidden in the attic.

In 1943, Colin's father bought nearly 60ha from the McIntosh Estate, allowing for the size of the Romney ewe flock to increase to about 1100.

The first piece of heavy machinery introduced to the farm was a 1920s Fordson tractor in 1944.

"It was a real old dunger," Colin said.

Up until this time all farm work was done using horses — a mix of Clydesdales and hacks.

The next tractor bought was a 1937 Farmall, in 1949.

"It was a tidy old thing and did a fair bit of work."

Electric power arrived in the early 1950s, following the building of Roxburgh Dam. To celebrate, Colin's mother bought a washing machine, electric range, a cake mixer and a potato peeling bowl.

Colin finished at Otago Boys' High School in 1955 and returned to work on the farm the following year.

In 1964, Colin became the owner of Glenkelrie. Colin married Marion Bagrie in 1966 and his parents moved to Milton.

The couple decided to move away from Romneys as the preferred breed for the farm since the 1800s.

They moved away from the Southdown breed by putting Border Leicester rams over their Romney ewes - the Coopworth sheep increasing their lambing percentages.

The couple have two sons — Alistair, born in 1968, and Duncan, in 1974.

Alistair now works nearby at Otago Corrections Facility.

By the early 1970s, Colin and Marion had about 2100 Coopworth breeding ewes and 600 hoggets.

The farm size increased when about 22ha neighbouring land was bought from City Forests.

In 1983, the homestead was demolished. The home built during the Depression was unsuitable for renovation.

The family lived in a caravan inside a shed on the farm for a year, until the brick home was finished in August 1984. The new home was the first on the farm to have an inside toilet.

Duncan began working on the farm in 1992, after his final year at Otago Boys' High School.

One of his first jobs was to help build a bridge linking farm land on either side of Tokomairaro River.

In 2003, Colin and Marion moved to Milton. Colin continued to work on the farm and made operational decisions with his son.

George and Ettie Woodhead (front) celebrate their golden wedding anniversary with their children (from left) George, Eileen, Allan, Jean, Alec and Mona in 1948. Photo / Supplied

Land improvements continued - larger hill blocks divided into smaller manageable blocks and helicopters were used to spray gorse.

In 2005, Glenkelrie Ltd was formed, with Duncan the majority shareholder. Duncan changed the breed of sheep in the same year from Coopworth to Coopdale and lambing percentages increased.

Duncan and Kate McLeod got engaged in 2009 and married the following year. Kate's past banking experience helps her manage the bookwork.

Daniel Woodhead was born in 2012, followed by identical twins Adam and Ben in 2014. The couple had three children under the age of 2.

To help during the busy time, a farmhand was employed between 2014 and 2016. It was the first time someone outside the family had been employed to work on the farm.

Colin and the farmhand would start the days work, giving Duncan time to help Kate - who had badly injured her knee playing netball - look after their children.

In 2016, the couple decided the change the farm operation from breeding to trading.

Factors for the change included a better work-life balance and growing tired of the Tokomairaro River flooding during lambing.

Consequently, capital stock was sold and store lambs were bought in to fatten. The couple pledged to trial the trading operation for five years. After two years they decided it was working and they have continued with it.

The challenges of a trading operation include being at the mercy of the markets and being able to secure enough stock at the right prices to ensure a return, Duncan said.

"We've had a couple of bad years but that's farming."

At peak times, stock numbers could be up to 3000 lambs, 2000 ewes and 50 cattle but numbers were dictated by weather, feed availability and market price, Duncan said.

In winter, stock numbers fall to about 2500 lambs — more than 1500 of them wintered on kale.

Some of the breeding operation had remained on the farm.

The boys were running about 40 pregnant ewes and would benefit financially when the lambs were sold.