Our Story
Welcome to Holly Farm
A proud, family owned and operated Romney breeding business with three generations under its belt so far.
The Smith Family have focused primarily on breeding Romneys for three generations. Established in 1947, Holly Farm consists of rolling to steep hills rising to 1300ft, It is 850 acres of Rangitikei hill country with spectacular views from Mt. Ruapehu to Mt. Taranaki to the South Island. The beauty of the farm is that our stud sheep are farmed on hill country, and have built the necessary tools to live comfortably in these conditions.
Along with The romney stud, We also run a smaller South Suffolk stud to help fill clients needs with both maternal and terminal sires.
In the past we have also grazed dairy heifers, But decided to try something different from 2021, and have instead kept on our own steer and heifer weaners from our angus herd.
We are as passionate about our land, as we are about the stock. The farm has two QEII bush reserves and we have been awarded two environmental awards, along with the North Island AC Cameron award for farming excellence. Over the years we have worked closely with Horizons to fence off and plant waterways, and retire areas to native bush.
Luckily for us, Cam is also a great fencer, which has come in very handy for all of the fencing jobs done over the years here, both for horizons and Qe11 projects, as well as our own maintenance and paddock developments.
Holly Farm Cottage
David and Maureen built a quaint farm stay cottage in 2010, using Milled Macrocarpa from the farm. They have been fabulous hosts, and taken care of many guests throughout the years, with many returning multiple times to stay again. The cottage boasts beautiful rural views from the lounge or deck. It is also situated at the hub of the farm, With the woolshed and yards only a stones throw away.
Other happenings on the farm
Many events have been held here over the years, ranging anywhere from school cross country running races, horse endurance tests, to off road motorbike events, including enduro, cross country and vintage motocross racing.
In more recent years we have also hosted the Honda kids campout, which is a great weekend away for families who ride motorbikes. Families all camp here for a long weekend, and get to ride tracks all day, and then join in fun events and activities at night time. Set up by the Honda kids campout team.
The family also spends a lot of time helping to develop the Tutaenui reservoirs, which borders the farm. A great initiative which now has public walkways around the reservoirs, and will eventually have mountain bike tracks through the bush right around the reservoirs too. Cam has been building the mountain bike track in his down time.
Sustainability at Holly Farm
The farm is supplied with spring water, which then feeds into the local town’s water supply and the Rangitikei River. This water is tested for quality monthly.
Purchasing stock from here will not seed your farm with resistant larvae
The farm has had waterways fenced off and planted in natives, with many poplar and shelter trees have been planted over the years.
Drenching and dag scoring
At Holly farm, we in conjunction with Ag Research, Faecal egg count each mob of sheep including Lambs/hoggets’ 2tooths and mixed-age ewes monthly. The results are cultured out so we can see the actual worm presence at varying times of the year.
We have a very strict drenching policy. Lambs have 5x 1-monthly drenches, starting at weaning. The in-lamb ewe hoggets’ will get another drench once they are weaned, from there on no more drenching for the rest of their lives. Some of our ewes stay breeding for 8 or more years. We do not use tapeworm drenches, capsules, or any long-acting drugs.
Longevity is a strong selection criterion for us. If a ewe can get to 6 or more years with no drench, little or no dagging and all the other problems a sheep can get, we will keep her in the flock.