How the TOPOCLIMATE process helped a Southland farming couple.

This is the story of a New Zealand farming couple who demonstrate many of the Topoclimate process principles and making better use of land resource information on their farm.

Merle and Bill Johnston intensively farm about 160 ha on the Waikaia Plains in northern Southland in the south of the South Island of New Zealand. Their small family farm had ran Romney-cross Sheep producing lambs for the export fat-lamb trade for several generations and was very typical of farms in the area.

Although they had made many improvements to the farm over the years with fencing and fertiliser and improved the quality of stock, changing farming economics and the limited size of the property meant that they weren’t making sufficient income to keep the farm profitable.

Merle was facing the prospect of having to take up off-farm employment in one of the small towns in the District to contribute additional income to help the family budget. Merle didn’t relish the prospect of leaving the farm and wondered if there were any other land uses that she and her husband could diversify into to generate additional income for the family.

She knew from experience that the soils on the property which comprised free-draining silt loam topsoil over outwash gravel subsoils were not what would be normally considered classic horticultural soils. However, as a keen gardener, Merle had established an extensive garden around her house and noticed the peony roses in her garden were as good as any in the district.

Clearly, the farm also had the right microclimates to produce the very large flower blooms that florists were looking for to use for floral decorations over the Christmas period. She wondered whether it would be possible to grow these flowers commercially.

She discussed the idea with her husband, who reluctantly agreed to giving her a plot of land “out the back of the house” to try the new crop although he cautioned her that they could not afford to buy a lot of expensive equipment for her venture.

With enthusiasm, Merle started developing the peony plot by hand (with support from her friends) using shovel and wheelbarrow. Bill also offered to fence the plot off once she had proven the commercial value of the enterprise but five years later, he was still reluctant to build a permanent fence around the block because every year she doubled the size of the enterprise.

The only significant equipment that they have purchased for the venture beyond what is normally found on a farm was a small chiller to condition the flowers after harvest.

Merle has subsequently established international markets for her peony roses and specialises in the white and Coca-Cola red varieties popular with the American market for use in Christmas table decorations. She has been receiving up to $NZ3.50* PER BLOOM for her export grade flowers and is generating over $NZ100,000 per hectare from her crop.

Both Merle and her husband now work full time in their Peony business, and employ a part-time farm manager to look after the rest of the farm.

They have completely transformed their farming system (and their lives) by their understanding of their land and climate and selection of a suitable crop for which they had market advantage through their soils and microclimates.

Now over 300 different farmers grow peony roses in Southland and they work closely together to process and market their crop co-operatively to the world markets.

So what were the Factors for Success for Merle and Bill and in fact for the whole Southland Community?

Firstly there is now widespread use of the Topoclimate mapping programme throughout the whole region at a farm scale. Secondly the whole Southland community has learnt from situations like the Johnsons and there is recognition of the importance of good information on soils and climates in making decisions about farming diversification. The mapping information is being used to create and develop additional crops by application of the principles of the Topoclimate process.