Karamea Born And Bred

• Published date: 08 November 2023
• Publication title: West Coast Farming Times, The

Farming beside the wild Tasman Sea and the Kongahu Swamp, has been challenging at times for Mr Anderson and his wife Dianne, as it also was for his parents, Tom and Amy, and his grandparents, Watty and Johanna, who also farmed there

"Granddad arrived in the Karamea area in 1910. He took up a 99-year renewable lease on land up Blue Duck (located on the south side and upstream of the Little Wanganui River Bridge) along with about six other families and he tried to farm it. Dad went to Blue Duck School. But in 1922, a slip flooded the valley and all the families left. Granddad moved to Little Wanganui but he retained his lease as well as taking over the others' lapsed ones. Dad bought it off him in 1946. I later bought it off him and I run stock there still," Russell said.

Russell was born in Karamea in 1946, the second of four children. He attended Karamea Primary School and Karamea High School until he was 16.

"I have always been pretty passionate about farming and was usually out helping Dad." But his father wouldn't let the young school leaver work for him. "He wanted me to work for someone else first so I did carpentry with Stan Lineham for five years," he said. "In retrospect, it was the best thing Dad could have done for me!" Russell still helped on the family's dairy farm, milking before and after work.

"I did it for my keep," he said.

In those days, the Andersons milked 65 cows off 32ha and ran beef on 242ha at Blue Duck.

Russell and Dianne now milk a herd of 520 crossbred cows, on 303ha. The initial eight bale step-up walk-through shed, expanded to a 17-aside, 35-aside and is now a 45-aside herring bone as the herd grew. However, the journey to increasing the herd has been tumultuous and financially challenging.

"When I first left Karamea, I spent six months working in Christchurch having a pretty good time to be honest. It was a particularly wet winter and I was happy to work in a factory. I played rugby for Burnside which is something I have always enjoyed." However, his father soon decided it was time to employ someone on the farm.

"He didn't put any pressure on me to return home but I figured that if he was going to employ someone, it may as well be me. I had always loved hunting so I decided to come back so I could take that up again.

It was 1968 and I have never regretted my decision," Russell said.

However, times were tough in farming.

"There wasn't enough money to pay me so I would shoot deer and give half to Dad to help keep the farm...