Hi there, my name is Sally and together with my husband Nathan and three young boys, Charlie, Oscar and Ted, we own and run a farming business in Patoka, Hawkes Bay, 45 minutes inland from Napier. We have two properties, totalling 500 hectares and we farm approximately 1000 bulls across that area.

I am a vet, as well as a farmer and I’m a passionate advocate for farming in New Zealand. In 2020 I created our own educational farming social media page ‘Kiwi Country Kids’, where we share our daily life on the farm, with the how’s and why’s of what we do explained along the way, you may have seen our regular column in Living Hawkes Bay magazine too.

I love animals and we have just about every creature from the Old McDonald story book here, for you to meet! The list of animals you will interact with includes but is not limited to, our friendly Jersey house cows, our cheeky dynamic duo of ‘Maxi’ the lamb and ‘Hugh’ the calf, more chickens and piglets than you can shake a stick at and a large team of affectionate dogs who love nothing more than a good pat!

We have a project on the go at the moment, rearing chicks to gift to people who lost their animals in the floods. You will be able to interact with the chicks and help to feed and care for them. We try to be as sustainable as possible, growing our own fruit and veggies and rearing our own animals for the freezer, as well as hunting, to control wild deer and goats numbers.

We do a lot of work to protect the environment and enhance biodiversity on-farm, planting around 300 native trees every year, as well as larger trees for shade and shelter for our animals. Looking after our animals and the environment is what we are all about and we can’t wait to share that with you!

Our local Patoka school fundraising team will be providing food including meat and coleslaw buns, sausages, baking, as well as hot and cold drinks available on the day. Remember to bring some cash to enjoy!

We've got some exciting stuff happening throughout the day!

10am - Welcome talk
10.15am - Stockyard demo
10.30am - Various ‘meet the animals’ encounters - options to help feed piglets, chicks or chickens. Pony rides!
11.15am - Regional Council talk
11.30am - Plant a native tree session
12pm-1pm (lunch) - Food and drinks available from Patoka School Fundraising Team. Raffle tickets for sale and locally made products available to purchase.
12.30pm - Sheepdog demo
1pm - Raffle drawn
1.30pm - Tractor - trailer rides to the top of the farm. Option to walk out and back or hitch a ride.

Pony rides and animal encounters will continue until the end of our Open Day at 3pm.

Bring sturdy footwear, no jandals!

- No Dogs

- Not Wheelchair Accessible

- Activities for Kids

- Activities for Adults

- On Gravel Road

- Bathroom facilities on-site