Limestone Downs S&B

The North Waikato coastal property of Limestone Downs celebrated 100 years of operation in February 2026. Continuous adaptation over the last century has allowed it to survive and evolve into a modern, multi-platform sheep, beef and dairy farm. This openness to change has allowed the property to keep pace with the latest in New Zealand agricultural developments and has been at the forefront of many novel farm management practices.

Limestone Downs is owned, governed and managed by the C. Alma Baker Trust and had every reason to look back fondly at an official centennial event, held in February 2026. The sheep and beef operation covers around 1700ha of rolling coastal hill country, running 6,500 ewes, around 550 two-tooths and 2,000 hoggets. In addition, there is a 300ha dairy farm and a regenerating conservation block of around 400ha.

History

Limestone Downs was purchased by surveyor, rubber plantation owner and keen deep-sea fisherman, Charles Alma Baker in 1926. At that time more than a third of the land was still in virgin bush and little of the development to that stage had been well-planned or executed. The pasture had mostly been lost to rabbits and had reverted to weeds.

Baker was a keen student of soils, convinced that healthy soils produced healthy foods, he published a small book about this in 1930. He made a heavy investment in bush clearance, fencing, and the draining of the swamp and by 1935, sheep numbers were over 12,000.

By the 1950s, wool prices were boosted by the Korean War, debts cleared, successful experiments with aerial topdressing made and a rubber boom in Malaya contributed to provide the capital needed to further develop the property.

More development from 1950 to 1973 under farm manager Dan O’Connell saw scrub cleared, flats were re-developed, fences replaced, a new wool shed and yards and a new manager’s house. The farm could now winter 12-13,000 sheep and 1,200 cattle.

The establishment of the C Alma Baker Charitable Trust in 1981 and the involvement of Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University in the farm's management saw the farm’s management radically altered. Rather than being regarded as a ‘station’, Limestone Downs was farmed more intensively. The emphasis was now upon subdivision using electric fencing, smaller paddocks, smaller flocks and herds, rotational grazing and higher-performing livestock.

Stock were assessed and culled on performance, new breeding programmes were established for sheep and cattle, and the farm was an early promoter of a bull-beef initiative using weaner calves from the dairy industry. Vehicle access on the farm was improved and a new water reticulation scheme constructed.

Following reviews of soil fertility on the farm, fertiliser was applied significantly above maintenance levels for several years, together with a strategic application of nitrogen at critical times of the year to optimise pasture growth.

Tom Mandeno is a director of the Trust, and a former director of the New Zealand Wool Board (then Meat and Wool New Zealand) and the New Zealand Meat Board. He has farmed for many years in the Waikaretu Valley, 10 kms from Limestone Downs. He recalls many Open Days held in the woolshed at Limestone Downs, attended by many farmers and other influential people connected with agriculture. He says Limestone Downs has made a big contribution to farming practices not only in Waikato, but around New Zealand.

Current day

The property is currently overseen by general manager Paul Mahoney who for the past nine years has been Limestone Downs’ General Manager. Paul explains the Trust was set up for the ‘furtherance of agriculture’ and drives a lot of what happens on the farm. Dame Margaret Millard is the chair, and the directors come from a range of agricultural backgrounds, and include Tom Mandeno, as well as Professor Paul Kenyon and Emeritus Professor Steve Morris from Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, and Auckland/Waikato dairy farmer, Scott Montgomery. As a result, Limestone Downs is continuing its long history of hosting agricultural research in partnership with Massey University and other Crown and private research organisations.

In addition to his responsibility to the Trust, Paul works alongside sheep and beef manager Justin Lamb, who has been working on Limestone Downs since 2022. Summer dry conditions make life interesting for Justin and his two permanent shepherds and the occasional casual staff, including fencing contractors. They aim to finish as many lambs as possible, though seasonal conditions typically result in about half being finished on farm. Most of the lambs are finished by Christmas with the remainder are sold as store lambs.

Of the 6,500 ewes, 550 two-tooths and 2,000 hoggets, about half are bred to terminal sires, either Suftex or Poll Dorset, with Romney making up the maternal base of the flock. Justin says while they began with a composite breed, for the last six years, the maternal flock has been going to a Romney, which now makes up most of the genetics of that flock.

The cattle unit runs to about 1200 head, including about 350 beef-cross calves sourced from the adjacent dairy farm. The Angus cows are especially valuable for control of rank feed and kikuyu grass. All livestock are raised to about 24 months before being sold. A herd of about 240 Angus cows also supports the cattle operation, and the aim is to build this herd to about 400 head. The increase in cattle numbers is designed to better control pasture quality and parasite management.

Ongoing investments, such as a new workshop currently underway, is undertaken as funds allow. Justin says the coastal conditions with rolling to steep hill country is hard on infrastructure, especially fences. Management of kikuyu is an ongoing challenge, and he is looking forward to collaborating with Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University in an upcoming programme on that.

As well, the farm hosts agriculture students from Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, James Cook University (in Australia), and thanks to a connection with a UK trust, young farmers from the other side of the world, keen to experience a large-scale New Zealand operation. Justin says people who have worked on the property keep a strong connection to it and  says there is great pride in what has been achieved over the years.

Paul adds, the significance of the operation is its longevity and the combination of the commercial, the charitable and the research. He says, ‘we’re trying lots of different things here all the time. Some of them work, some of them don’t. That’s farming. But whatever we make, goes back into agriculture as a whole, and that helps everyone, in the long run’.