Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Idaho visitors get taste of Northland

By Peter de Graaf, Judith Kearney
Reporter·Northern Advocate·
7 Mar, 2013 08:42 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Forty-five farmers from Idaho have been touring Northland, trying their hand at shearing, watching sheep dogs at work and learning which end of the cow to avoid in a milking shed.

The visit sprang from contacts made by Okaihau farmers Neil and Hazel MacMillan during two recent holidays in the US heartland. While the MacMillans were in Idaho they contacted the state's farm bureau to see if they could visit a few local farms, and were so impressed by the hospitality they were shown they resolved to return the favour.

The visitors - a mix of potato, grain and cattle farmers - spent four days in Northland visiting Tane Mahuta, the Kauri Museum at Matakohe, Hole in the Rock and a kumara farm at Dargaville.

Tuesday, March 5, was their chance to learn about farming in the Mid North, starting with a tour of a small dairy farm on Kerikeri's Puketotara Rd where Ann Kearney explained efforts to protect waterways by planting and fencing off riverbanks.

Then, at the MacMillans' Utakura Valley farm, they were treated to a working dog demonstration with Claire Thomson and Peter Campbell showing how they used whistle commands to direct the dogs as they rounded up sheep. At Ron Lewis' woolshed nearby only Paris Penfold was game enough to try his hand with a shearing comb.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Next the Americans travelled to Neville Rule's dairy farm at Waimate North to see how a rotary milking shed works; and at Leonie and Trevor Bedggood's intensive sheep and beef farm, lessee Paul Baker explained how he prepared for drought by growing crops.

However, it was the little things that most intrigued the visitors, such as sheep dogs' ability to leap gates or into troughs to cool off, and the cicada shells they found on tree trunks and discovered were rather effective at scaring the ladies. Idaho-born funeral director Aarlen Armstrong, of Kaikohe, joined the group for the day and was amazed to find he had gone to school with some of the visitors.

In the evening they had lamb on the spit and met more Northland farmers during a get-together at Te Ahu Ahu's dog trial centre. They are now on their way to the South Island via Pukekohe's potato fields, Matamata and Rotorua.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mrs MacMillan said organising the visit was well worth the effort.

''They were very appreciative. They were interested, but also hugely interesting. We all became good friends in a very short time.''

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales
Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

More than 170 customers south of Cape Rēinga are still without power.

17 Jul 08:26 AM
'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi
Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

17 Jul 06:02 AM
Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime
Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP