Mythic high country adapts to new ways

Mesopotamia is one of Canterbury's special high-country runs, the land of 19th-century author Samuel Butler's mythic Erewhon.

A couple of years ago it was also the site of the Middle Earth city of Edoras for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Butler Downs, which makes up most of Mesopotamia's best grazing, is a top example of Ice Age glacial landforms.

For Malcolm and Sue Prouting this 28,000ha property is where they earn their money from farming and, to a lesser but increasing extent, from tourism.

Mrs Prouting came from England in 1988, and ended up at Mesopotamia.

"I absolutely love it. I can remember the first time I came round that corner and down the hill I thought, that's my place."

She worked for Malcolm's father, Laurie, for four years before she even met Malcolm. "So I had to marry him because I wasn't going to leave."

Although Laurie Prouting moved down country last year, he runs the safari park and hunting business on the property in conjunction with his helicopter business.

They have fenced off nearly 500ha as a safari park with herds of thar, deer, chamois and fallow deer.

"In winter time we do a lot of hunting, basically with Americans," Malcolm Prouting says.

Some hunt in the park, and the fitter ones are often flown up into the hills.

In summer a Pionair DC-3 flies in to Mesopotamia, where the visitors get a farm tour and barbecue before flying off to Queenstown.

But the main income from the farm still comes from sheep, deer and cattle.

In many ways it still has many of the elements of a traditional high-country station. For example, the autumn muster is still done on horseback.

The Mesopotamia school closed several years ago when pupil numbers got down to three, but it remains pretty much as it was the day the last kids walked out.

In front of the school a mound marks the site of Butler's cottage.

While sheep are the biggest earner on Mesopotamia, the Proutings' long-term goal is to reduce sheep numbers and increase deer and cattle. They are running 11,000 merinos, which at the moment are on sunny faces further up the river.

Mrs Prouting manages the deer. They run about 2000, including 700 velveting stags. The aim is to eventually increase that to 2000 velveting stags.

"A lot of the thing with the sheep is the fluctuating wool prices, and the manpower needed. Footrot is a big problem," Mr Prouting says.

But sentiment means there will always be some room for sheep. "This has traditionally been a sheep station. It's hard to put down wool because it's built the station.

"A lot of high-country station development was tied up with the wool boom. This house was built around the early 1950s wool boom," he says.

The cattle operation is fairly low key. About 300 cows are largely used as a tool to keep grass under control.

The focus is likely to be on deer in future.

Mrs Prouting says she is trying to get the deer herd back to the original Rakaia reds. "The European animals don't seem to do so well. I've maintained a nucleus of the good old Rakaia reds. They're short and dumpy good-natured deer that get through the winter, and basically the velvet's as good.

"I'm working in the yards, often by myself, and I don't want anything that's grumpy. We're renowned for the quietest deer around."

Intensification of farming on the lower country will be the likely result of pastoral lease tenure review on Mesopotamia.

Like many high-country farmers the Proutings have entered into the pastoral lease tenure review process with the Government with a degree of trepidation.

"You probably don't want to start us on that one," Mr Prouting says. "We've started negotiations, but we're taking it very slowly."

The tenure-review process has been going on for about 10 years, but few stations have yet completed it. Under the scheme part of the lease is freeholded to the landowner, and the balance goes to conservation.

The Government plans to create a network of tussock land parks and reserve on the eastern side of the South Island.

While the process is voluntary, the Government has signalled leases will cost more in future.

Because so much of the Proutings' run is spectacular mountain country, it's possible they may end up with as little as 3000ha freehold.

"That would force us to go very intensive, and that would have repercussions," Mr Prouting says.

There is no problem at present with free public access on their property, he says.

"We have 700 to 800 trampers and hunters going over our property a year, and they have no problem with access. The more trampers and trekkers we can encourage into the high country the better.

"I think the public should be encouraged to get out. They will get more of an appreciation of what we're trying to do."

He says tenure review is not dictating their goals to reduce sheep numbers and increase deer numbers, "but it's in the back of our minds".

Intensification of the better land is starting to happen.

The choice is to continue an extensive, low-cost operation or to intensify.

- NZPA

High country changes

* A review of pastoral lease tenure in the South Island high country is under way.

* Under the scheme part of the lease is freeholded to the landowner and the balance goes to conservation to create a network of tussock-land parks and reserves in some of New Zealand's most spectacular and historic landscapes.

* While the process is voluntary, the Government has signalled that leases will cost more in future.