Vaughan Templeton has a foot in the past, a mind on the future and an eye on sustainability.
Who said farmers were conservative traditionalists whose main tools were gumboots and a tractor?
The story of Templeton, wife Megan and sons Luke (28) and Peter (25) shows how brain power is the most effective of all farming tools; they have successfully negotiated three of the biggest challenges known to farmers - converting to new forms of farming, farm succession and sustainability.
Templeton, 54, is an example of the kind of farmer who has made New Zealand renowned round the world - and the story of his property on the Otaitai flats, near Riverton, is not just a nod in the direction of New Zealand's history but a smart look into the future as well.
It dates back to 1911 when Templeton's great-grandfather William began flax milling on the then 2000-acre property. In its pomp, flax was one of New Zealand's biggest export earners - with the dried fibre used to make ropes, wool packs and baling twine.
But the flax boom had a bust; cheaper imports put all New Zealand flax mills out of business by 1972. Templeton's father Des decided to do something different with the land and, when it was time for Vaughan to take over, the farm was running 3000 sheep, 150 beef cattle and wintered about 700 dairy cows.
That wasn't the end of the flax connection. The family turned the mill into a museum which operates to this day.
"We had 365 people through in an open day on Sunday and we've got 65 coming from a local primary school today," Templeton says. "It's pretty popular down here and is well known." The museum charges a small entry fee which goes into a charitable trust.
Templeton soldiered on as a sheep farmer for 15 years before taking an enormous plunge - going into significant debt to buy a dairy herd and converting the farm in 2002.
It was a brave move - but the right decision. After an initial poor payout in the year of conversion, the farm grew to 1000 cows. The family bought more land, did up the original homestead which had seen three generations of Templeton farmers and even won prestigious awards for farming excellence.
That still isn't the end of the story. Now Luke and Peter are bringing new thinking to bear, as is Templeton himself.
"I was 25 when my dad sold me half the farm," says Templeton. "He said at the time that, if you stay more than 25 years, then you are pinching time off the next generation.
"He meant that if you stay too long you are not giving the next generation enough time to try things, make mistakes and fix them. So, when I hit 50, I started thinking seriously about succession planning."
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It's a hurdle more than a few farming families face. Farmers often struggle to figure out how they're going to leave the farm while handing it over to the kids - an often emotional situation which needs careful planning; family farms can provide the livelihoods of more than one generation and there is a strong desire to divide property evenly between all children.
"We're all control freaks, we farmers," says Templeton. "We like building our own business our way and being our own boss - so you have to make a conscious decision to let go.
"But this sort of thing would not be possible if it wasn't for Fonterra. It is a long-term, farmer-owned company whose processing of milk and added value gives you the certainty you need to make changes and adjust. That's why we are shareholders."
Luke, with an engineering background and experience at the pulp and paper mill in Tokoroa, and Peter, with an agricultural degree from Lincoln and dairy farm experience in both the north and south islands, now jointly own the farm 50/50.
On new land of 44 hectares, they have engineered a new state-of-the-art milking shed - with automated cup removers, hi-tech teat spraying and electronic identification of individual cows which gives a running commentary on the cows' health, need for treatment and manages drafting - either automatically or according to individual needs.
Both cowsheds now milk just under 600 cows each, cutting down milking time and increasing efficiencies.
Vaughan and Megan are meanwhile building a new house on the farm after moving out of the old homestead, making way for the new family occupants. It should be ready in June - and will be entirely self-sufficient.
Solar panels and batteries are being installed because the new house is over 700m away from power lines - and they would have been socked $45,000 just to put the lines in.
So they spent about the same amount buying and installing the panels, batteries and inverters and putting in advanced windows and doors to keep the heat in, double-insulating walls and ceilings, laying down black concrete floors and installing a woodburner for those especially chilly deep southern nights.
It will take the best part of 10 years for the solar power to pay for itself - but it's a good way for a whole new generation to take over and, who knows, engineer more changes.