Ranked No 2 on Fonterra’s list of top-20 shareholders, South Canterbury farmers Dave and Karen Ellis have developed a formidable dairy operation over the past two decades.
Based in Timaru, the couple own four farms in the district covering a total of 5469 hectares and with a rateable value of almost $93 million. As one of Fonterra’s largest suppliers, the Ellises also own 3.4 million Fonterra shares, with a market value of around $17m.
Trading as Ellis-Lea Farms, the dairy operation is based on three properties and more than 8000 cows.
By far their largest single property is ‘Tara Hills’, the former high-altitude AgResearch station which is used to support young stock and several thousand sheep. Bought for $8.3m in 2012, the 3341ha estate has a rateable value of $11.9m.
According to the Otago Daily Times, the couple was drawn to the Omarama area by Doug McIntyre who pioneered dairy farming in the area by transforming parched land into verdant pasture through irrigation. The couple have also used irrigation to convert ‘The Glen’ into a highly productive 416ha farm that supports a herd of 1510 cows.
In recent years Omarama has become something of an environmental battleground over the ethics of irrigation and Mr Ellis has railed against urban people, who he says have probably never stepped foot on a farm. “They don't understand there's a lot more behind us than just being cowboys on the land. There is a lot of science behind what we do” he told the ODT.
One resource consent granted by the Canterbury Regional Council permits Ellis-Lea Farms to draw 3.8 million cubic metres a year from the Ahuriri River on the condition that it operates fish screens and tamper-proof electronic recording devices – and provides proof of placement for fertiliser. ''We're all for the environment” says Mr Ellis, “all trying to strive to keep water quality and doing everything right within our consent conditions.''
Like many South Canterbury farmers, they have also been drawn into the drama surrounding the Mycoplasma bovis bacterial outbreak that hit their NBR Rich List neighbours, Aad and Wilma van Leeuwen. Among 150 worried farmers who attended an Ministry of Primary Industries briefing in late 2017, Mr Ellis told reporters “there's a bit of anguish against MPI for not being active enough about the quarantine farms, and questions over whether they really are quarantine farms."
The couple are known in the district for the Ellis-Lea Farms Invitational, which is part of New Zealand’s only street race – the famous Waimate50 – which attracts thousands of fans every second Labour Weekend.
Photo: ODT