Farming photos from Canterbury and Marlborough

I mentioned last week that I would be on a trip around the north part of the South Island over the Easter break. Along the way I took some interesting photos, from vineyards, lucerne paddocks and salt factories in Marlborough to deer, irrigation systems and lavender in Canterbury. Here are just a few of them.....

Irrigators in Canterbury

Central pivot and border dyke irrigation near Mt Hutt, Canterbury

Lucerne paddocks in Marlborough....

and Canterbury.....

Deer farming in Canterbury

Alternative farming in Canterbury

Farming lavender and goats on a lucerne and plantain break

Salt factory in Marlborough

Vineyards in Marlborough

Bee keeping in Marlborough

Comments

[Aaliyah Aldaco]

Wow, that farm looks amazing! But let me ask something about the first picture. Are those sprinklers? It's the first time that I saw overhead sprinklers like that. All the sprinklers that I know are on the ground. Thanks for sharing the pics, it looks lovely there.

[NZ ag consultant]

The sprinklers in the top photo are on what is called a 'centre pivot' irrigator. They move around in circles (anchored at the middle hence the name centre pivot) with the sprinklers obviously wetting the ground as they travel along. They are are a very popular form of irrigation in Canterbury due to their water use efficiency and low labour intensity.

[NZ ag consultant]

Anchored at one end I mean!

[The Pasture Princess]

Thanks for the feedback on this NZ ag consultant. It might be worth mentioning Aaliyah that there is another form of overhead irrigation similar to the centre pivot irrigator, only instead of moving around in circles from the centre pivot the unit moves laterally across the field in a forward motion. You may be able to comment further on this NZ ag consultant. They also have the sprinklers from the ground that you mention Aaliyah, but I think due to the ease of operation and water use efficiency of the centre pivot irrigators these are now a more popular option.