About Pikiroa Farm
Pikiroa Farm was founded in 1930, but we’ve got a timeline for its discovery that goes all the way back to 1886! The history of this verdant and fertile land is important to us, so we’re sharing the timeline with you.
Discover how four generations built the foundations and developed this land to what it is today: a fully-fledged organic farming operation that you can come and experience for yourself.
Meet your hosts at Pikiroa Farm
Pikiroa History
George Bayley arrived in Napier from Edinburgh, Scotland. He met up with his brother Willie and started learning about the ways of farming in NZ.
1888
George and Willie’s father sent them each £ 2500, which enabled them to purchase 4,375 acres of land in Kohinui. They worked hard clearing the bush to sow grass and run sheep.
1898
Kohinui was sold to John Perry Lethbridge, beginning a long relationship between the two families.
1900
George Bayley bought a property called Tuscan Hills in the Makuri Valley, with the intention to subdivide and sell. But he ended up staying longer than anticipated, because he married Helen Lethbridge in 1901, and they had their first son, Orme, the following year.
1906
Tuscan Hills was sold to the Lethbriges. George went to live in Wellington, where he formed the Taupo Timber Company. He invested 18000 pounds in the company, and saw very little return.
1908
George bought 8000 acres in Hawkes Bay at Otamauri. The land was highly mortgaged.
1915
The Bayley family fortunes were somewhat restored by the sale of a large part of Otamauri, while George kept the homestead as well as 1000 acres of land. George paid £9300 to John Perry Leithbridge for the shares of a large block of land in Waikato, which included Pikiroa and other leased land, and where his part-owner and manager was Norman Leithbrige, his brother in law.
1917
Due to Norman being shipped to Europe during WWI, George Bayley moved from Hawkes Bay to take over the management of the property until Norman’s return in 1918.
1923
Due to their different methods and ideas about farm management, George and Norman decided to dissolve their partnership. A boundary fence was started, and the livestock was divided.
1924
The Bayleys returned to Otaumauri leaving Pikiroa under the management of Mr. Hibbard.
1928
George Bayley died at age of 62, which suddenly made his then 26-year-old son, Orme, responsible for both the family and the estate.
1934
Orme became engaged with Audrey Hobbs, a nurse aid at Cooks Hospital in Gisborne, whom he met 5 years earlier. The remaining 1000 acres of Otaumari was sold to the government. Orme’s mother and sisters moved to Napier, while Orme took over the running of Pikiroa Farm.
1936
Orme and Audrey were wed, and started their married life in Pikiroa. They had four children: Mike, Gae, Chris, and Ronny.
1950's
The family sold part of the farm to the Stevensons, and donated another part to the Wellingtons. This left Pikiroa at 1000 acres, which it still is today.
1952
Orme could finally call Pikiroa his own. After his father died, he needed to wait 20 years, until his youngest sister was 21, so that he could pay his sisters their inheritance. He ran about 4000 sheep and 400 beef cattle on the farm.
1960 - 1962
Orme’s son, Christopher, went to Wanganui Collegiate School and started his farming cadetship in Homeward Station in Wairapa. He then moved south to Gore to work on a stud farm.
1964
Christopher Bayley came back to take over the management of Pikiroa farm, and continued the same way as his father did. He replaced a lot of fences and water lines, and updated the place in general. His brother, Mike, moved to another farm in Arahena that was bought in 1957.
1968
Chris got married to Marcia Audrey Hain, a talented dressage rider, who came from Gisborne. They had two sons, Angus and Russell.
1970
Orme Bayley died in Hawkes Bay where he had retired. Chris bought the sisters half of the farm.
1980
Chris had a lot of challenges with sheep health, because at the time, facial eczema was rampant. A lot of sheep had to be destroyed, cutting the livestock numbers down to 1000, so he farmed more beef cattle and maize for grain. Further down the track, Chris decided to invest outside of farming.
1995
Chris’s son, Russell, came to work at the farm while he was waiting for a job as a mechanic, which is what he’d trained to do. He decided he rather liked farming, so he stayed as a 4th generation manager.
1998
After Russell’s experiences with conventional farming, it was decided in 1998 that the farm was to be converted to an organic dry stock farm with Bio Gro. A lot of lessons were learnt during the subsequent years regarding animal and soil health, finding different ways to deal with challenges and networking to find natural ways that would meet organic standards.
2006
The decision was made to convert Pikiroa to a dairy farm, and in August of 2006, the first lot of milk was sent to Fonterra.
2017
As a diversification project, the gates of the farm have been opened to the public, offering accomodation with the complimentary opportunity to see the cows being milked.
2018
We added a veggie garden to grow organic produce, and the first harvest was sold in January the following year.
2019
Although the farm was converted to dairy, some ewes were kept grazing steep parts of the land. After a long journey to figure out how we could offer our products to the public, we partnered to open the Organic Food Shop, where our first beef and lamb from the farm was sold.
2020
Pikiroa Organic Farm website was launched, and we are excited to share our home and knowledge of organic farming with the public with our new Pikiroa Farm Experiences.
Meet Lil
Farmer & Host
Before coming to New Zealand, Lil was a dairy farmer and cheesemaker in Costa Rica, with her own brand of artisan cheese in supermarkets.
Lil’s adventurous spirit brought her to New Zealand in 2013, along with her team from Costa Rica, for the World White Water Rafting Championships in Rotorua. While here, she was enamoured by NZ’s clean, green reputation, and wanted to learn how to farm organically. She exchanged a few emails with Russell at the farm, and once the rafting competition was over, she came to Pikiroa.
The rest is history!
“I’m grateful to be able to work with nature, and I’m amazed at the abundance it provides - 80 of our diet comes directly from the farm,” she says.
“I’m always keen to learn more - to find out new ways to create a more efficient and sustainable farm.
My dream is to have a fully closed system with no waste, and complementary practices that enable us to diversify and offer a bigger range of nutritious, sustainably made products.
It was my love of fitness, travel and exploring new countries that brought me here, but it’s the ability to help contribute towards a sustainable future that makes me stay.
I care about the wellbeing of both people and animals. I love to look after all of our pets, chooks, sheep, and cows - I take heaps of photos of them, and give them all of the attention they deserve.
My purpose in life is to help people connect with nature, create awareness and educate people about sustainability, and provide nutritious food to the community.”
You can meet Lil in person and learn more about organic farming by coming along to one of our farm experiences.
About Russell
Farmer & Host
A born animal lover, Russell is the fourth generation of the Bayley family to manage and care for the land at Pikiroa. He made the decision to transform the formerly conventional farm to an organic one after he noticed the damage that chemicals were doing to his teeth.
Russell is a determined visionary who is passionate about living in tune with nature. He believes that observation is the key to learning and improving situations that are challenging.
His lifetime experience in the farming industry in New Zealand means that Russell is well equipped to find holistic solutions to otherwise difficult situations. He’s carefully reworked every element of the farm over time to get it to where it is today: a thriving organic farm, full of happy animals and nourishing food.
Russell’s favourite time of day is just before sunset, when he goes to the paddocks to check on the cows, listen to them, and feel connected to nature.
You can meet Russell in person and learn more about organic farming by coming along to one of our farm experiences.
