How a Masterchef produces lamb, eggs, crops and veges ... and converts vegans

In the process, Royalburn Station, one of the oldest farms in New Zealand, is not only breaking new ground in farming, it has actually achieved the holy grail in red meat production: converting vegans.

Royalburn's fierce animal ethics, and willingness to share and showcase exactly what goes on behind its farmgate, has seen people who have traditionally refused red meat on moral grounds add lamb to their diet based on feeling comfortable the animal has had a good life and a good death.

The 485 hectares of flat-to-rolling picturesque alpine country that is Royalburn was purchased by former MasterChef NZ winner Nadia Lim and her husband Carlos Bagrie in 2019.

It's situated on the Crown Range Road, which winds between Arrowtown and Wanaka in the Southern Lakes region.

The former conventional barley and sheep farm has been turned over to regenerative systems, circular solutions and entire supply chain control, which means it now has its own on-site mobile micro abattoir and butchery.

The on-farm abattoir is currently one of only two operating in NZ.

"When I talk to the eater at the restaurant I can say with certainty I know what's happened every step of the way," Ms Lim said.

"Farming gives an unedited, raw version of the world. One must learn to accept that some things are out of your control, and that there is life and there is death."

General manager Michelle Wallis said Royalburn's transformation started with its new owners wanting to know why things were done.

"Sometimes I didn't have all the answers so I thought we should try things differently," she said.

"The first thing we changed was to stop tailing lambs. We left a mob of 600 to 800 head; they had no treatment.

"We had no problems whatsoever - possibly to do with being 600 to 1000 metres above sea level and the Perendale breed - but it convinced us we could move solely to no tailing."

Royalburn turns over 5500 lambs a year, with 85 per cent of business direct to restaurants and cafes - 110 all up, most in the region in which they farm.

The rest is put through their Arrowtown farm shop and a handful other retail outlets.

They breed for meat-eating qualities and ruggedness in ewes and combine that with a diet of multiple plant species, and dry age the meat, to create a finer textured meat Ms Lim describes as incredibly succulent.

They also no longer ear mark, taking the approach of being as hands-off as possible.

The ewes and lambs move regularly between fresh grass and cover crops, such as oats, buckwheat, phacelia and clovers.

After weaning, lambs are finished on chicory.

It is perhaps the eggs that RoyalBurn has become most famous for.

"Once restaurants and cafes get onto a really good egg they're customers for life," Ms Lim said.

"The key is freshness. We promise there is no more than three to four days from laying to delivery, which guarantees whites that hold together firmly.

"It took us a while to get to the point where supply matched demand under those standards. For some time, we were sending over several thousand eggs a week to charity."

Now, RoyalBurn could sell three to four times more eggs than its 7000 chickens are producing, and it sells them at a premium.

The hens freely roam on fresh, green pasture every day of their lives.

"They keep a sizeable amount of bugs and weeds at bay," Ms Lim said.

"We make nutrient-rich compost by collecting up the straw underneath their homes, containing their poo, and compositing it down, and Carlos is keen to trial making foliar fertiliser for the crops from it."

The market garden also utilises organic practices.

It's .8ha of everything from garlic to basil, with all plants propagated on site.

"We've opted to grow from both hybrid and heritage seed stocks, carefully selecting our favourite heirloom varieties that are superior in taste but also because we strongly believe in keeping genetic diversity alive," Ms Lim said.

The market garden is not yet viable and Ms Lim admits plenty of mistakes were made.

"We went from zero to hero too too fast. Trying to go organic from the get-go meant all profitability was eroded quickly and we also tried to grow too many different varieties too quickly," she said.

They make their own organic compost. Carbon-rich straw from the crops is layered with biochar made from wood, bone and shell waste and put through the 'cow composting system' whereby a small herd of cattle spend as much time as they like on the pad of straw.

Their manure and urine help break down the straw and activate the biochar.

Royalburn also grows 800 tonnes of sunflower seeds, wheat, barley, oats, peas and other crops annually. Rotation between cereals, legumes and sunflowers plays an important role in protecting and enhancing the health and ecology of the soil.

They're all pesticide and fungicide free and new methods to reduce the need for tillage are continually trialled, like direct drilling alongside cover cropping and crimp rolling.