Evan Baigent has been around rivers all his life. He grew up on the Wakefield farm first settled by his family in 1843. Evan and his wife Adrienne farmed dairy cows on this land adjacent to the Wai-iti River and Pigeon Valley Stream near Wakefield. In addition to this site they have grazed and owned land within three further river catchments – Buller, Motupiko and Upper Motueka.
Now semi-retired they trade and finish beef cattle in the Motueka Valley. With their retirement from the demands of dairy farming, they now have more time to dedicate to environmental planting. Previous efforts to establish native riparian margins and shelter had struggled due to insufficient time for post-planting care. However, with more attention given to these areas, plant survival has significantly improved.
The Baigent’s have planted 12,000 native trees since moving to their property ten years ago, focusing on gullies, wetlands, and land adjacent to established native bush. Marcus Woodward from Enviroplus has offered advice and planning, supported by a team of planters and weeders. While this work has come at a cost, Evan has calculated the expense to be $13.50 per plant over the past five years.
Some areas have proved difficult. One wetland area planted out in 2020, initially seemed robust and healthy, but after two years some of the foliage started to go yellow and many plants were dying. Soil tests revealed that the soil in that area was low in magnesium. Evan hand fertilised the area around each plant drip line, and they are recovering.
Unfortunately, the latest (winter 2023) area planted in a gully near the Baigent home has suffered from the effects of last summer’s drought. The northern-facing slopes were affected the most and 90% of those plants died. The welcome 120 mm of rain at the beginning of April, which may have saved some, was quickly followed by a hard frost to kill any new growth. They hesitate to replant this area as the coming summer is expected to be similar to the last.
After some experimentation with different plant guards, Evan and Marcus have realised that for their purposes the plastic plant guards are the most successful; they let more light in for the developing shoots and can be reused – “We’ve used many guards two or three times”.
The Baigent’s have also fenced off and registered approximately three hectares of established native bush with the QE II Trust. The Ecologist, Michael North has inspected this site and identified fifty-three different native species within its boundaries; including Kahikatea, Rimu, Ferns, Totara, and Matai. Adjacent to the established block but within the Trust boundary, extra Harakeke, Rimu, Beech, and others have been added. Most of these plants were established in 2014. Along with bush regeneration, the revitalisation of the bird life in the area has been a welcome bonus.
Weeds are and always will be a problem, ongoing maintenance of these sites is essential, tiring, and expensive. Old Man’s Beard is spread by the growth of the weed on the riparian strip running alongside the Upper Motueka River. Intermittent flooding of the lower areas also stimulates new weed growth.
There was a 50-year flood in the Motueka River in 2021, which flooded an area of the lower part of the Baigent’s property, and the adjoining road. This damaged plants, and took a considerable amount of work to restore, but luckily, they have now recovered as pictured.
The Baigent’s have undertaken a significant amount of environmental restoration work on their property and aim to continue to do so. They are a testament to the fact that farmers often contribute considerably to improving catchment health, they care a great deal about their land, the impact of their farming practices and the legacy they leave for future generations.
