Families proud of legacy, management

For more than 100 years, five generations of Maniototo farming families have grazed sheep on the Mt Ida Syndicate, in the mountain range north of Naseby.

The grazing tenure and management have changed, but Mt Ida Syndicate member Jock Scott says the five family members are proud of the history and legacy of the grazing licence.

Syndicate member Laurie Inder said the system was a way of life specific to farming in the Maniototo.

There were three other syndicate runs in the district: Beeches, Waipiata and Patearoa.

"As you can see, syndicates are a part of Maniototo history, which some seem hellbent on destroying."

In 1897, during a severe drought, Mr Inder's grandfather gathered support from other Maniototo farmers to petition the Lands Board for the vacant Mt Ida grazing licence, initially for 21 years.

Today, the shareholding families are the Hores, Inders, Geddes and two families of Scotts, whose economic viability depends on releasing grazing pressure on their Maniototo farms for 12 weeks in late summer.

After World War 1, properties on the plain were cut up and used to settle returning servicemen who were also given run country on the Ida range.

This was known as the Soldiers Syndicate.

Mr Inder said in a dry year such as this, the run country was invaluable, something his grandfather recognised 113 years ago.

Until 1969, syndicate members ran wethers on the blocks all year round, but that ended, and management of the block had also changed, with controls limiting how many stock could be run and the length of grazing.

In Beyond the Buster, a book published in 1997 to mark the centenary of the syndicate, Mr Inder wrote with pride of the stewardship of the run, and how the families worked together.

He recalled a Department of Conservation survey of the land .

It found areas and plants of national importance and said they should be fenced for protection.

Mr Inder said the syndicate had managed the run for 100 years and the plants and significant areas were still there.

"Doesn't that say something for our management?"

Access, or use of tracks made by the syndicate members, had never been refused.

"How can people with little knowledge of the area make decisions that will affect the livelihood of families who have relied on the syndicate for their summer grazing for generations?"