The family is a recipient of a New Zealand Century Farm award which mark families farming the same land continuously for a century or more.
Gary and Debbie Johnston have run their predominantly crop and beef farm for the last 35 years and Mr Johnston said they nearly lost the farm in the 1980s, as they had heavily invested in irrigation.
The 350ha property came into the Johnston family when Gary’s grandfather, Charles, returned home wounded to Gore after World War 1 in 1919.
Being told his recovery might be assisted by a drier climate, he moved to St Andrews and purchased 290ha which included 55ha of riverbed lease.
"Four generations later, my eldest son Paul has stepped in to take the reins over the weeks ahead."
Disabled for life with a bad hip, Charles became an inspiration to the local farming community who looked fondly at his determination to run the farm, which included a Romney and Corriedale sheep stud.
Gary’s parents Ian and Rosemary then continued farming and replaced horses with tractors.
The 1969 drought prompted the Johnstons to initiate some of the first irrigation in the district.
Gary took over the Bonnyrigg Trust, which the farm operates under, in 1984 and decided cropping was a more lucrative business, and the stud sheep were replaced with bull fattening and finishing.
Today, the family farming business focused on cropping wheat, barley and various seeds such as grass and garden peas.
Paul Johnston (41) has come into his tenth season on the farm, where his father has decided the time has come to retire.
"It has been in the pipeline for three years but a succession plan will be finalised over the next few weeks," he said.
"It has been a natural progression. Dad is still the boss and I want to push for more technology on the farm, where he is still running the old style of taking the accounts into town in a shoe box," he said.
After leaving school and completing a polytechnic course in engineering, he completed an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner. From there, he and future wife Shelley flew to the United Kingdom for an OE and returned in 2006, when he was asked if he would, at some stage, like to take over the farm.
His 90-year-old grandparents have just gone into a retirement village, with Gary buying their house and doing it up.
Running another business as a one-man band engineering company, Jag 2007 Ltd, on the side of farming, he and Shelley also rear calves. It could be hard to juggle everything.
"We have definitely pushed ourselves to the limit. You have to reinvest in yourself to build infrastructure — we started off with 32 calves in the first year and last year did 88. This year we thought we would do 130 but have ended up with 140. [With] every jump in numbers comes another hurdle, not just financially but everything takes longer."
He looked forward to the future and felt privileged to be in the position of a fourth generation Johnston farmer.
"Ever since lockdown finished, I have had no days off but do feel very lucky and honoured.
"It is a family thing, we look forward to the future."
