At the end of a long and winding road, over an hour from the nearest town, sits Awapai. Majestic in its contrasts. Situated where the Ruahine and Kaweka Ranges meet, this is a truly special part of the world.

The day we arrive to visit Hugo Beamish and his young family, the current custodians of Awapai, the wind is whipping down from the ranges, and you get a true sense of how bracing such a seemingly beautiful landscape can be. As we pull in the long winding driveway, the household is a buzz with activity; tractor tires and lawnmower parts are thrown into the back of the car for the impending journey back into town.

Life takes a fair bit of planning when you live at the end of the road. Although the journeys back to town pale in comparison to that of the first Beamish, who arrived on these shores over one hundred years ago. Sent by ship by his parents, a spritely 18-year-old lad was the first Beamish to set foot on what is now Awapai. Six generations later, as you sit and talk to Hugo and wife Pippa, you get the sense the pioneering, can do attitude lives on.

Heading out across the vast landscape, it isn’t long before Hugo is stopped by his farm manager. As the two discuss the plan for the day, the buzz of tools can be heard as another worker is busy fixing an old gate. This is the pace of Awapai. It will not stop and wait for you. There is always a job to be done.

Today, there is an extra set of hands available to help. Hugo’s father Simon is here for the day. Whilst Hugo is very much at the helm these days, Simon’s institutional knowledge and role as a sounding board are invaluable. Hugo often turns to Simon to validate his intuition. With good reason – Awapai has frequently been the recipient of industry accolades. As Hugo puts it, this is recognition of the work over the last couple of decades. This is how time is measured on Awapai, not by days or even seasons, but generations.

Awapai is vast and varied. To truly appreciate this, Hugo takes us to the highpoint of the farm. Standing at roughly 1,000 feet above sea level, you get a true sense of the landscape. The predominantly rolling country is interspersed with steep gullies and bordered to the south by river flats. Clearly evident at this elevation is the vast array of native bush, all 1,500 acres of it. To many, this could be viewed as unproductive land. To the Beamishes, it has always been considered the heartbeat of the broader Awapai ecosystem.

As Hugo describes it, “We can only grow good animals if we grow good grass, which relies on healthy soil.” The biodiversity promoted through the native bush areas is one of the many moving parts in the overall approach to regenerative farming at Awapai. Over the past decades, the Beamishes have tirelessly fenced off waterways and retired land. All of which has contributed to a thriving ecosystem that enables Awapai to be farmed in tune with nature.

Hugo’s approach to farming is elegantly simple: find out what best practice is, and apply those principles. Very easily said. A lot harder to do. But in observing Hugo throughout our time at Awapai, it is evident he has a thirst for knowledge. Even in the quiet moments between all of the jobs, you can see the cogs are always turning as he thinks of ways to do it better.

This desire for constant improvement has resulted in a natural alignment with the Savory Institute’s Land To Market^TM  program. It may feel like a long way from a farm at the end of a remote road in New Zealand to the plates of discerning customers on the other side of the world. But for Hugo, it is a bridge between his daily pursuit of excellence and recognition of always putting the animal first, the protection of the waterways, and the obsession with soil health. It is a connection to those who care about where their food comes from.

When asked about the future of Awapai, Hugo takes a long pause. He is comfortable in the silence, acutely aware of the generations that have come before him and the weight of the responsibility he and his young family now carry. In typical form, his response is elegantly simple, but underpinned by hard, thoughtful work. He just wants to supply the world with the best possible product.