GOOD BEEF, STRAIGHT FROM THE FARMER

Photos Jessica Keesing

On a small farm overlooking the Kaipara Harbour, Wild Meadows is proving that a slower, more connected way of farming can feed both a family and a community.

Michelle and Brendon left the busy Auckland lifestyle behind in search of a quieter life, intent on building a thriving ecosystem to sustain themselves, their community, and generations to come. In February 2022, after years of searching, they settled on a small farm in Arapohue. They've since welcomed two children, Piper and Hugo, who are growing up learning the values of regenerative farming.

Dedicated to living by permaculture principles, the couple work with nature rather than against it – caring for people and the earth, reducing waste, and building resilience to restore ecosystems, reflected in their commitment to farming regeneratively and raising beef with no pharmaceutical dewormers, synthetic fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides or fungicides. One of the first things they did on the farm was bring in pigs and set up Dargaville Food Scrap Collection to divert waste from landfill – feeding the pigs in the process. The pigs are pasture- raised and moved onto fresh grass each week, building carbon-rich soil as they go.

That philosophy runs through the whole farm. While cattle form the commercial heart of Wild Meadows, sheep and chickens round out the property alongside a growing diversity of wildlife, each playing its part in the wider permaculture picture. In their first two years on the land, Michelle and Brendon planted 20,000 native trees, encouraging biodiversity, improving waterways, and providing shelter for their livestock – with every spare dollar continuing to go back into ecosystem restoration, an investment in the land they hope their children may one day choose to carry on.

This care carries through to how their beef reaches customers. Wild Meadows started out selling cattle to Woolworths, ending up on supermarket shelves alongside conventionally farmed beef. That changed early last year, when a mobile abattoir began operating in Northland, allowing animals to be harvested on-farm and sold directly to the public. Michelle and Brendon embraced the opportunity immediately, completing their first on-farm harvest in September 2025.

Every month since, Wild Meadows has supplied customers directly through an easy online order form. Carcasses are delivered to butchers in Whangārei or North Auckland, where customers have their beef processed exactly as they wish. Removing the transport stress on the animals delivers better- flavoured, more tender meat and means no middleman, wholesale pricing, and a direct line to the farmer – customers are welcome to simply pick up the phone, or visit the farm themselves.

"Since starting we have been humbled by the number of customers that have given us positive feedback," Michelle says. For the couple, it's a source of real pride – knowing their regenerative beef gives customers a healthy, quality choice, with every purchase in turn becoming an investment in the ecosystem restoration they're so committed to.

www.wildmeadows.co.nz | 021 272 0583