The plan for the future of NZ’s biggest farm is revealed

Friday, 29 August 2025

Jaquetta Bradshaw, cyclist and wilding trust coordinator, has a roadside chat with Rangitahi/Molesworth Station manager, Jim Ward about the conservation of the area against the invasive exotic species.

The government has announced the future of New Zealand’s biggest farm Molesworth Station.

It comes after manager Jim Ward and his wife Tracey quit without notice in July.

Molesworth is a Crown-owned, 180,000ha high country farm in the upper South Island.

The government has revealed its plans for the future of New Zealand’s biggest farm Molesworth Station.

It comes after manager Jim Ward and his wife Tracey quit without notice in July after 24 years.

Molesworth is a Crown-owned, 180,000ha high country farm in the upper South Island. It is managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and leased to Pāmu (Landcorp Farming).

The government has announced the future of New Zealand’s biggest farm Molesworth Station.

Ward said he’d been unable to get any certainty about what the government wanted to do with the property.

The Department of Conservation (DOC) announced on Friday that a process for farming and other commercial opportunities would open for expressions of interest later in the year.

DOC operations manager Stacey Wrenn said the opportunity would involve farming and possibly guiding or accommodation alongside it.

“This scoping work will safeguard the ecological, recreational and cultural values that make Molesworth such a special place while ensuring a commercially viable offering,” she said.

Manager Jim Ward and his wife Tracey quit without notice in July.

Stuff reported in July that the Government was looking into planting pine trees on Molesworth to help meet carbon reduction targets.

Gary Taylor, chair of the Environmental Defence Society, called the idea “greenwashing”.

“It’s a bad idea for all sorts of reasons. Molesworth needs to be managed for its ecological and landscape purposes first.

Wrenn confirmed on Friday that planting pine trees would not be part of the opportunity.

The current farming lease expires on June 30, 2026 and Wrenn said DOC would have the next operator confirmed well before then, to allow for a transition if required.

“We want to acknowledge the great work Pāmu have done as stewards of an iconic New Zealand landscape,” she said.

Wrenn said DOC is committed to the wellbeing and protection of the station.

“The current lease with Pāmu is under the Land Act and was in place before DOC took over management of the reserve,” she said.

“Any new commercial arrangements on Molesworth will be under the Conservation Act. This will better recognise the reserve’s ecological, recreation and heritage values and may allow for better public access.”