Lucerne the N-fixer
Lucerne is the world’s most important forage, says Lincoln University professor of plant science Derrick Moot.
Further up the gorge, gathering rain clouds are dumping moisture on the south bank.
"It's why the Sheffield flats are so fertile," Loe tells Rural News. "When the wind sweeps down the gorge on this side all we see is dust heading that way.
"That big wind last week rolled down the valley and for two days we couldn't see the river. All the neighbour's winter feed, freshly sown and rolled in, looked as if it was blown away – the lot.
"But I guess if farming was that easy every bastard would want to do it."
Farm philosopher. Father of three. Former All Black. Media mogul. Brand ambassador. Loe (55) has packed plenty into his eventful life and of course there's still plenty more to come – including a decent tussle with Canterbury's drought.
Loe has cut stock numbers – he runs a Donnie Merino stud operation – in half because of dry conditions. Loe's been on his farm for about eight years and a previous owner kitted it out with deer fences. He generally runs a few head, plus cattle as a "release valve", but he's sold them off too.
The aforementioned lucerne paddock has been cut once this summer in the hope there will be enough moisture and growth to do it once more before autumn. But he's not overly optimistic.
"Generally we'd cut it three times, but we decided to take the early cut now hoping maybe this shower of rain might persist so we'd get a second one."
But rain has been scarce and Loe – steeped in farming – is putting generations of farming knowledge to use, battening down the hatches and making sure he doesn't lose his trademark sense of humour.
Loe's father was a well-regarded farm manager (Greta Paddocks) on the banks of the Hurunui. He taught his son the ropes and after leaving school Loe became a junior stock and station agent with PGG in Seddon, Marlborough.
He impressed enough to assume the mantle of senior agent after his mentor Jim Cassidy left the business, but then a move to Waikato coincided with an offer to play a season of rugby in France and it was while plying his trade there that he got a call-up to play for the touring 1986 All Blacks against the French Barbarians.
A year later he was invited to trial for the All Blacks and was selected in the 1987 Rugby World Cup squad. He went on to play 49 tests, but during his sporting career his links to the land were a constant.
In his early 20s, while playing and working in Marlborough, he had an interest in a hill block. He bought 20ha with an old house on it while in Waikato, which he ran as a dairy support unit with some trading stock.
He returned to his roots in Canterbury in 1993, bought a place in Whiterock, Loburn and then moved to a farm in Sheffield.
"It ended up being for a while at least the preferred option for the dam for the central plains irrigation scheme so I was offered reasonably good money for it and got out of it quick," Loe says.
"In the meantime, I had some lease blocks but ended up getting chased off with dairy value for them higher than finishing. I was growing maize and doing dairy grazing and finishing lambs. But the way it was going I was working for wages."
His media career then blossomed. He hosted his own farming show, 'On The Field', a mixture of farming chat and sporting banter.
But Mediaworks canned it last year, leaving The Radio Network's 'Farming Show', hosted by Jamie McKay, unrivalled in the farm broadcasting market.
"Jamie rants and raves that he has the No 1 farming show in the country and I always say self-praise is better than no praise at all. I have been keeping my hand in by doing a slot with Jamie once a fortnight."
But for now he's happy to remain active in public relations and advocacy work fronting Landcorp's WorkSafe campaigns and spruiking Allflex farming products on the side of his ute.
"There's always something off-farm to keep me busy," he says.
"I am fortunate because my farm is not my A-all and B-all. I don't have to stock it to the hilt, but it my passion.
"If I have tucker I will buy some animals. I can make a reasonably good living off-farm without worrying about on farm. That's a big release valve."
His early years as a stock and station agent have stood him in good stead.
"In the early 80s, I think we had 10 inches of rain a year. I just thought 'that's how it was in Marlborough'. I remember that those farmers who made early decisions were the best. You can't get away from it and that hasn't changed."
When Loe wants to get away from it all he backs his jetboat out of the farm shed into the Waimakariri and explores its upper reaches.
His annual Donnie sale is looming at Darfield Rugby Club on December 10. He has a large network of family and friends in the province.
He helps out the local rugby club. There's always a bit of code to watch on TV. His phone is rarely silent. He makes a reasonable cup of coffee and spins a good yarn.
Not bad for a kid from Greta Paddocks, with a huge personality and an ability to hold his own in a scrum.
