We are a farming family located on the edge of the Taieri River in rural Otago New Zealand. Josh is born and breed on the Taieri being the 5th generation to run the family farm. Our three children are the 6th generation to live on the farm.

​Our Journey started with bees believe it or not. Our interest in honey and bees started as a small hobby in 2018 which then grew into a small business. Josh has enjoyed introducing hives to the family farm and to other farms in the Otago area. The pollination it brings along with the honey has been a wonderful addition. We are mainly producing a clover blend which is harvested here on the family farm as well as the flats of Middlemarch.

​In 2021 we started exploring other interests and purchased 50 chickens. Josh has always been interested in poultry and thought fresh free range eggs would be a nice accompaniment to our honey business. Our main goal was to add eggs to our road side honey stall but the eggs never made it to the stall because the demand for home deliveries was too great. This only latest a short while as we started getting more commercial interest in our eggs. We were soon supplying cafes and restaurants in the Dunedin area.

​We have been working hard to keep up with demand since the worldwide egg shortage started late 2022. We had only really just started in the egg industry and the overwhelming pressure to keep up was just too much for our little sheds. We started making plans to expand our business but we couldn't do this with our little coops. We decided to go big! At the start of September 2023 we took a leap to build a 5000 capacity free range shed. This was a huge investment for us but it will benefit our business hugely as well as the egg market.

Since then, we have added a few new project to Old Road. The first would be Old Road Irises. This is a small project that Ellie has taken on. Growing and selling a large variety of bearded irises. We have over 300 varieties that we look after here on the farm .

Archie has been also very busy writing a book with the help of Mum. This book is called ‘Sue the hen goes to Town’. It is based on a true story. He has been selling copies of this book to raise money for a new motorbike.

What’s next on the horizon?

Old Road is currently working a building a rearing shed. Our main priority is to have control over the whole process of producing our eggs and a major cog in the operation is the rearing of the chicks. We are hoping to have this project completed early 2027.