August 31, 2026 • 7 mins
Hamish Best talks about the decision to sell meat locally, what a potential change to Homekill regulations could mean for farmers and producers, and why he believes the future is bright for the primary sector. He also reflects on his journey and what he gained from being a Zanda McDonald Award finalist in 2025.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hamish Best is a Kiwi farmer whose number one goal
is to sell locally, and it's Wellingtonians who benefit from this.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hamish joins us now on the show. Good afternoon.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
G'day, Hamish. How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Yeah, no, I'm very, very well, thank you, and very
interested in the story. Now, first of all, Conscious Valley,
is that a place or is that your trade name?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
That's the trade name. We farm out in Ohariu Valley,
which is just 20 minutes away from Wellington. So half
the name is to do with where we farm, but
the other half is just about people making, I guess,
a decision about where their meat comes from.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah. And what led to this idea to sell locally?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I was living in Melbourne and knew that I was
coming back to the farm and I, during COVID, had
a really high quality local butchery that just during those
COVID times had massive queues outside it. And so I thought, well,
people are going to pay for good quality meat and
we might as well, we grow really good quality meat here.
And I just wanted Wellingtonians to have access to that.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, just describe for me the property you're on and
what's behind that high quality property.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
It's a steep hill country farm based on the west
coast there. We've got a few windmills floating around, so
it's a pretty windy, gnarly sort of spot. But that
wind brings a lot of salt air in off the
cook straight. The pastures are pretty diverse. The sheep have
a lot to choose from. And then we finish our
lambs on specialist sort of lucerne herb mixes.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
And what's your specialty?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Our specialty would definitely be our lamb. That's what we've
won most of our awards for. We basically butcher the
whole animal. So the thick-cut loin chops, they've won plenty
of awards. This year we won the Outstanding Food Producers
Meat category with our lamb shoulder rack. So I guess
those two would have to be right up there.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Okay, sounds very mouth-watering to say the least. There's some rules, too, around.
So what sort of category do you sort of fall under?
The home kill? I know there's been some rule changes
around that.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
How does that affect you?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
The rule changes, yeah, they're interesting. They won't affect us
too much. We kill through our local abattoir and then
get processed through a registered butchery. We sort of have
to do that in order to sell to the public
and to restaurants and to supermarkets. I guess the rule
change would be a good thing for people who have
(02:30):
access to a farmer or a hunter who want to,
I guess, get access to better quality meat.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Okay. So what about this end user engagement?
Speaker 1 (02:41):
That must be a satisfying part of the role to
get off farm and actually be at the coalface.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Oh, there's nothing more motivating as a farmer than talking
to your end user because it's Every week I get
so much positive feedback from our market customers and we
become a part of their weekly shop. So yeah, honestly,
it's probably been the biggest positive to opening Conscious Valley.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Do you deal direct with restaurants as well as the markets?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, we do. And I'm a bit of a foodie.
I lived in Melbourne. I love the food scene over there.
So dealing with restaurants is cool. We deal with a
couple of Michelin star restaurants in Wellington and And even
the other ones we deal with, they've all got their
own unique little flavours and ways of cooking, which is
fun to explore.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
And does the brand Conscious Valley get recognised at these
Michelin star restaurants?
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Well, interestingly, yeah, it did. One of the judges mentioned
that the lamb dish from Conscious Valley was one of
his favourite dishes when he was judging a particular restaurant
that won a Michelin star.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So that was.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
That was pretty cool. Humble little farm on the west
coast of Wellington, didn't you mention?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, no, that is fantastic.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Well, great to see you making the best of your
farm and the opportunity and selling local.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
These are heady, exciting times for the ag sector, aren't they?
Speaker 1 (04:08):
And, you know, something you'd encourage young people to get
involved in, and you've been involved as a finalist in
the likes of the Zander McDonald Awards.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
These are good times.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Great times to be a farmer at the moment and
even I've been in the industry 15 odd years now
since I left school probably the brightest time I've seen
probably the brightest time my parents have seen and I
guess for anyone out there who's wanting to apply for
the Zander scholarship the Zander award it's such an amazing
(04:43):
group of people they put you up on their shoulders
and they really try and get the best of you.
And you have access to mentors that you couldn't even
dream of, whether they're farmers or successful business people and
other people your age. It's just such a, it's such
a cool thing.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Was that something that, I guess, as you say, you
got this idea in Melbourne, but the things that you
picked up from being involved with the Xander McDonald and
Ward all sort of bedded in together to take you
to where you are now?
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Oh, yeah, 100%. I guess you always pick up things
from everywhere and you don't realise you've picked them up
until you go and use them. But just having the
confidence to be able to pick up the phone and
ring someone like Doug Avery after meeting him at the
Xander conference, you know, those little things just add to
(05:37):
your career.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Tell us about the Wellington Harbourside markets on a Sunday.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
You know, is that pumping?
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Well, you know the saying, Hamish, you can't beat Wellington
on a good day. So if the sun's out, the
markets are probably the best place to be in Wellington
on a Sunday. There's food trucks everywhere. There's fresh veg,
beautiful fresh meat. And you're right on the harbour there. So, yeah,
I love Wellington. So I'm a bit of an advocate
(06:07):
for the city.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yeah, no, fantastic.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And how long does it take you to get from
the home place in the Aharia Valley through to the
central city?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Well, I've just finished my restaurant run this morning and
I left the city at 22.11 and I got home
at 11 o'clock, so 20 minutes if you get a
good run. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Does that kind of, you know, irons and a few
fires and that sort of mixed portfolio of life, I guess,
make your farming and your general life far more enjoyable?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Yeah, definitely. I guess growing up here, I got used
to a bit of the city life, so I enjoy
those comforts, but I also enjoy being out in the
back of the farm by myself with no one around, so.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
It's a bit, Hamish, a bit like the guys that
I grew up with in the northern Manawatu and most
of the next generation or my generation, a little younger,
they all have the farm up in the Apity, but
they still live in Palmerston North now, but they still
like to get up to the back of the farm
a couple of days of the week, if you know
what I mean.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, exactly. Hey, great stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Hamish Best from Conscious Valley down there in Wellington.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
No worries. Thanks, Hamish.
Hamish Best is a Kiwi farmer whose number one goal
is to sell locally, and it's Wellingtonians who benefit from this.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hamish joins us now on the show. Good afternoon.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
G'day, Hamish. How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Yeah, no, I'm very, very well, thank you, and very
interested in the story. Now, first of all, Conscious Valley,
is that a place or is that your trade name?
Speaker 3 (00:21):
That's the trade name. We farm out in Ohariu Valley,
which is just 20 minutes away from Wellington. So half
the name is to do with where we farm, but
the other half is just about people making, I guess,
a decision about where their meat comes from.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah. And what led to this idea to sell locally?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
I was living in Melbourne and knew that I was
coming back to the farm and I, during COVID, had
a really high quality local butchery that just during those
COVID times had massive queues outside it. And so I thought, well,
people are going to pay for good quality meat and
we might as well, we grow really good quality meat here.
And I just wanted Wellingtonians to have access to that.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, just describe for me the property you're on and
what's behind that high quality property.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
It's a steep hill country farm based on the west
coast there. We've got a few windmills floating around, so
it's a pretty windy, gnarly sort of spot. But that
wind brings a lot of salt air in off the
cook straight. The pastures are pretty diverse. The sheep have
a lot to choose from. And then we finish our
lambs on specialist sort of lucerne herb mixes.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
And what's your specialty?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Our specialty would definitely be our lamb. That's what we've
won most of our awards for. We basically butcher the
whole animal. So the thick-cut loin chops, they've won plenty
of awards. This year we won the Outstanding Food Producers
Meat category with our lamb shoulder rack. So I guess
those two would have to be right up there.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Okay, sounds very mouth-watering to say the least. There's some rules, too, around.
So what sort of category do you sort of fall under?
The home kill? I know there's been some rule changes
around that.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
How does that affect you?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
The rule changes, yeah, they're interesting. They won't affect us
too much. We kill through our local abattoir and then
get processed through a registered butchery. We sort of have
to do that in order to sell to the public
and to restaurants and to supermarkets. I guess the rule
change would be a good thing for people who have
(02:30):
access to a farmer or a hunter who want to,
I guess, get access to better quality meat.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Okay. So what about this end user engagement?
Speaker 1 (02:41):
That must be a satisfying part of the role to
get off farm and actually be at the coalface.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Oh, there's nothing more motivating as a farmer than talking
to your end user because it's Every week I get
so much positive feedback from our market customers and we
become a part of their weekly shop. So yeah, honestly,
it's probably been the biggest positive to opening Conscious Valley.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Do you deal direct with restaurants as well as the markets?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, we do. And I'm a bit of a foodie.
I lived in Melbourne. I love the food scene over there.
So dealing with restaurants is cool. We deal with a
couple of Michelin star restaurants in Wellington and And even
the other ones we deal with, they've all got their
own unique little flavours and ways of cooking, which is
fun to explore.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
And does the brand Conscious Valley get recognised at these
Michelin star restaurants?
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Well, interestingly, yeah, it did. One of the judges mentioned
that the lamb dish from Conscious Valley was one of
his favourite dishes when he was judging a particular restaurant
that won a Michelin star.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So that was.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
That was pretty cool. Humble little farm on the west
coast of Wellington, didn't you mention?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, no, that is fantastic.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Well, great to see you making the best of your
farm and the opportunity and selling local.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
These are heady, exciting times for the ag sector, aren't they?
Speaker 1 (04:08):
And, you know, something you'd encourage young people to get
involved in, and you've been involved as a finalist in
the likes of the Zander McDonald Awards.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
These are good times.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Great times to be a farmer at the moment and
even I've been in the industry 15 odd years now
since I left school probably the brightest time I've seen
probably the brightest time my parents have seen and I
guess for anyone out there who's wanting to apply for
the Zander scholarship the Zander award it's such an amazing
(04:43):
group of people they put you up on their shoulders
and they really try and get the best of you.
And you have access to mentors that you couldn't even
dream of, whether they're farmers or successful business people and
other people your age. It's just such a, it's such
a cool thing.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Was that something that, I guess, as you say, you
got this idea in Melbourne, but the things that you
picked up from being involved with the Xander McDonald and
Ward all sort of bedded in together to take you
to where you are now?
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Oh, yeah, 100%. I guess you always pick up things
from everywhere and you don't realise you've picked them up
until you go and use them. But just having the
confidence to be able to pick up the phone and
ring someone like Doug Avery after meeting him at the
Xander conference, you know, those little things just add to
(05:37):
your career.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Tell us about the Wellington Harbourside markets on a Sunday.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
You know, is that pumping?
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Well, you know the saying, Hamish, you can't beat Wellington
on a good day. So if the sun's out, the
markets are probably the best place to be in Wellington
on a Sunday. There's food trucks everywhere. There's fresh veg,
beautiful fresh meat. And you're right on the harbour there. So, yeah,
I love Wellington. So I'm a bit of an advocate
(06:07):
for the city.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yeah, no, fantastic.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
And how long does it take you to get from
the home place in the Aharia Valley through to the
central city?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Well, I've just finished my restaurant run this morning and
I left the city at 22.11 and I got home
at 11 o'clock, so 20 minutes if you get a
good run. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Does that kind of, you know, irons and a few
fires and that sort of mixed portfolio of life, I guess,
make your farming and your general life far more enjoyable?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Yeah, definitely. I guess growing up here, I got used
to a bit of the city life, so I enjoy
those comforts, but I also enjoy being out in the
back of the farm by myself with no one around, so.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
It's a bit, Hamish, a bit like the guys that
I grew up with in the northern Manawatu and most
of the next generation or my generation, a little younger,
they all have the farm up in the Apity, but
they still live in Palmerston North now, but they still
like to get up to the back of the farm
a couple of days of the week, if you know
what I mean.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, exactly. Hey, great stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Hamish Best from Conscious Valley down there in Wellington.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
No worries. Thanks, Hamish.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.