Lamb

While genetics plays an important part in the quality of the meat, we believe that the most critical element is the low stress environment they live in, combined with their pasture-based diet of multiple plant species, and dry aging the meat, makes for outstanding flavour, an optimal fat to lean ratio, and finer textured meat that is incredibly succulent.

We are proud to say that Royalburn fine lamb was the Primary Producer winner at the NZ Food Awards, with the  judges saying they were impressed by the tender, succulent lamb, as well as Royalburn Station’s commitment to an integrated and sustainable approach. “Royalburn Fine Lamb is a high-quality, dry-aged, 100% pasture-fed NZ lamb specifically bred for its meat-eating qualities. The lambs are raised and processed on the station using their own micro-abattoir – it’s a true representation of the ‘paddock to plate’ operation”.

Our philosophy with our sheep is to be as hands-off as possible. We like them being a little wild. We only remove tails if necessary for animal health reasons.

Our lambs move regularly between fresh grass and multi-species cover crops throughout the year, resulting in excellent nutrition and growth rates. Lambs are finished on a range of forage crops including omega-3 rich chicory when in season. A delicious, diverse diet is key to the quality and nutrition of their meat. The old saying, “you are what you eat,” is absolutely true.

In our quest to honour our animals and maintain the most stress-free environment, we have invested in setting up our own on-farm abattoir and complementary butchery. This has enabled us to move away from the more conventional system of standing stock off pasture and extended travel periods.

We’re extremely proud to supply our lamb throughout New Zealand to the best lodges, restaurants and cafes as well as locally to the Queenstown and Wanaka regions, and direct to consumers at our Royalburn farm shop in Arrowtown.

Any other lamb carcass waste gets added to our hot compost and is turned into nutrient-rich compost that can be used across the farm as fertiliser for our arable crops and for tree planting. This eliminates any waste and restarts the cycle the way nature intended.