Our history

For 20 years Ngapouri Research Farm has facilitated world-class research and collaboration with scientists, academics and commercial partners. Specialising in sheep-based biomedical, basic, and applied research, it has played a significant role in the development of innovative new treatments and products for human and animal health.

In the early 1990s nutritional trials took place at AgResearch’s Ruakura Research Centre in Hamilton and later at leased farms in the Bombay Hills region. However, larger programmes of research into the effects of periconceptional undernutrition on later fetal and postnatal life required upgraded facilities.

The first research to take place on-site at Ngapouri (then part of Landcorp’s Pāmu Farms) was a commercial trial looking at immune potentiation of a pregnancy hormone in sheep. Conducted by Dr Mark Oliver and Auckland-based colleagues, this research helped form a relationship between the then newly-established Liggins Institute and Landcorp that led to the development of a combined surgery and feedlot facility on the current site.

The first large experiments completed at Ngapouri explored the impact of maternal undernutrition on the health of offspring as adults, specifically stress hormones, glucose regulation and obesity. The studies used individual pens to carefully manage food intake from two months before mating to six months post-birth. 

The resulting lambs were studied for four years. A tissue collection facility and fume hood for histological fixing was developed to allow the team to gather data from the animals post-mortem. 

By 2008 the range of experiments conducted onsite had increased to include studies of lambs born prematurely, growth restricted lambs and collaborative studies with the University of Copenhagen, Massey University and AgResearch. Mark was also undertaking commercial consulting work on site for agri-business companies via UniServices.

Gregg Pardoe became the resident farm facility and livestock manager in 2011. Since then, research has continued to diversify at Ngapouri, beyond the core perinatal biology work. New projects have ranged from orthopaedic and cardiac work through to med-tech devices (including collaborating on FDA studies) and pharmacokinetics.

The farm’s laboratory team were highly commended in the 2018 University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Awards for their commitment to health, safety, and wellbeing.

Ngapouri Research Farm continues to conduct a wide range of biomedical and agricultural research including maternal nutrition, metabolic management, and the prevention and mitigation of disease. It offers an extended breeding season for pregnancy work and is suitable for longitudinal studies with animals monitored on site between interventions.

Due to its rural location in the geothermal zone, the farm is also well suited to research in soil ecology, wetland management, geology, climate change, and pest animal management.