Good advice for entrants in environment awards
Manawatu Standard: 12 Oct 2010
Entries for the Horizons Ballance Farm Environment Awards close at the end of the month, and coordinator Shelley Dew–Hopkins is calling for more.
She says she would like to see more horticulture and market gardening entrants.
‘‘Market gardeners entering would be great. We don’t see enough of them in the awards.’’
Last year’s winners, David and Maureen Smith, are also encouraging people to enter.
Mr and Mrs Smith and their son Cameron run a 345-hectare farm and sheep stud called Holly Farm at Upper Tutaenui, north of Marton. They won the livestock farm and innovation award in 2009.
The judges were impressed with the Smiths’ use of innovative technologies to improve sheep performance, with a strong focus on parasite resistance, production, longevity and survivability.
Mr Smith says their aim is to make their low-input, high-performance system as sustainable as possible – given the variability associated with soil type, climate and contour –while also producing a ‘‘clean, green product’’.
Holly Farm has a farm stay that attracts a range of local and international visitors, and this has made the Smith family very aware of how consumers perceive New Zealand agriculture. ‘‘ We are only a small country and it’s very important that we live up to our environmentally friendly image,’’ says Mr Smith. ‘‘Our visitors love to see clean, healthy sheep roaming around the hills.’’
The Smiths have entered the Ballance Farm Environment Awards twice in the past five years, and the key reason was to find out where their farm stood in terms of sustainability.
Mr Smith says the judging process was relaxed and they received great feedback.
‘‘It’s a very good learning experience, and it was good to be able to ask the judges as many questions as we wanted. Free advice for farmers is pretty hard to find these days, so you’d be a mug not to pick their brains.’’
Mr Smith says the awards offer valuable information on topics like waterway protection and tree planting for shade, shelter, commercial production and slope stability.
The judges also provide information on how to seek funding assistance for environmental protection work.
‘‘I think it’s [the awards] a very good thing to be involved with,’’ Mr Smith says.
‘‘A farm doesn’t have to be a factory.
‘‘Fencing waterways and planting trees for shade and shelter will not only make the farm more productive, but it will also make it a more pleasant place to live and work.’’