Accolades in agriculture

Waikato dairy farmer Neil Bateup has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to agriculture, especially his championing of rural support trusts.

He was appointed the first chairman of the National Council of Trusts in 2006, having been a founding member of the Waikato-Hauraki-Coromandel Trust.

Bateup said farmers faced multiple stressors, including finances, weather, relationships and burnout, but because of the nature of their work they often lacked the support network that others in the community could count on.

He has been involved with Young Farmers, Waikato Federated Farmers, the Livestock Improvement Association, the New Zealand Co-Op Dairy Company, and the Fonterra Shareholders Council.

After 52 years’ dairy farming, Bateup has only now handed the reins over to a contract milker but he retains an active interest in the business.

‘‘Farming’s been good to me so my leadership roles have been a way of giving back to the community.’’

Former Federated Farmers president Dr William Rolleston has been made a Companion of the Order.

Rolleston, who helped set up the ‘‘Farmy Army’’ after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, was humbed by the honour and said the real recognition needed to go to the nation’s thousands of farmers.

After a career as a general practice doctor, Rolleston co-established the biotechnology company South Pacific Sera in 1988.

He was the founding chairman of the Biotechnology Industry Organisation and of the Life Sciences Network, an umbrella organisation which advocates for science-based regulation of genetic modification.

Rolleston will continue to play an active role in science as the chairman of Genomics Aotearoa, based at Otago University. He also oversees the 4000-hectare Blue Cliffs station.

Former dairy farmer Penny Mudford has been made an Officer of the Order chiefly for her work in dispute resolution, although she has held other leadership roles in the primary sector.

The Wellingtonian believed dispute resolution was better valued today than when she first entered the field, and was a helpful process for farmers who became bogged down in problems related to finances and personal relationships.

‘‘Being a farmer, I have been able to bring that background into the role. I’ve also done the training and have learned from very skilled people.’’

A passion for farming as a young man on the family farm set Southlander Stuart Collie on his career path. He was made an Officer of the Order following a lifetime of service to Federated Farmers and local government.

Collie was vice-chairman and chairman of the arable section of Federated Farmers between 1981 and 1990, vicepresident of the federation from 1990 to 1996, and is a former chairman of Environment Southland.