Winners enjoy party within a party
Hiwinui farmers scoop supreme prize at Horizons Farm Environment Awards
Palmerston North dairy farmers James, Debbie, Dave and Jan Stewart have celebrated 25 years since their business was incorporated by winning a major environmental award.
The Stewarts, who farm at Hiwinui on the outskirts of the city, have won the Regional Supreme Award at the Horizons Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
The Stewarts farm 800 cows across 580 hectares.
While Stewart Dairylands was established in 1999, five generations of Stewarts have farmed the land since 1886.
James Stewart said he was not expecting to win the award as the other entrants were good farmers and he had not written a speech.
His arm was twisted on the day nominations closed.
He described the evening, a day before the incorporation anniversary, as a “party within a party”.
Stewart Dairylands also won seven other awards and the owners were still having their photo taken with the sponsor for one award when it was announced the business had won another award.
The judges were impressed with well-planned infrastructure developments, including a new dairy shed with solar panels, and a modern effluent system with a separator.
They noted that the Stewarts continuously seek improvement and innovation in stock management, infrastructure and technology.
The Stewarts look ahead not 10 or 20 years but 100 years.
The judges said the business’s commitment to promoting the dairy industry to the wider community had been exceptional, embracing farming in a “goldfish bowl”.
A biodiversity site, walkway, wetland area and native corridors add beauty to the property, which visitors, the community and birdlife enjoy.
“People come and go, but the land remains forever. We don’t own it, we just pay for the privilege to look after it. It is now our turn,” Dave Stewart told the judges.
Stewart Dairylands also won the: ■ Bayleys People in Primary Sector Award
■ DairyNZ Sustainability and Stewardship Award
■ Rabobank Agri-Business Management Award
■ NZ Farm Environment Trust Biodiversity Award
■ NZ Farm Environment Trust Innovation Award
■ NZ Farm Environment Trust Climate Recognition Award
■ Margaret Matthews Trophy for Commitment to Sustainability.
Mark Chrystall, Richard Chrystall and Rob Collier, owners of Spring Farms at Moawhango near Taihape, won the Beef + Lamb NZ Livestock Farm Award and the Hill Labs AgriScience Award.
Hugh and Noelene Donald, owners of Toa Toa Farming at Kakatahi (between Whanganui and Raetihi), won the Horizons Regional Council Award for the Integration of Trees.
Peter and Ally Apthorp and Nathan Ebbett, owners of Springview Agriculture near Pahiatua, won the Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Management Award and the Norwood Farming Efficiency Award.
The Ballance Farm Environment Awards are run by the NZ Farm Environment Trust and champion sustainable farming and growing. The 11 supreme winners will be considered for the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the trust’s National Showcase in Hamilton in June.
About 225 people attended the awards dinner at the Awapuni Function Centre in Palmerston North on March 14. A vase of grass sitting on a slice of tree, surrounded by pine cones, chestnuts and corn cobs, decorated each table.
Finalist Mark Chrystall from Spring Farms said the next generation is driving change in the environmental space. Spring Farms’ owners tried to adopt best practice in whatever the farm did and they talk about a threelegged stool – if one of the financial, environmental or social legs fail, the stool falls over.
Finalist Hugh Donald said he and his wife Noelene Donald write shortterm, long-term and long-long-term goals in a “little blue book”. They know they are never going to be able to achieve them all but their son and daughter love the sheep and beef farm at Kakatahi. They know the goals and are keen are to carry on.
Ally Apthorp from Springview Agriculture said one cannot separate financial and environmental sustainability.
If you can’t manage your resources well and ensure that you’re not degrading future production and profitability, then it’s a flawed business model.
It is important to choose the right plant species and stock the farm appropriately and seasonally so as not to damage your soils, she said.