Organisers of the Ballance Farm Environment Awards are praising the high standard of entrants this year, with another string of Supreme winners honoured for their commitment to environmental sustainability.
Award ceremonies for the 2008 competition concluded on May 9 when the Horizons region named Rangitikei farmer Ian Cummings as Supreme winner.
The Bay of Plenty title went to Whakatane sheep and beef farmers Chris and Antoinette Mountfort, with King Country dairy farmers Derek and Marion Kloeten taking out the Waikato Supreme award.
Taupo Bay farmers Lindsay and Erica Whyte were Supreme winners for the Northland region, and John and Yvonne Harvey and their eldest daughter Rebecca Madden won the title in the Greater Wellington awards.
In the South Island, Mayfield farmers Mark and Nicky Morrow won the Canterbury Supreme title, and Wanaka farmers Richard and Sarah Burdon were Supreme winners for Otago. Earl and Vicki Dillon won the title for the Southland region.
As well as Supreme award winners, a host of other category award winners were recognised for their efforts in improving environmental management.
NZ Farm Environment Award Trust general manager David Natzke says the calibre of Supreme and category award winners was again very impressive.
“This year was a very difficult one climatically, so you have to admire the courage of people who entered in a year when most farms were looking far from their best.”
This year’s Supreme winners will gather at a National Showcase event in Palmerston North on June 27.
“Horizons Regional Council has been very supportive of the Ballance Farm Environment Awards and we are delighted they are hosting region for this event,” says Mr Natzke. “One of the highlights of this year’s regional award ceremonies for me was seeing past Supreme winners continuing to extol the virtues of the event. Their enthusiasm and passion for sustainable farming is infectious, and they genuinely regard it as a privilege to have been involved with the awards. It’s this type of commitment that will ensure this competition goes from strength to strength.”
The Ballance Farm Environment Awards celebrate the people who are farming in a manner that is economically, environmentally and socially sustainable. Key sponsors include Ballance Agri-Nutrients, PPCS, LIC, Gallagher Group, Hill Laboratories and PGG Wrightson.
The awards are also backed by Environment Waikato, Environment Bay of Plenty, Greater Wellington Regional Council, Horizons Regional Council, Environment Canterbury, Otago Regional Council and the Northland Regional Council.
