Monday, 2nd July 2012
Judges Praise Teamwork and Passion of National Farm Environment Award Winners

Blair and Jane Smith and the Minister for Primary Industries, the Hon David Carter
who preseted Blair and Jane the Gordon Stephenson Trophy.
“Passion, pride and productivity” is the motto Blair and Jane Smith apply to their award-winning North Otago farming business.

The Smiths were recently named national winners of the 2012 Ballance Farm Environment Awards, collecting the prestigious Gordon Stephenson trophy at the New Zealand Farm Environment (NZFE) Trust’s Sustainability Showcase in June.

Jane Smith says winning the title was a complete but welcome surprise.

The Supreme winners from the other eight regions were all of an extremely high calibre, she says, and spending time with them was an “inspiring experience”.

“They are all great ambassadors for their industry and for good practice in environmental sustainability.”

Simon Saunders, deputy chairman of the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust and chairman of the national judging panel, says picking a winner from the nine Supreme winners was no easy task. His experienced judging team, which included Jamie Strang, Warwick Catto, Jacqueline Rowarth, Alistair Polson and Paul Lamont, had to make tough decisions.

“All of the Supreme winners demonstrated a huge amount of passion and commitment – not just for their own farming businesses but for New Zealand agriculture as a whole.”
But the Smiths had the ‘X factor’ and this shone through during the formal interview process.

“Blair and Jane are an absolutely fantastic team and they run a very well organised farming operation with an excellent business plan that focuses not only on production but also on social and environmental goals. They have superb leadership skills and they demonstrated great clarity of thought on how they could advance the cause of agriculture in New Zealand.”

While sheep and beef production is the mainstay of their farming operation, Simon says the Smiths also have a deep understanding of New Zealand farming and horticulture in general.

“They are deserved winners of the Gordon Stephenson trophy and they will make excellent ambassadors for New Zealand farming.”

Blair and Jane run Newhaven Farms Ltd – a North Otago sheep, beef, forestry and dairy support operation that spans three family-owned properties totalling 1528ha.

Jane says they entered the 2012 Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards because they wanted to find out what the competition was all about.

“It was a great opportunity to have specialist judges evaluate our farming business.”

The Smiths certainly weren’t expecting to win the Supreme award on their first attempt.

Winning the National award has capped off a great year for the couple and Jane says they were highly motivated by the achievements of last year’s national winners, Southland farmers Grant and Bernie Weller.

She says she and Blair are ready for the responsibility of being ambassadors for New Zealand agriculture “and showing that productivity and environmental sustainability can go hand in hand”.

Entries for the 2013 Ballance Farm Environment Awards open later this year and Jane urges other farmers to give it a go.

“We’d certainly encourage any farmer to enter the awards. It’s worth it for the judging process alone.”
www.bfea.org.nz

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