Canterbury farmers given the chance to get expert feedback and celebrate sustainable farming

Entries are now open for the 2017 Canterbury Region Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA).

The Awards, which have been running in the region for 15 years, celebrate responsible land stewardship and sustainable farm management.

When a farmer enters the awards, a team of judges visit the farm to discuss the entire farming operation, exchange ideas, and offer advice.

Joanne van Polanen, Deputy Chair of the NZFE Trust, said many farmers believe the judging process itself makes entering the awards a worthwhile experience.

“The awards recognise and celebrate that good on-farm management practices are beneficial to the business as well as the environment and provide a platform for sharing these practices with the wider farming community.

“They also give farmers an opportunity to benchmark their farming business with others and receive independent feedback from a team of highly experienced and knowledgeable judges.

“Past entrants have told us that the judging process is very valuable ranging from established farmers who want feedback on what they’ve been doing, to younger farmers or farmers going through a development period that want some advice and ideas from experienced judges,” she said.

2016 Canterbury Ballance Environment Award Supreme winners Geraldine share-milkers Joe and Suz Wyborn said they enjoyed the judging experience.
"We would definitely recommend it to anybody. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole process, it was well worthwhile - a very positive experience."

This year the Wyborns received the Supreme Award as well as Environment Canterbury Water Quality Award, WaterForce Integrated Management Award, LIC Dairy Farm Award, Massey University Innovation Award, and Hill Laboratories Harvest Award.

Judges said: “The Wyborns are extremely focused on developing and articulating processes and systems that allow the farm to run efficiently”.

Judges also noted the couple’s “outstanding adoption of technology…they monitor and measure, but most importantly they make full use of data in their decisions.”

A field day was held at their property in May which drew a crowd of more than 150 people.

At the Field Day Environment Canterbury Chair of Commissioners Dame Margaret Bazley said; “Joe and Suz have taken a leadership role in demonstrating the benefits of innovative farm management and every farmer that takes action to address their impact on the environment helps protect the long term sustainability of the farming industry.”

Since 2002 the Canterbury Regional awards have involved more than 220 entrants, 80 trained judges, as well as 15 farming businesses being awarded Supreme Awards and around 70 receiving category awards.

The nation-wide awards are run across 11 regions by the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust (NZFE). A National Award, the Gordon Stephenson Trophy, is awarded to a Supreme Award recipient at a Sustainability Showcase held in June.

The period for entering the Canterbury awards is open until 31 October 2016, with an awards evening scheduled for late March 2016.

Visit www.bfea.org.nz for further details on the awards and the award categories and click here for information on the 2016 Canterbury regional winners.

The website also includes information about past-winners, representing a range of farming sectors, including details of their farm management practices.

ENDS

© Scoop Media