Farmers demonstrate commitment to sustainability

3 May 2007

Northland farmers demonstrate commitment to sustainability at Ballance Farm Environment Awards

The Northland farmers who won the region's Ballance Farm Environment Awards this year are "industry leaders in sustainable farming", and Ballance Agri-Nutrients Chief Executive Larry Bilodeau urges other farmers in the area to take the opportunity to learn from their practices.

"The balancing act of profitably and sustainability is borne out time and again as awards participants demonstrate that business success can be achieved without compromising environmental sustainability. So to the Smeath family, we congratulate you as industry leaders," says Mr Bilodeau.

The Smeath family of Hukerenui was announced as the supreme winner of this year's Northland Ballance Farm Environment Awards at the awards ceremony last night.

This was particularly good news for the dairy farming couple, as their farm had recently been badly affected by the Northland floods.

Heavy flooding in late March left half of Evan and Sherleen Smeath's Hukerenui farm under water, causing considerable damage to fences and pastures.

Prior to the flooding the Smeaths had been visited by the Ballance Farm Environment Award judges who were impressed by the "exceptionally well-maintained farm which is being managed in a sustainable manner by a couple with an obvious love of the land and wider area."

They farm 167ha of flat to steep contour and milk 260 Jersey cows on a milking platform of 105ha.

Evan and Sherleen bought the self-contained unit in 1978 and over the last three decades they have lifted production from 13,000kg Milksolids to 90,000kg MS while making numerous improvements to the farm.

A public field day will be held on their farm in mid-May, and Mr Bilodeau encourages farmers to attend the field day to see first hand the winning sustainable farming initiatives in their region.

"The awards play a vital role in the agricultural industry because of their capacity to increase industry knowledge and act as a showcase for farmers' commitment to sustainable practices."

Mr Bilodeau says that this year awards entrants have been expected to go above and beyond previous year's efforts as the industry enters a new era of sustainable farm management with pressures from the draft Climate Change Policy recently distributed by the Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry placing extra demands on farmers to commit to sustainable practices now and in the future.

"Methods that were considered innovative two or three years ago are now considered normal farming practice, hence making it more important than ever before to stretch our thinking outside of the norm to come up with novel ways to look after our environment, while of course considering the impacts this will have on our bottom line."

As a key sponsor of the awards, Ballance reaffirms its support for its most visible commitment to sustainability.

"Assisting farmers to farm sustainably fits clearly with Ballance's core values, and we are extremely proud to continue sponsorship of these awards," says Mr Bilodeau.

All land-based farmers are eligible to enter the awards, which are held in eight regions throughout the country every year.

ENDS

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