In 2002, the Ballance Farm Environment Awards were established to take the Waikato initiative nationwide. The awards are held in eight regions across New Zealand.
We introduced the awards to our region in 2005-06 through partnership with the Farm Environment Awards Trust.
The key objectives of the awards are to encourage sustainable land management and to display to farmers that profitability need not compromise and, in the best examples, can restore and enhance environmental values.
Through feedback and profiling winners, the awards encourage other farmers to be more proactive on their resource management by providing them with role models and practical ideas for sustainable land management.
Previous Supreme Award winners and recipients of our Water Quality Enhancement Award include:
2009
- Supreme winners: Peter and Pam Kelly, Omamari
- Northland Regional Council Water Quality Enhancement Award: John and Jo Wood, Pipiwai
2008
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Supreme winners: Lindsay and Erica Whyte, Taupo Bay
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Northland Regional Council Water Quality Enhancement Award: Doug and Sally Lane, Kaeo
2007
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Supreme winners: Evan and Sherleen Smeath, Hukerenui
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Northland Regional Council Water Quality Enhancement Award: Bruce and Helen Bell, Ohaeawai
2006
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Supreme winners: The Jack Family, Pakaraka
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Northland Regional Council Water Quality Enhancement Award: Ian and June Wilson, Kerikeri
To find out more about the supreme and the other award winners, visit the Ballance Farm Environment Awards website: www.nzfeatrust.org.nz
Why should I enter?
The awards help many farming businesses to enhance their asset in a variety of ways. Many past participants have entered to learn new ways of doing things.
Farmers have said that the benefits to be gained from entering include:
- The opportunity to confidentially discuss practical farm information and business with judges;
- The whole farm is looked at, that is environmental, financial and social elements, not just this year’s bottom-line;
- New ideas and different methods learned from other entrants and judges;
- Receiving a constructive feedback report that describes the strengths and areas of improvement for their whole farm operation;
- Extending their networks throughout the region and across different farm types;
- An Awards night and Field Day; and
- Helping them focus on the direction they were wanting to head in.
What awards are there?
Your entry will automatically be considered for the following awards:
Supreme Award
The Supreme Winner is chosen from the 'Best of the Best', i.e. one from the group of finalists that is chosen to represent the region.
- $3000 package including products and cash from all the sponsors.
Ballance Nutrient Management Award
This award focuses on the wise use of nutrients for productivity while demonstrating excellent care for the environment around them. A very good understanding of nutrient cycles needs to be demonstrated. Nutrient budgeting must be understood and well documented. The impacts of nutrients on both surface and groundwater will need to be understood and well managed.
- $1000 cash/product
Beef + Lamb New Zealand Livestock Farm Award
This award recognises the livestock farmer (other than dairy) who demonstrates in a practical way the choices that have been made on the farm for the long term. Considerations will be made around the wise use of the land, labour and capital resource available or created. Stock will be well cared for. Stock class and type will be well suited to the land contour and soil type and managed appropriately to suit those soils.
- $1000 cash/services
Donaghys Farm Stewardship Award
This Award is for the creation of special places on farm and may include protection and/or enhancement of cultural, historic, or unique natural or manmade features. There is also a need to demonstrate management systems that improve productivity and sustainability.
- $1000 cash/product
Hill Laboratories Harvest Award
(e.g. Horticulture, Cropping, Viticulture etc)
This award recognises the farmer who is predominantly involved in growing crops, (e.g. grain, seed, viticulture, horticulture) who demonstrates in a practical way the choices that have been made on the farm for the long term. Consideration will include the effect the cropping system has on the land resource and its effect on the water resource. Nutrient use and effect will also be considered. Some formal monitoring or measuring of effects of cropping on these resources would be a positive. Demonstration of a good understanding of weed and pest management is also required.
- $1000 cash/product
LIC Dairy Farm Award
This award recognises the dairy farmer who demonstrates in a practical way the long-term choices that have been made on the farm. Consideration is given around the wise use of the land, labour and capital resource available or created. Increasingly, the effects of dairy farming on both surface and groundwater, and its impact on soil properties, are factors the judges will consider.
- $1000 cash/product
Massey University Discovery Award
The Discovery Award is given in recognition of new discovery and implementation of economically and environmentally sustainable farming systems. The Award recognises farmers and farming families who have been proactive in discovering new knowledge and applying that knowledge to move their farming business to a more sustainable state. The winner will receive $1000, and in addition be able to nominate a person from their region to receive a fees scholarship to an appropriate professional development short course at Massey University (subject to entry requirements).
- $1000 cash/services
Meridian Energy Excellence Award
Driving excellence in utilising on farm opportunities to generate or maximise energy efficiently.
- $1000 cash/services
New Zealand Farm Environment Award Trust Habitat Improvement Award
This is for “special places” of habitat that have been protected or created to enhance the farm business. The habitat may add value by protecting stock or crops from adverse weather or may add value by adding to the diversity of the farm. It may include trees or other plantings, wetlands created or restored or unique characteristics of the land or area protected from stock or predators.
– $1000 cash/voucher
Northland Regional Council Water Quality Award
This award recognises the process that the land manager is taking to enhance and/or protect quality and biodiversity values in the water that flows through and from their property. It takes into account progress towards limiting pollutant input to water through farm management and fertilizer application practices, as well as sound riparian management.
- $1000 cash
PGG Wrightson Land and Life Award
This award is focused more on the all-important ‘people’ side of the farming business. The personal beliefs of pride and passion for the land will be a key part of the considerations. A community spirit will be evident, along with a very good relationship with external ‘advice or support’ from agribusiness people.
Intergenerational thinking and planning is often a feature.
- $1000 cash/product
The judging process
What happens?
You will be consulted regarding a suitable time for the judging team to visit. Generally, these visits take half a day to a day, depending on the scale of your farm. This is a chance to get free, independent feedback on a variety of farm management issues, so make the most of it!
Each judging team is made up of 3-4 people. A team will generally include a farmer who has been a past BFEA achiever, as well as specialists from organisations such as the Regional Council, Department of Conservation, QE II Trust, sponsor representatives and other farm consultancies and professionals.
If you are chosen as a finalist you will be asked to suggest a time for a farm visit by the final round judges. To retain consistency in the judging process, a single team “re-assesses” all the finalists.
What will they want to know?
The BFEA judging process is NOT about ticking off checklists, pointing out mistakes, poring over accounts or putting you on the spot. The team wants to see what you’re proud of on your farm. They’ll look at how you are approaching your particular farming situation, the challenges you think it presents and the appropriate and/or innovative ways you have chosen to meet these challenges. They will observe how you’re thinking about the whole farm system and how that system is performing financially, socially and environmentally.
The judges will want to hear about your vision for the farm, how you intend to get there and how well this plan is understood by everyone involved. The team realises that time, money and labour constraints affect how fast you can make progress and doesn’t expect all the elements of your plan to be in place. However, they will want to see how you are making steady, tangible steps in the right direction.
Sometimes the judging team may feel that a piece of the sustainable management jigsaw has been overlooked. You may already be aware of the issue and have a management strategy ‘in the wings’ but, if not, the judges may make suggestions about how to address the gap. Again, their objective is not to pick faults but to make sure you have all the tools at your disposal to keep improving.
It’s not all about winning
At the end of the day, the judging process does produce a Regional Supreme Award Winner, but in reality the BFEA celebrates all entrants. The judges feel that anyone who is taking steps towards sustainable farm management is a winner and that it is a privilege to be invited onto your farm. They try to make judging an encouraging, exciting and rewarding process.
Past entrants have found the awards an excellent way to benchmark progress and gain access to valuable information and people that can help them achieve their sustainable farm management goals.
Conditions of entry
With these awards, a farm will be defined as a business enterprise based on the productive or amenity use of soils or other natural resources.
The entrant's property must be within the boundaries of the Northland Regional Council (check your rates assessment).
The Trust reserves the right not to judge an entry if it deems the farm does not fit the overall objectives of the awards, and not to allocate a prize in a category should there be insufficient numbers.
The property must be an economically viable farming enterprise.
The entrant agrees to participate in and assist with publicity of any Regional and/or National Event, as deemed by the NZFEA Trust. Each finalist will be filmed and the resulting video and content becomes the property of the NZFEA Trust to be used to promote the BFEA programme.
Prizes are not transferable.
Apply to enter here!
Entries for the 2012-2013 Northland Ballance Farm Environment Awards will open 1 August 2012.
Enter the Northland Ballance Farm Environment Awards
Further information
For more information, please contact the Regional Co-ordinator, Steph Gordon.
Phone: 09 432 0037
Mobile: 021 451 501
Email: steph@bfea.org.nz
Web: www.nzfeatrust.org.nz
Regional partner:
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National partners:
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The Ballance Farm Environment awards are run under the auspices of the New Zealand Farm Environment Award Trust.