Helensville Farmers Win Auckland Supreme Award at Ballance Farm Environment Awards
Helensville farmers, Donald and Kirsten Watson of Moreland Pastoral, have been named the Auckland Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
Landpro has signed on as a new strategic partner for the Balance Farm Environment Awards (BFEAs).
The awards are designed to showcase New Zealand farmers and growers who are using innovative business practices that contribute to a sustainable future for the primary industries.
Jason Harvey Wills, Landpro chief executive, says the awards offer an opportunity for farmers and growers to gain constructive feedback from experts in the field and share ideas within the industry.
“We are strongly aligned with the BFEA through one of our core values ‘be your best’, which relates not only to our company and our staff, but to helping our farmers consistently work toward high performance in the environmental space,” he says.
He says the awards are a great way to showcase those who are contributing to the sustainable future of New Zealand farming.
Landpro’s involvement as a strategic partner will see them provide in-kind services to support the awards process.
The company’s key focus to date has been assisting in reviewing the Judging Assessment Framework, aiming to support judges with a more efficient site visit process.
Kim Reilly, national farm environment manager at Landpro, says BFEA have been “great” to work with so far.
“We have been helping them ensure their documentation reflects the most current regulations and issues, as well as reviewing their site visit process,” Reilly says.
She says improving consistency while remaining judges’ autonomy and flexibility are still an important part of the process.
“At Landpro, we are constantly working to educate our customers and partners on current regulation and best practice, which makes this a great fit for us.
“With the new documentation and processes, judges can more easily assess farming practices in relation to the most current challenges and goals we’re seeing in the farming industry here in New Zealand,” she says.
A partnership between Canterbury milk processor Synlait and the world's largest food producer, Nestlé, has been celebrated with a visit to a North Canterbury farm by a group including senior staff from Synlait, the Ravensdown subsidiary EcoPond, and Nestlé's Switzerland head office.
Canterbury milk processor Synlait is blaming what it calls "a perfect storm" of setbacks for a big loss in its half year result for the six months ended January 31, 2026.
More of the same please, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Karl Dean when asked about who should succeed Miles Hurrell as Fonterra chief executive.
A Waikato farmer who set up a 'tinder' for cows - using artificial intelligence to find the perfect bull for each cow - days the first-year results are better than expected.
Fonterra says it's keeping an eye on the Middle East crisis and its implications for global supply chains.
The closure of the McCain processing plant and the recent announcement of 300 job losses at Wattie’s underscore the mounting pressure facing New Zealand’s manufacturing sector, Buy NZ Made says.

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