increase font size
New Zealand Farm Environment Trust general manager James Ryan.
The Ballance Farm Environment Awards has launched a new Catchment Group Award as part of its 2021 awards programme.
The new award, which is supported by the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust and NZ Landcare Trust, is designed to commend catchment groups and the work they do across New Zealand.
“It’s a natural fit between two not-forprofit organisations partnering to support farmers and celebrate the efforts of rural communities working together to drive environmental improvements,” James Ryan, general manager of the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust told Rural News.
The award is open to catchment groups from all eleven regions in which the awards operate.
Ryan says that aside from the new honour, other awards on the programme have been updated “to ensure that it aligns with the latest sector thinking around good practice”.
He says the new criteria have been tested with both farming and rural professionals and the trust believes participants will be provided with clear guidelines of the assessment framework.
On the subject of potential winners, Ryan says the judges are looking particularly for innovation.
“We cater for farmers and growers at all stages of their sustainability journey and encourage people to get involved regardless of where they see themselves on this journey. To be successful in winning an award we expect to see examples of innovation and a commit- ment to stewardship,” he explains.
A new partnership with Farmax will see award entrants receive Farmax analysis, including greenhouse gas emissions numbers and mitigation options.
“Farmax is thrilled to be supporting the awards which showcase some of the country’s most sustainable and profitable farmers,” says Farmax chief executive Gavin McEwen.
“The awards align with the core belief of Farmax, which is that profitable and productive farms are not mutually exclusive from sustainable ones,” McEwen adds.
With entries now open for the Ballance Farm Environment Awards, organisers have launched a campaign to bust some of the biggest myths they think might be preventing farmers and growers from putting themselves forward.
Seven catchment groups across New Zealand have been awarded $10,000 grants as part of the Westpac Water Care Project.
Michelle and Tony Roberts didn't inherit the farming business they have today. They’ve built it from the ground up.
The bumpy road you travel on teachs you a lot, believes Don Watson. And that’s the message he and wife Kirsten, supreme winners of the Auckland Ballance Farm Environment Awards, aim to pass on to their three sons.
Helensville farmers, Donald and Kirsten Watson of Moreland Pastoral, have been named the Auckland Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
As the cost-of-living crisis continues to put pressure on household grocery budgets, new figures show pork remains one of the most affordable fresh meat options for New Zealand families.
OPINION: In politics, credibility is and should be big. It must surely rank higher than charisma, which is quite trite and superficial. Yet, voters nowadays are often wooed and influenced by how someone looks or talks at a superficial level. TV plays a huge role in this.
Farmers can spend less time on paperwork, thanks to a new data sharing agreement between DairyNZ’s DairyBase and LIC’s MINDA software.
Kaikōura families affected by July's severe storm have found a practical solution to a problem that's kept some children away from regular schooling for weeks: a washed-out section of Inland Kaikōura Road, which has stopped the local school bus from running its usual route.
Rural New Zealand is welcoming the Government’s recent package of rural healthcare initiatives.
Interest in agritech and production animal systems has prompted Massey University's School of Agriculture and the Environment to new majors to its popular animal science degree.
OPINION: The same mainstream media muppets that brought you Jacindamania in 2017 have been flat out pimping for the Opportunities…
OPINION: Your old mate reckons the atrocious way farmers in the UK are treated by their lords and masters in…
