Southland winners
Pride, passion and planning lead to Supreme Award
Gore farmers John, Fay and Jeff Keen have taken out the Supreme Award in the 2005 Southland Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
The Keens’ mission statement epitomises the pride, passion and planning the family has put into their farm. It reads:
‘To use a holistic management approach to farming the property, in order to achieve above average performance with below average costs. This will be undertaken with the aim of being financially, environmentally and socially sustainable.’
The Keens’ Longridge North property is 870ha, with 600ha in effective farmland, 53ha in tree plantations of Pinus radiata, Douglas fir, macrocarpa and shelterbelts, and the final 217ha native and other trees on hill country.
John and Fay bought the property in 1979 when it was a pastoral run, with limited development and only 85ha cultivated land. Since then, the couple has run an extensive development programme, increasing the stocking rate from 2200 stock units to 5500 stock units – 4200 sheep and 1300 beef units. The couple’s son, Jeff, is now managing the farm on a day-to-day basis.
Finalist judge David Clarke described the property as a very good example of the development of hill country in a way that is unlikely to cause adverse effects to the environment.
The farm runs Perendale ewes for their easy care lambing and survivability, with the past two years returning a 130 percent lambing to sale. The aim now is to lift that to 140 percent and reduce losses from scanning to sale, which are currently 18 percent. As part of that aim, the native area on the property is being developed to provide more shelter for ewes lambing.
The property was planted out with several shelterbelts with the then Catchment Board subsidies, because of the farm’s exposure to north-west winds. Those plantings have continued, firstly for shelter and also in forestry and amenity areas.
The Keens finish their lambs on safer grazing pasture, which are two-year-old pastures grazed only by cattle. Faecal egg counting worm burdens are monitored and drenching is only done if needed.
This has proved a valuable tool in the quest to reduce animal health costs and labour input, with the aim of a worm-resistant flock.
Other winners were:
PPCS Best Livestock AwardAlister and Kate MacKintosh, Mt Surprise, Wyndham
Livestock Improvement Dairy Farm Award
Hugh and Monica Luoni, Riverton
Ballance Nutrient Management Award
Hugh and Monica Luoni, Riverton
ANZ Grow Award
Graeme, Elspeth, John and Jo Gardyne, Gore
Hill Laboratories Harvest Award
Graeme, Elspeth, John and Jo Gardyne, Gore
Gallagher Innovation Awards
John and Liz Chittock, Jeff Farm
Frans and Jeanine Venekamp
More information is available here