Farm Environment Award Trust Welcomes Good Farm Stories

Ballance Farm Environment Award winners feature prominently in a project initiated by Jeanette Fitzsimons to showcase innovative farms pioneering sustainable practices.

Launched in late November, the 'Good Farm Stories' website showcases farmers who "are passionate about their farms, and are thinking deeply, long-term and outside the square".

A number of former BFEA entrants are featured, including three Supreme winners.

New Zealand Farm Environment Award (NZFEA) Trust chairman Jim Cotman welcomed the initiative.

"Mainstream media often tends to focus on the bad news stories, so it's great to see a website like this that focuses on the positive."

Mr Cotman says the 'Good Farm Stories' website mirrors what the Ballance Farm Environment Awards have been doing for ten years. "The awards are about making role models out of those people who are farming in a way that is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable."

He says the awards highlight the efforts of farmers who are passionate about sustainability and are using innovative techniques to mitigate environmental impacts, without compromising profitability.

Jeanette Fitzsimons, former co-leader of the Green Party, attended the BFEA National Showcase in June and Jim Cotman says she was clearly impressed by the presentations on the award winners.

One of the key aims of the BFEA programme is to show the wider public that most farmers care very much about environmental sustainability.

"It's very important to us that others recognise what we see out there."

Mr Cotman says the NZFEA Trust website is another great source of positive stories, featuring detailed and inspiring reports on category and Supreme award winners from the eight regions involved.

For more information visit www.nzfeatrust.org.nz
For more information, contact Jim Cotman, ph, 07 826 7898, or David Natzke, General Manager, New Zealand Farm Environment Awards Trust, phone 07 834 0400, email david.natzke@nzfeatrust.org.nz or visit www.bfea.org.nz