Northland Award Winners
Northland
Supreme Winners Brian and Gaye Simms Sound
Management of Steep Land Earns Top Farm Environment AwardKaitaia
dairy farmers Brian and Gaye Simms have been named Supreme winners of
the 2010 Northland Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
The Simms
received their award at a Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA)
ceremony in Waitangi on April 21.
They milk a small dairy herd of
up to 112 cows on 111ha farm, west of Kaitaia, but will convert to beef
production at the end of this season.
Northland BFEA judges were
impressed with the couple's sound management of a challenging class of
land and the excellent long-term values they held for the sustainability
of their farm.
The Simms were praised for the hard work they had
put into creating an attractive and diverse landscape while protecting
soils and water "both now and into the future".
While this dairy
season has been heavily affected by the drought, production over the
previous three seasons has averaged 320kg milksolids/cow.
Judges
said this was commendable given the steep nature of the farm.
Cows,
dairy replacements and some dairy beef cattle are farmed on 70ha of
grazing country. The farm also grows about 18ha of pines and 2.5ha of
other exotic tree species. About 9.5ha of native bush has been fenced
and preserved.
Brian has been on the farm for 45 years and in
that time he has developed it from a bracken-covered block into a small
but low-cost dairy and forestry operation.
After fencing off the
native bush, he started fencing streams to reduce stock losses and soil
erosion and make farm management easier. Some trees have been planted
every year and these plantings have been mainly exotic species with a
smaller number of natives.
The farm is drained by one main stream
which bisects the property and enters the Kaitaia River. This stream is
mostly fenced and Brian intends to complete the final stretch in
future.
Stock crossings have been constructed to ensure cattle do
not have to enter waterways. Drinking water is reticulated to all
paddocks and the cattle have ample shade.
Most of the farm's
steeper faces have now been retired from grazing and planted. A
conscious effort has been made to choose exotic species that blend in
with the surrounding native bush.
On steep slopes Brian has
fenced off small strips across the slope using two-wire electric fencing
to exclude cattle. Trees are planted within these strips to protect the
slopes. Judges said this, along with the wide range of species planted,
created an interesting and diverse multiple-use landscape with an
abundance of birdlife.
Careful consideration had also been given
to the location of commercial timber species "where they are most likely
to do well and produce good timber".
Judges said the effort and
commitment the Simms had put into leaving the farm a better place was a
real credit to them.
Both Brian and Gaye are involved in a range
of community activities and have a number of off-farm interests.
As
well as the Supreme award they also won the Northland Regional Council
Water Quality Enhancement Award.
A field day will be held on
their Snelgar Road farm on May 26.
Other category winners in the
2010 Northland Ballance Farm Environment Awards were:
Massey
University Discovery Award: Grant and Kate McCallum,
Maungaturoto
Ballance Nutrient Management Award: Ken
and Janine Hames, Paparoa
PGG Wrightson Land and Life:
jointly awarded to Ken and Janine Hames, Paparoa, and John and
Christine Pedersen, Mangakahia
Hill Laboratories Harvest
Award: Juken New Zealand, Kaitaia
New Zealand Farm
Environment Award Trust Livestock Farm Award: Sandy and Sharyn
Moore, Wairere Farms, Pipiwai
LIC Dairy Farm Merit Award:
Stephen and Ann Kearney, Kerikeri
For more information on the
2010 Northland Ballance Farm Environment Awards, contact BFEA regional
coordinator Gayle Farrell, phone (09)433 1576, email
northland@bfea.org.nz For
more information on the Ballance Farm Environment Awards, contact David
Natzke, General Manager, New Zealand Farm Environment Award Trust, phone
07 834 0400, email
david.natzke@nzfeatrust.org.nz
or visit www.bfea.org.nz
Click here to download the
2010 Northland Winners Brochure.