2006 Otago BFEA Winners

Mt Aspiring wins Supreme Award

The 2006 Otago Ballance Farm Environment Supreme Award has gone to Mount Aspiring Station farmers John and Sue Aspinall. Steeped in a 150 years of history and just under 100 years of family history, 10,000 hectares of crown-leased Mount Aspiring Station stands very proud in its iconic location bordering Mount Aspiring National Park.

It’s pretty hard to describe exactly what sustainability means, but if you were handing out awards for understanding and implementing all of the key components that make it up, you’d be hard stretched to pass by the Aspiring Aspinalls.

The Aspinall family is incredibly generous when it comes to sharing their home and farm with the 70,000–80,000 visitors that find their way up the Matukituki Valley each year. They have made every effort to make the property available for an amazing variety of recreational activities and so that people can enjoy the conservation values of the property. This generosity has contributed greatly to public appreciation of the wider Matukituki and Mount Aspiring National Park environment.

What really impressed the judges is the way the Aspinalls have actively managed the conservation values present on the property. These include ongoing work planting huge numbers of trees and undertaking protection work to stabilise stream banks, strategic approach to development, with 70% of the property described as being in active conservation management. Add to this the protection of a nationally threatened tree daisy and John’s pivotal role in setting up and managing the Hieracium control trust, active involvement in the Lakes Landcare trust and the Otago Conservation Board and you start to get an insight into the depth of understanding the Aspinalls have about balancing farming and conservation.

The active management of conservation values has not been at the expense of production - through careful business planning, hard work and considered development the farm has reached some impressive levels of stock performance.

The Aspinalls have stabilised a Romney-Perendale cross with some recent injection of Texel genes into the mix. They also have a recorded flock and rams are carefully selected from that flock to optimise stock performance in often trying climatic conditions.

This management and strict selection criteria has resulted in the achievement of 130% lambing, impressive demand for store lambs and excess breeding stock.

Which is all rather surprising when you consider John and Sue’s substantial list of off-farm involvement that has included a respected and lengthy tenure on the National Board of Federated Farmers, participation in Ministerial advisory groups the latest being the land access panel, hundreds of hours of dedication to ensuring lakes farmers were left with a workable district plan, involvement in Landcare and conservation groups and an ongoing commitment from Sue to growing the Wanaka show.

Monitoring and planning have to be key features of all top-performing businesses to assist in making sound decisions and Mount Aspiring is no different in this regard. Soil macronutrient levels in intensively grazed areas are regularly assessed and monitored, more expansive vegetation has transect plots that are visited regularly and are good decision making tools used in everyday management.

Strategic and business planning on Mount Aspiring involves the whole family and has lead to the formation of an impressive business plan and integration of all of the resources available to achieve a sustainable model that will provide for three children and keep the family history alive for generations to come.

The Aspinalls also won the Otago Regional Council Leadership in Sustainable Land Management Award.

Other winners were:

PGG Wrightson Habitat Award
John and Shona Chapman, Mihiwaka Farm, Port Chalmers

Gallagher Innovation Award
Rippon Vineyard – Nick Mills

Hill Laboratories Harvest Award
Kawarau Estate Vineyard - Cat Maclachan, Vineyard Manager

LIC Dairy Award
Alistair and Josanne Megaw, Tapanui

Ballance Nutrient Management Award
Alistair and Josanne Megaw, Tapanui

PPCS Livestock Award
Paul and Susie Corboy, Skilbister Farm, Milton

Rabobank Land and Life Award
Donald and Joan Gordon, Crofthead Farm

Special Regional Award
John and Heather Prebble, Mt Blue, Dunback, North Otago

More information on the winning farms is available here.