Mr and Mrs Gilder manage Waitepeka Farm, Landcorp's southernmost farm, which comprises three farms in an integrated farming system.
A field day was held on Thursday, giving the public a first-hand view of the impressive and attractive farming operation.
It comprises Waitepeka Farm which runs 800 mixed-age hinds, 600 rising one-year stags/fawns, 1000 mixed-age ewes, 450 rising 1-year dairy heifers and 300 rising 1-year beef steers and heifers; Dunns Dairy which has a 50-bail rotary shed milking 720 cows at the peak; and Landsdown Dairy which has a 50-bail rotary shed milking 820 cows at the peak. A run-off block 5km away is leased.
The awards judging focused on the two dairy units and Waitepeka also collected the LIC dairy farm award and the PGG Wrightson land and life award.
Mr Gilder was quick to stress that the award was not just about him and his wife - it was a team effort involving their 10 permanent staff and 5 to 6 casual staff.
"This is about everybody who works on Landcorp Waitepeka Farm. All our staff have been involved in presenting it the way it is and running it," he said.
Entering the awards was an experience they had both enjoyed. It made them stop and reflect on what they and their team had achieved, Mrs Gilder said.
She encouraged other farmers to "give it a go", saying it was an opportunity to meet like-minded people, extend knowledge and share that knowledge with each other.
Mr and Mrs Gilder farmed on their own account at Heriot before leaving in 1990 to work for Landcorp on a property at Clifton, just south of Balclutha.
Nearly 13 years ago, they moved to Waitepeka which, at that stage, was a sheep and beef property.
They converted it to lamb and beef finishing and, about three years later, they were told they were going to be dairy farmers.
They enjoyed their involvement in the conversion "immensely" and were asked to "stick around and run it", Mr Gilder said.
While she was not from a farming background, Mrs Gilder said she and her husband had always worked as a team.
She enjoyed nature and plants and had a "huge canvas" at the property to try and enhance which she thoroughly enjoyed.
There were seven areas of native bush and wetland in QEII and Department of Conservation covenants totalling 15.6ha, 9ha of pine plantations, 15km of riparian fencing and planting of the Glenomaru and Puerua rivers, 286km of fencing on both sides of drainage ditches with extensive plantings of natives, poplars, willows and eucalypts.
She was a firm believer in working with the younger generation and encouraging them to enjoy and look after the environment. She has involved pupils at the local Romahapa School, along with Telford students and their own farm staff in plantings.
Alice Webster, of the Otago Regional Council's land resources team, praised the Gilders' efforts in fencing off waterways and preserving wetlands.
Over the past 150 years, 90% of the country's wetlands had been lost and, of that 10% left, only a tiny proportion were lowland wetlands, so every lowland wetland was "exceptionally special".
If farmers had wetlands on their properties, she encouraged them to have another think about how much production from draining they would gain, or how much of an asset it would be in terms of water quality and habitat if they retained it.
Landcorp national business manager Graeme Mulligan applauded the Gilders for recognising the importance of people and building a good team. The state-owned farming company employs about 600 permanent staff and farms about 380,000ha, [about 180,000ha of that is Molesworth], running about 1.5 million stock units, comprising sheep, beef, deer and dairy.