While Lammermoor Station has won the title several times previously, it was the first time the couple had won since they had been in partnership on the 5200ha property.
It was also the first time they had entered for a few years.
Mr and Mrs Elliot have possibly the largest organic merino wool clip in New Zealand, having been certified organic through Bio-Gro.
Their isolation - not in travelling distance but with only two neighbours on their boundary fences - and geographical position lent itself to organic status.
"Our isolation is now our friend, not our foe," Mr Elliot said.
The Elliot family has been on the property since the 1920s and Mr and Mrs Elliot, along with their three children, are passionate about sheep and beef farming.
As well as the merino stud, sons Lachlan (15) and Duncan (12) have Southdown and Romney studs respectively.
The family preferred purebred sheep, Mr Elliot said.
Their daughter Brooke (17) is working on the property in the short-term.
The couple said they worked with nature, not against it, trying to get the best out of the land in a cold, harsh environment.
They tried to make the most of opportunities and "look outside the square".
Ahuriri Downs, farmed by Bill and Kate Sutherland, and Andrew and Deidre Sutherland, was the winner of the Child Cancer Foundation fleece competition.
The 3300ha Omarama property is farmed separately from the Sutherland family's other property, Benmore Station.
Judge Andrew Blanch, of New England Wool, believed the standard of entries was better than last year.
The Child Cancer Foundation was a very good cause and he hoped the competition would grow.
Foundation representative Frith O'Hagan was presented with a cheque for slightly more than $5300 - the proceeds from last year's competition and auction.
This year's auction, with funds raised also going to the foundation, saw $780 paid for some woolpacks, $1670 for some merino cloth, $1100 for an All Blacks jersey signed by Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Andrew Hore, and $300 for a replica "Rolex" watch.
The association was working closely with the foundation to investigate ways of increasing interest and more returns to the charity.
Dave and Lisa Anderson, from Bog Roy, at Omarama, won the merino ewe production award, described by Mr Anderson as a "measurement of your ultimate viability".
It was a thrill to win the award and while he did not want to taking anything away from wool - the predominant reason why merinos were farmed - "you've got to make a buck to be there".
While the couple would love to be able to just focus on merino wool on their 3000ha property, "you can't to be economically viable", he said.
Pastoralism in New Zealand had been a successful story but the Government was now "kicking us in the teeth as hard as they can", he said.
Mr Anderson is the fourth-generation on Bog Roy, a property taken up by John Anderson in 1919.
The couple were "unashamedly passionate" about the high country.
In his annual report, Otago Merino Association chairman Andrew Sutherland said there was a generally positive tone within the merino industry.
With increased prices in the fine wool market, the industry looked to be improving financially.
However, financial gains had to be maintained, as associated farming costs were rising at an "overwhelming rate", he said.