Kevin Gilmour's commitment and service to Southland's deer farmers has been recognised by the New Zealand Deer Farmers Association, with the presentation of the Matuschka Award.
Mr Gilmour, who recently retired from farming, has been associated with the TBfree Southland committee for 20 years.
Until recently he ran a deer farm on the edge of the Hokonui Hills, while working to communicate, advocate and support the national bovine tuberculosis control programme in Southland.
Mr Gilmour joined the committee when his deer herd repeatedly broke down with bovine Tb as a result of contact with infected possums.
"Bovine Tb was not only causing financial hardship on our farm, but the disease was also affecting other Southland deer and cattle herd owners - something had to be done to bring it under control," he said.
Not long after Mr Gilmour joined the committee, funds were provided for intensive possum control in the Hokonui Hills, which was a major Tb stronghold in the region.
At the recent TBfree New Zealand Young Farmers conference in Dunedin, Animal Health Board director and Southland farmer Jeff Grant outlined the national Tb control strategy, which, over the next 15 years, aims to eradicate the disease from wild animals, mainly possums, across one quarter of the country's Tb risk areas.
Controlling Tb helps protect the reputation of New Zealand's dairy, beef and deer exports, worth about $14 billion a year to the national economy.