Cameron and Robert Grant, both of Croydon, were named the winners at a ceremony in Invercargill last week.
Their business, known as the Grant Brothers, covers more than 4400ha and the original block had been added since 1884.
The brothers had a successful long-term vision that had business and family at its core.
A lot of work had gone into the continued growth of the business through additional land purchases and sustainable development — guided by simple yet effective systems.
The approach had seen the brothers achieve exceptional performance for a hill-country sheep and beef farm — including a consistent lambing average of nearly 150%.
When it came to protecting and enhancing the natural environment, an impressive number of waterways had been fenced, complemented with large riparian buffers.
On the farms, native trees were planted to reduce bank erosion and run-off and peat bogs.
Tussock areas were being protected and there was extensive weed and pest control.
The Grants had a strong work ethic and extensive community connections, working with local iwi when planting native species, and being involved with local catchment groups as well as numerous community groups and initiatives.
Competition judges noted the brothers’ exceptional environmental and productivity outcomes, achieved through buffer zones which provided shelter while protecting biodiversity and water quality.
They also commended the farm’s livestock performance, noting that stock was well-managed to the challenges of the landscape.
The Grants’ future-focused farming practices were combined with active succession planning to help ensure they passed on their hard-earned knowledge and a sustainable business to the next generation.
Cameron Grant and Robert Grant also won the following awards:
● Bayleys People in Primary Sector Award.
● Beef + Lamb New Zealand Livestock Farm Award.
● Rabobank Agri-Business Management Award.
● Environment Southland Water Quality and Biodiversity Award
Other Southland Ballance Farm Environment Award winners include:
Mitchell Smith and Steve Smith — AB Lime, of Winton.
● Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Management Award
● DairyNZ Sustainability and Stewardship Award.
● Hill Laboratories Agri-Science Award.
● NZFET Biodiversity Award.
Jason and Sandy Herrick — Murray Creek Farm, of Castlerock.
● NZFET Innovation Award.
Nick and Alexis Wadworth — Bare Hill Farming, of Otapiri Gorge.
● Norwood Farming Efficiency Award.
The awards also served to showcase the Hedgehope Makarewa Catchment Group, which was a well-connected community project with a focus on connecting, inspiring and supporting a thriving community.
The group had been working on two key initiatives over the past few years — a cutting-edge project that used science and local knowledge to understand how varying landscapes impact water quality and a cross-sector trial looking at different winter crop cultivation techniques, which enabled them to gain practical on-farm information to support farmers as they worked to meet future environmental legislation.
The awards, run by the NZ Farm Environment Trust, championed sustainable farming and growing.
The supreme winner from each of the 11 regions involved in the awards would go through to be considered for the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the trust’s national showcase at Te Papa in Wellington next month.
