2003 Winners

2003 Gallagher Innovation Awards

There were three Innovation Awards presented:

1. The holistic approach to downlands grazing and pasture management won the Ulrichs an Innovation Award. Judges noted that they operate a complete and integrated system including soil, plants,animals, people and finance, approaching the concept as a family team.
2. The Ward farm won an Innovation Award for the way David has implemented notillage farming and enabled others to learn about it through field days and off farm promotion.
3. The Bolderstons' approach to disposing of dead cows through composting won them an Innovation Award. Given the area's high water table, this approach was essential.

2003 Comment from the Bench

Jim Cotman - National judging coordinator

In all businesses, many issues need continual assessment if the business is to succeed. If the skill and resourcefulness of the entrants we see coming through these Awards is the yardstick of farming success, New Zealand Farming is in safe hands.

To be sustainable means always to be looking for a better way.

Unlike those in other events, entrants are not seeking major prizes or overseas trips. Most are seeking to share their ideas and expertise with the wider farming community. They are seeking to have a ruler run over their enterprise to provide a personal benchmark. The judging teams provide the first assessment and exchange of idea and ideals. A feedback report is provided to summarise the visit, followed by the Award Event which provides a showcase of the good work that has been seen. Field days are held on the winning properties to allow further scrutiny of the reasons these farms were chosen as winners.

This website holds a summary of some of the winning entrants for 2003 - space necessitates the comments are brief - but a few key points consistent across the winners stand out. Notable a pattern of seeking methods, often in innovative ways, to find sustainable solutions to limitations encountered in their farming businesses. We see enormous skill demonstrated in tackling the challenges of the specific farm environments. We see New Zealand ingenuity at its best. Innovative solutions are found. This ingenuity is driven by the desire to understand the constraints each property imposes and to find solutions through careful planning, and the use of outside consultation where necessary.

A whole system approach is seen as the key to success. Soils intricacies particular to each property or crop are understood. The value of water resource is recognised by an increasing number of farmers. They seek to limit impacts of the farming business on water. They understand the need to consider the nutrient cycle and use a variety of tools such as stock and crop management or targeted fertiliser application to manage this. The establishment or protection of wildlife habitat is seen as integral to good farming. For example woodlots for profit or wetlands for sport. It is notable that top businesses put a very high value on the people resource they need either for day to day operation or for advice.

These Awards demonstrate the skill of our top land managers and the variety of solutions that can be found if innovation is not stifled. Our top farmers seek to grow their businesses in ways that suit their individual needs and inside the restraints of their local environment.

© 2007 Environment Canterbury