2004 Winners

2004 Environment Canterbury Water Efficiency Award

Bill and Nick Davey, Rakaia, South Canterbury

With a background in subsidised farming in the UK that left the farmer tied up in red tape, Bill Davey has found his niche by immigrating to New Zealand. He has found the business environment much more to his liking, and adapted to the climatic extremes with an innovative water conservation technology.

 The 487 ha property is situated 7 km west of Rakaia. He has installed irrigation in order to grow a mixture of crops as well as establishing winter feed for store lamb finishing. Higher value crops like processing peas are grown where water can be guaranteed.
The universal lateral irrigation system is monitored by Aquaflex soil temperature and moisture meters, allowing Bill and son Nick to apply water only when needed. "Where judging by our eyes we might have thought we needed to apply some water, with the readings we might find the crop isn't water deficient after all."
He said the practice saves power as well as water. "With the pressure on the aquifer, it would make sense if more people adopted this practice to demonstrate to the public that we are conscious of this precious resource."

2004 Wrightson Habitat Improvement Award

Nigel and Jenny Fraser, Greta Valley, North Canterbury

Innovative solutions to erosion and pasture management problems have earned Nigel and Jenny Fraser a Wrightson Habitat Improvement Award.

The Frasers purchased the 517 ha property on the coast at Greta Valley, north of Motunau, in 1978.
They run a mixed cattle and sheep finishing property, achieving impressive returns, thanks to a well-balanced breeding and stock management programme. Originally from South Canterbury, the Frasers moved north for the easier winters and magnificent coastal outlook.

The property's soil type is a Motunau silt loam over a clay pan. Under heavy cattle this can lead to winter pugging. "We have got to be very aware of that. If it gets very wet we use free-draining sunny faces on the hills," Nigel said. The plus side, however, is that the soils retain their moisture longer in summer.

The property features eroded gullies fracturing the coastal cliffs. Nigel accessed Environment Canterbury's Enhancement Fund to help complete fencing along 12 km of bushline and subdivisions. "The best action of all is to protect the bush and fence the gullies off to prevent any more erosion. This makes a clear distinction between the area of conserved bush and high producing farmland," he said.
The bush was "blitzed" for possums as part of the Tb control programme for the past 3-4 years. He's noticed unexpected benefits from the new bush in the form of tui returning to feed on the native.

© 2007 Environment Canterbury