2004 Winners

2004 Ballance Farm Environment Harvest Award

2004 ANZ Grow Award

Tim and Rose Chamberlain, Harts Creek, Leeston, South Canterbury

Organic farming doesn't pull everybody's strings, but it certainly works for Tim and Rose Chamberlain, winners of the BFEA Harvest and ANZ Grow Awards. The Chamberlains have a 180 ha organic cropping property at Harts Creek, Leeston, about 20 km south of Lincoln.

Tim's parents supported Rose and Tim's desire to trial organic farming in the early-80s. Since beginning organic certification in 1986, they have grown a range of organic crops for local market processing, export and seeds.

"Partly organic farming was an opportunity, partly it was an interest in environmental matters, partly the niche market aspect," Tim said. "We had come back from overseas with no money and no management experience or experience in organics. " Rose came from Adelaide, a city girl with a questioning mind." They experimented at first, putting a quarter of the farm into organics and carrying on with conventional farming for the rest.

"In the beginning the conventional side subsidised the organic side. As we got further into it there was a turn around. Over a period of 15 years we put it all into organics."

The major thrust of organic farming is moving from pesticides to integrated management systems. They employ four full-time labour units on the farm and one part-time planting and pruning trees. "Labour is our biggest cost so we're partly substituting what other people would spend on pesticides."

The judges commented that the Chamberlains are committed to proving they can run a sustainable (financial and environmentally) organic farming operation that tests the boundaries whilst having fun and making money. "Rose and Tim are great ambassadors for practical and pragmatic organic farming. Their farm is well recognised in Canterbury as being a leading organic farm," the judges said.

2004 LIC Best Dairy Farm Award

Andy Palmer (owner) and Grant Shepard (sharemilker), Temuka, South Canterbury

Attention to detail, a well-organised business structure and a close working relationship with sharemilkers over 20 years, has made Andy Palmer's Temuka property a productive, attractive and well-maintained farm.

The 150 ha property, situated 4km north of Temuka, has 136 ha in paddocks, a 10 ha woodlot and the balance in creeks, homestead, sheds and races. Andy took the dairy farm with its mix of cereals, wheat, seeds, and mixed livestock (bull beef, sheep), and converted it to its current 100% dairy operation as the economics of dairying became attractive. Using vegetable waste as a supplement during spring and autumn, sharemilker Grant Shepherd is achieving production rates of 400 kg of milk solids from each of the 570 crossbred cows.

The Palmers have owned the property for three generations, and all benefit from and respect its natural environment. Andy's father began the job of clearing the old willows and blackberry from the banks of the Ohapi Creek, Andy is continuing to maintain it and his sons Eli and Jethro now revel in it as a natural playground, going fishing, eeling or duck shooting at every opportunity.

With the conversion to intensive farming, Andy noticed the stream was discolouring from cattle crossing and deer from upstream properties wallowing in the summer. He said he is fortunate in having in Grant someone who shares his environmental views, and who has helped replant and fence off the stream boundaries.

"I think it's quite special, the water is running clear now - farmers upstream are fencing off the creek. I get a lot of positive feedback." He is a member of the Ohapi Creek Stream Enhancement Group, which is encouraging farmers in similar situations.
"You can pass it on to your kids, and they can pass it on to theirs. That's my dream."

© 2007 Environment Canterbury