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James, Debbie, Dave and Jan Stewart, the driving pressure behind Hiwinui’s Stewart Dairylands, have taken out the Regional Supreme Award on the Horizons Ballance Farm Atmosphere Awards.
The farm is the dairy division of the Stewart Group, residence to 800 cows throughout 580 hectares (560ha efficient).
Stewart Dairylands was established in 1999, nonetheless 5 generations of Stewarts have farmed and expanded the legacy enterprise that was began in 1886.
Guided by a powerful sense of household historical past, the Stewarts see the land as a valuable commodity and due to this fact deal with creating sustainable techniques to depart the land in higher form for the subsequent era.
Exploring alternatives for diversification is a part of the enterprise technique for the entrepreneurial household, with worth streams from dairy beef, in addition to supplying milk for each boutique cheese and ice cream. In partnership, additionally they provide farm excursions.
Native plantings improve the pure surroundings, together with the event of native corridors with walkways and a wetland space – all of that are shared with guests and the broader group.
The judges say they had been impressed with well-planned infrastructure developments, together with a brand new dairy shed with photo voltaic panels, and a contemporary effluent system with a separator.
They famous that the Stewarts repeatedly search enchancment and innovation in inventory administration, infrastructure and know-how.
The household was recommended for being extremely engaged within the wider farming trade, and taking a proactive method to deal with and embrace challenges.
In awarding the Regional Supreme Award, the judges made the commentary that, on many properties, landowners are assembly excessive requirements, however on this property the Stewarts try to exceed and lead trade requirements.
The awards additionally served to showcase native catchment group Pohangina Catchment Care Group, which encompasses communities throughout the Pohangina Valley and contains farmers, iwi, way of life block house owners and Pohangina village residents.
Fashioned in 2020, the group is a subset of the Manawatu River Catchments Collective and has set its sights on nurturing the valley’s water, individuals and land.
The Ballance Farm Atmosphere Awards are run by the NZ Farm Atmosphere Belief and champion sustainable farming and rising.
The Supreme Winner from every of the eleven areas concerned within the awards will undergo to be thought of for the Gordon Stephenson Trophy on the Belief’s Nationwide Showcase in Hamilton in June. The recipients of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy then change into 2024’s Nationwide Ambassadors for Sustainable Farming and Rising.
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