Nine Hawke's Bay restaurants have been recognised by Beef + Lamb New Zealand for standards said to be among the best in beef and lamb cuisine in the country.
They include six in Napier - Emporium Eatery and Bar, Estuary's Restaurant, Fox on the Quay, The Gintrap Cafe and Bar, Mint Restaurant and Mission Estate Winery Restaurant.
Also recipients of the award are Havelock North's Black Barn Bistro and St George's Restaurant, and Wallingford Homestead, near Waipukurau.
Beef + Lamb chief executive Rod Slater said the award was given only to restaurants whose beef and lamb cuisine reached the highest standard of fine dining.
"This programme has been running for 17 years now. The fact restaurants still take such pride in being named an award holder is testament to the programme's credibility," he said.
Diners will be able to identify eateries which have reached the standard by a gold-rimmed presentation plate on display in the restaurant.
"A number of our award holders now have long lines of these plates hanging in their restaurants," Mr Slater said.
"This award really is a guarantee to customers they will receive a consistently top quality beef or lamb meal when they choose one of these restaurants."
To receive the New Zealand Beef + Lamb Excellence Award, restaurants are judged on all elements of their dishes from composition to taste, degree of cooking and tenderness.
Farmer of the Year
Entries in the Silver Fern Farms Hawke's Bay Farmer of the Year, which close on February 14, never open with any great rush of signatures on the dotted line.
But that is more about the nature of the entry process, almost as much a part of the competition as the farming operation itself, as contestants gather a vast array of material to put before the judges.
The competition organiser and Hawke's Bay A&P Society business development manager, Hillary Riches, says during the early stages of the entry process there is some indication of who is likely to enter.
Associated with the awards are the Lawrie Dowling Memorial Award for distinguished service to rural industry, the Lawson Robinson A&P Society Scholarship for up-and-coming talent in farming, and the Hawke's Bay Farm Forestry Awards.
Ferguson's speedshear
Waipawa shearer Cam Ferguson got himself back into the good books at Porangahau when he won the beach township's annual speedshear on December 28.
In the final, in front of about 300 in a marquee at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, Ferguson beat defending champion Adam Brausch of Dannevirke.
A year earlier, the two had expected to provide all the fireworks in a warm-up to what was to have been an attempt on a world three-stand lambshearing tally record, but Ferguson was a surprise absentee.
This time he had a comfortable win, again indicating the focus on maintaining form ahead of the big competitions to come, including, in March, the Golden Shears in Masterton and the New Zealand championships in Te Kuiti; the events which decide the New Zealand team for the world championships in Ireland in May.
Ferguson ended the pre-Christmas stage of the leading Shearing Sports New Zealand's Open-class rankings and is now preparing for the next stage, which has a late start with the national lambshearing championships, normally held at Raglan on the first Saturday of the new year, having gone into recess.
The first competitions on the SSNZ calendar are this Saturday at Kaikohe and Akaroa. Ferguson, with three show wins behind him as well as his success in the sprint arena of the speedshear, re-enters the fray on a trip to Southland next week for competitions at Lumsden and Winton, thereby missing a defence of the Wairoa A&P Show title he won a year ago.