Central Hawke's Bay farmers Sam and Hannah Morrah have overcome three years of drought to score a major food supply award from British retailing giant Marks and Spencer.
The couple will receive the M&S Future of Farming Overseas Supplier Award for lambs off their farm southeast of Waipukurau.
They hope to receive
the award in person next month at the Royal Welsh Show, with a couple of unexpected bonuses.
At the July 19-22 show, they'll be able to watch the world shearing championships, contested by Waipawa shearer Cam Ferguson, who sheared 856 of their Ohineumeri Trust lambs in nine hours last December.
Many of the lambs will have been among those which ended-up on the M&S shelves, said Mr Morrah.
He learned of the award while out on the farm after his wife opened the overnight emails last Wednesday, but it's been largely a family secret until today.
"It was a great thrill and a real confidence booster after three tough years of farming in Central Hawke's Bay," said Mr Morrah.
He said it was "as much about" the service providers who contributed to the success, based on changes to the business model needed to meet the requirements of the Marks and Spencer chain.
Encouraged to enter by their Silver Fern Farms supply manager, they had known they were in with a chance, having already made it on to a shortlist of eight, including banana growers from St Lucia and Costa Rica, a prawn farmer from Thailand and coffee bean producers from Kenya.
Their triumph is one of a string of competition successes for Hawke's Bay's rural sector this year, including Ferguson's Golden Shears open final win in March, dog trialling, dairy and beef awards and horticultural prizes.
Another could be looming with Brownrigg Agriculture among the finalists for the Agribusiness Award tomorrow night at a ceremony during the Federated Farmers annual conference in Invercargill.
