Ballance award winning farm on display in Northland

Northland's supreme Ballance Farm Environment Award winners Craig and Greta Harman.

Northland's supreme Ballance Farm Environment award winners 2018, Craig and Greta Harman, will host a field day on their property, Whananaki Coastal Charolais, on May 10.

The couple also won Northland Regional Council Water Quality Enhancement Award and the Predator-Free Farm Award.

The field day is billed as a demonstration of sustainable farming on challenging Northland coastal hill country, and will also cover aspects of the Harmans' high-performing breeding and finishing operation. Practical mitigation of environmental risks will also be discussed.

"The Harmans' coastal hill properties are a showplace of biosecurity and biodiversity management that combine cattle farming, bull breeding and community involvement.

Greta and Craig's passion for their stock, the land they farm and for the natural environments that exist will be evident to field day participants," AgFirst's Gareth Baynham, MC for the day, said.

"The field day will showcase how their farming practice and environmental stewardship works hand in hand to protect and enhance the natural biodiversity on-farm while maintaining a productive and profitable beef cattle operation. Anyone wanting to see how this is achieved in a practical way on-farm should attend the field day."

The Harmans have two properties totalling 455ha (400ha effective grazing), 13 per cent of which is fenced native bush and four per cent protected wetlands.

Whananaki Charolais is situated near numerous coastal holiday homes, camping grounds and beaches, and balances public access to sites of biodiversity, scenic and historic importance against the needs for biosecurity, animal welfare and health and safety.

The field day will start at 9:45am (morning tea from 9:30am). Only clean 4WDs will be taken on the farm tour (and will be disinfected before leaving). Footwear must be cleaned and disinfected before entering the farm, and no dogs will be permitted on the property (or in vehicles on the farm tour).

The field day will begin in the woolshed opposite the Otamure camp site, just past the Harmans' property at 193 Rockell Rd, Whananaki, and will conclude with a barbecue lunch at 1pm.