The Thompson family enterprise also includes Kainui Road wines and Kainui Brew Company beers, the cellar door and two open-air concert venues within their Kerikeri home orchard.
It is also one of the biggest employers in the Kerikeri district, employing a permanent workforce of between 25 and 30 and up to 150 seasonal staff members, many of them in the leased Kerikeri packhouse.
The judges said the Thompsons were a team with complementary skills, and their vision, passion and drive had provided employment for many people. A generous community spirit was evident by hosting various events and continuing to improve access and attractions for up to 5000 people at one time.
The concert areas and the surrounding vineyard, with adjacent three-hectare rejuvenated wetland, board walk, bush tracks and waterfall, showed their love for the land and drive for continual improvement with sustainability.
An extensive native area had been developed around the wetland and waterfall, and had been covenanted for future protection.
They had built and invested in the area for several decades, growing many fruit varieties and helping to establish horticultural services such as the Kerikeri Fruitgrowers' Society, the Kerikeri Irrigation Scheme and LD Packers.
Kiwifruit was the foundation of the orchard side of the business, consisting of 14ha of gold under conversion to the Psa-tolerant G3 variety, and 6.5ha of Hayward's Green. Total production in 2016 was more than 200,000 tray equivalents, although yields were down because of conversion.
New frameworks and orchard coverings were being trialled and new varieties evaluated for Zespri.
Yen Ben lemons were the preferred citrus cultivar for winter harvest and export trade development, and there was 2ha of new plantings. Up to 4ha of rock melons produced 200 tonnes annually.
The Kainui vineyard, on the home orchard, had established five grape varieties - pinot gris, viognier, sauvignon blanc, tempranillo and syrah - and two newly planted varieties, chardonnay and gewürztraminer. Their wines had won silver and bronze at recent Bragato awards and at Air New Zealand and New Zealand International Awards.
Under the Kainui Road brand, the Thompsons made 6000 to 8000 bottles a year at a nearby winery, which were subsequently sold at the cellar door, in local restaurants and online.
Mr Thompson was a founding director of the grower-owned Kerikeri Irrigation Scheme, and used the scheme's water at each of the orchards he owned or managed.
Tensiometers were installed in all those orchards.
LD Family Investments followed industry best practice with Global GAP, NZ GAP, Sustainable Winegrowing NZ accreditation for orchards and BRC (British Retail Consortium) accreditation for the Kerikeri packhouse.
The family had integrated growing, packing and exporting activities to add business stability, and had been active in kiwifruit risk management with Psa disease responses that included conversion to a new gold variety, industry variety trials and shelter construction.
WINNERS
The other Ballance Award winners announced at the Copthorne Waitangi last week were:
White Rock Hills Ltd (Bryce and Aneta Lupton, Peter and Prue Vincent, North Kaipara) - Beef + Lamb New Zealand Livestock and the Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Management awards.
Marplow Nominees Ltd (Julian Peters, Ahipara) - Farm Stewardship Award, in partnership with the QEII National Trust and the NZ Farm Environment Trust, and the Northland Regional Council Water Quality Enhancement Award.
Brett and Denise Larmer (Puhipuhi) - the LIC Dairy Farm Award.
Lynwood avocado nursery (Stephen Wade, Whangarei) - The Waterforce Integrated Management and the Massey University Innovation awards.
