Two in the running for Ballance Award

LEADING THE WAY: Houhora avocado growers Tony and Angela Payton.

The Far North has two finalists in the field of five for this year's Ballance farm environment award.

Broadwood beef farmer Laurie Copland and Houhora avocado growers Tony and Angela Payton will line up against Pakotai dairy farmers Greig and Rachel Alexander, Pataua beef/forestry farmers Sandy and Ian Page, and Kiripaka avocado grower Leonie Batt.

Tickets are selling now for the awards dinner, at Waitangi's Copthorne Hotel and Resort on Wednesday March 18, which will culminate in the naming of the 10th Northland supreme winner.

Nine contenders from Houhora o Whangarei entered the 2015 competition, from which the final five were selected via an initial round of judging at the end of last year. They have now been through a second round of judging, by Waikato farmer (and past supreme award winner) Wynn Brown, Agribusiness consultant Aaron Baker and Whangarei management consultant Bob Cathcart.

"Entering the awards is a great way to get a fresh set of eyes to look at your property, and it's a chance to feel proud about what you have achieved to date, while stepping outside your business to look back at it objectively," Northland awards management committee chairman Shayne O'Shea said.

"Entrants and judges get a lot out of the competition process. Providing feedback on work that has been done can be very rewarding for all concerned, and often fresh eyes can pinpoint things that the entrant has missed or was thinking about improving but hadn't formalised plans for yet.

"The judging process is very robust, and sometimes the range of property types the judges get to visit each year pushes them out of their usual comfort zone too, making it a dual learning process for all," he added.

This year had been no exception, with a great lineup of finalists, but one thing all the entrants and finalists had in common is the desire to continually improve what they were doing so their businesses were sustainable, financially and environmentally.

- Tickets for the dinner ($75) were available at www.nzfetrust.org.nz or from Chris Mason (phone (09) 439-3109, email northland@bfea.org.nz).