Finalists announced for Northland's Ballance Farm Environment Awards

Last year's award winners, the Malley family of Maungatapere Berries. Photo / supplied

Finalists have been chosen for this year's Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

The supreme regional winner will be announced at an awards function at Waitangi on Thursday March 26.

Run by the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust, the awards celebrate good farming practices that promote sustainable land management.

The programme is run in 11 regions throughout New Zealand and has been held since 2002.

This year there are three Northland finalists.

They are winery and restaurant owners Rod, Cindy and Brenna MacIvor of Marsden Estate in Kerikeri, dairy farmers Grant and Danielle Petterd of Prospark Farms, Kerikeri, and bull farmers Jeff Martin and Helen Linssen of Te Karoa Farms in Kaeo.

The three finalists have been through two rounds of judging held at the end of last year and in January.

Organiser Ellie Ball says the 2020 awards have attracted an incredible line-up of 50 farmers and growers from around New Zealand and Northland's supreme winner will go on to compete against other regional winners.

Marsden Estate's team of Rod and Cindy MacIvor and their daughter Brenna have built up a successful business since planting vines in Kerikeri in 1993.

The business produces award-winning wines and is a pivotal part of the growth and sustainability of Northland's wine industry, processing grapes for most of the region's winegrowers.

The picturesque property has a focus on consistent, rather than maximum, yield and is a registered sustainable vineyard.

All wine is grown and sold on-site, reducing the property's carbon footprint, and vine health management practices aim to get the best out of the plants with minimal environmental impact.

The business aims to find innovative ways to improve current management practices and trial new products in the winery.

Prospark Farms' Grant and Danielle Petterd manage an attractive 277ha block where they consistently achieve production targets above the district average for both milk solids per cow and per hectare.

Sharemilking for an equity partnership, their farm practices follow a commitment to environmental sustainability and biodiversity. All waterways are fenced and have riparian margins, and unproductive wet areas have been retired and are earmarked for future planting.

A key focus is on improving the dairy herd's genetics.

Te Karoa Farms' Jeff Martin and Helen Linssen farm R1 friesian bulls in a sustainable way.

The business is run across three properties, with GPS mapping dividing the properties into grazing cells. The cells help with stock management and allow long winter rotations. The model has proved to have the least impact on the land.

Jeff and Helen have a commitment to waterway management and quality, and their farming approach returns liveweight gains per hectare that are well above the district average.

Ellie Ball says the awards dinner at the Copthorne in Waitangi will celebrate all award participants because all are worthy of recognition for their great work for the environment.