Award-winning farm near Whanganui the product of five generations of work

Richard and Suze Redmayne, of the Turakina Tunnel Hill farm, are the 2022 regional supreme winners in the Horizons Ballance Farm Environment Awards. Photo / Supplied

The work of five generations of Turakina farmers has been recognised in an environmental award.

Richard and Suze Redmayne, of Tunnel Hill farm near Turakina, were the regional supreme winners in the Horizons Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

Tunnel Hill is a 1005ha coastal property with soils ranging from river silt to wetlands and sand dunes, with beef, sheep, maize and forestry farmed across 950ha of the land.

The award judges praised the management of the farm for being carefully tailored to match the climate, soil type and topography, with a strong focus on tree planting and wetland regeneration, with wildlife corridors created across the farm.

Richard Redmayne said his family had owned the farm since 1936, when his great-grandfather purchased the property, with Richard and Suze taking over running it in 1993.

He said since the Redmaynes bought the property, they had worked to increase the biodiversity of the land.

"Over that time we've always tried to match the soil types to the best land use," he said.

Part of this work included fencing off erosion-prone sand dunes and planting pine trees in them.

Redmayne said 170ha of trees had been planted across the farm to provide shelter and shade for the livestock, in addition to giving soil stabilisation benefits for the dunes.

He said the forestry work had been going on for 30 years, and now the forest was fully sustainable.

"We've now got a full range of trees, ranging from one-year-old to 30, so the plan will be to harvest a block each year and then replant it," he said.

Farm staff were now working on revitalising the wetlands, which have been fenced off.

"We've created some new wetlands as well where we've planted cabbage trees, manuka and flax to improve the habitat for better biodiversity," Redmayne said.

The forestry, wetland revitalisation and native bush planting meant the farm was carbon negative, which was part of Redmayne's vision for the land and its produce.

"Our goal is feeding you sustainably."

Tunnel Hill also won the Beef + Lamb NZ livestock farm, Hill Laboratories Agri-Science, and Norwood Agri-Business management awards at the Horizons Ballance Farm Environment Awards function on July 7.