Southland Ballance Farm Environment Award winners Cameron and Robert Grant.
Southland Ballance Farm Environment Award winners Cameron and Robert Grant.
Cameron and Robert Grant of Croydon are the Regional Supreme Winners of the Southland Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
The fifth-generation sheep and beef farmers’ business, known as Grant Brothers, comprises four farms that span 4444ha (4200ha effective).
Since 1884, the original block has been added to, with the brothers inheriting a successful long-term vision that has both business and family at its core.
A lot of work has gone into the continued growth of the business through additional land purchases and sustainable development - guided by simple yet effective systems.
The approach has seen the Grants achieve exceptional performance for a hill country sheep and beef farm – including a consistent lambing average of close to 150 per cent.
When it comes to protecting and enhancing the natural environment, an impressive number of waterways have been fenced, complemented with large riparian buffers.
Native trees are planted to reduce bank erosion and runoff, while peat bogs and tussock areas are being protected and there is extensive weed and pest control.
The Grants have a strong work ethic and extensive community connections, working with local iwi when planting native species, and being involved with local catchment groups as well as numerous community groups and initiatives.
In awarding the Regional Supreme Award, the judges noted the brothers’ exceptional environmental and productivity outcomes, achieved through buffer zones that provide shelter while protecting biodiversity and water quality.
They also commended the farm’s livestock performance, noting that stock are well managed to the challenges of the landscape.
The Grants’ future-focused farming practices are combined with active succession planning to help ensure they pass on their hard-earned knowledge and a sustainable business to the next generation.
Bronnie and Cameron Grant, and Robert and Lynne Grant at the 2023 Southland Ballance Environment Awards.
The Southland Ballance Farm Environment Awards, held last night in Invercargill, also showcased the Hedgehope Makarewa Catchment Group, a well-connected community project with a focus on joining, inspiring and supporting a thriving community.
The group have been working on two key initiatives over the past few years: a cutting-edge project that uses science and local knowledge to understand how varying landscapes impact water quality; and a cross-sector trial looking at different winter crop cultivation techniques, enabling them to gain practical on-farm information to support farmers as they work to meet future environmental legislation.
Cameron Grant and Robert Grant also won the following awards:
Bayleys People in Primary Sector Award
Beef + Lamb New Zealand Livestock Farm Award
Rabobank Agri-Business Management Award
Environment Southland Water Quality and Biodiversity Award
Other Southland Ballance Farm Environment Award winners
Mitchell Smith and Steve Smith - AB Lime, Winton
Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Management Award
DairyNZ Sustainability and Stewardship Award
Hill Laboratories Agri-Science Award
NZFET Biodiversity Award
Jason and Sandy Herrick - Murray Creek Farm, Castle Rock
NZFET Innovation Award
Nick and Alexis Wadworth - Bare Hill Farming, Otapiri Gorge
The Ballance Farm Environment Awards are run by the NZ Farm Environment Trust and champion sustainable farming and growing.
The Supreme Winner from each of the eleven regions involved in the awards will go through to be considered for the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the Trust’s National Showcase at Te Papa in May.
The recipients of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy then become the 2023 National Ambassadors for Sustainable Farming and Growing.
