Simon Engelbrecht addresses those at the field day. Photo / Sally Rae.
Simon Engelbrecht isn't one to shy away from hard work.
He and his wife Kirstin, who farm at East Otago, won this year's Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
Speaking at a field day on the property on Friday, he recalled how he was just 19 when he leased his first farm at Waihaorunga, near Waimate.
He had no money and borrowed 100% from the bank, with his father as guarantor. He would always be grateful to his parents, he said.
He later leased another property off the same owners. In his eighth year of leasing, he managed to also buy a farm.
In 2000, the couple sold the farm and finished leasing to move to a property at Cattle Creek.
While they loved their time in the Hakataramea Valley, the decision to shift to East Otago was largely due to family reasons.
They bought Stoneburn, a 611ha property, in 2005, later adding a 185ha property at Goodwood, which includes a 28ha coastal lease block, and now run 7500 stock units on the highly productive operation.
The top of Stoneburn is 500m above sea level, and Goodwood is from 300m down to sea level on the lease block. Average rainfall is 736mm and any snow that falls melts quickly.
One of the OBFEA judges, Bernard Lynch, from Rabobank, said the judges were looking at sustainable profitability, environmental awareness, social and community responsibility and good business practice when they visited the eight entrants in this year's awards.
Mr and Mrs Engelbrecht have four children - Oscar (19), Sam (16), Anna (14) and Charles (12) - and the judges noted the family operated as a strong, united team that all had a clear passion for farming and an ''incredibly high'' work ethic.
Mr Engelbrecht led from the front and judges describing him as an incredibly hard worker and stockman.
Their sheep and cattle policies were both breeding and finishing. They generally sold 3000-odd lambs at weaning, a mix of fat and stores, and they usually bought back some stores after the peak of summer.
They were very flexible as all decisions were based on weather and price.
The couple had a Coopdale flock with rams sourced from Alistair and Lyn Cocks from Braeburn Coopdales.
Rams were selected with a history of good fertility and with dams that had the ability to rear their lambs, while Dorset Downs were used as terminal sires.
Tailing percentage was around 175%.
They have reduced in-calf numbers over the last few years while increasing fattening numbers.
They would probably aim to stabilise current in-calf numbers and fatten their progeny, as well as trade some, too. A Hereford bull was used on first-calvers and a Simmental bull on the balance.
Eighty hectares of swedes and kale was grown and usually about 40ha of young grass.
Mr Engelbrecht said he was big on feeding stock at the right time and growing good winter feed crops were key to everything they did. He had good relationships with contractors and was also big on fertiliser.
Last year, he grew fodder beet but the growth rates were not up to standard and he was disappointed with the yield.
''It's not for me. I can get better growth rates out of swedes at a fraction of the cost,'' he said.
One of the good things about entering the farm environment awards was that it had got Mr Engelbrecht ''up to speed with some stuff''.
The couple did some water testing through the Otago Regional Council, testing it as it entered the property out of native vegetation hill country, where it was ''really good'', and again when it left the property, where it was slightly better.
The Engelbrechts will represent Otago at the national sustainability showcase in Invercargill on May 31.