Waverley dairy farmer Bruce Middleton wants to "leave a footprint" by protecting bush and wetland. Photo / Supplied
Waverley dairy farmer Bruce Middleton wants to "leave a footprint" by protecting bush and wetland. Photo / Supplied
Two neighbouring dairy farms inland from Waverley have won Taranaki Regional Council Environmental Awards this year.
They are the PW & J Campbell Trusts Partnership and Woodleigh Ltd. They are two of three winners in the Environmental Leadership in Dairy Farming category, and among 16 winners across five categories.
BruceMiddleton converted his 227ha dry stock farm to dairy in 2012, and fencing the waterways was part of getting dairy consent from Fonterra.
The result has been 15km of fence around gullies and wetlands, with margins of 20m from watercourses because of the way the land lies.
The farm now has 650 cows and those fenced gullies are slowly being transformed, with native plants like mānuka, karamū and ti kouka (cabbage trees) emerging through regeneration.
At the same time, Middleton is adding plants he purchases from nurseries.
Some of the gullies have native bush with large kahikatea, lovely stands he played in as a child. He's adding to them with more kahikatea, and other species, more than 5000 plants so far.
He's seen a matuku (bittern) in a raupō area only 200m from his cowshed, and the property also has fernbirds and hosts the rare swamp maire - slow to propagate and a favourite of possums.
The Middletons have put in 15km of fencing on their Okotuku Rd dairy farm, protecting wetland and bush. Photo / Supplied
Weeds such as blackberry and honeysuckle are another problem, and the changes that are slowly happening are "a very timely opportunity to leave a footprint," Middleton said.
He's the third generation on the farm, and said he doesn't deserve all the credit for the award.
He's benefitted from the help and enthusiasm of council staff, especially Nicola Wanden.
Winners on an adjoining farm are the Campbell families, headed by Peter Campbell, his late wife Jan and his daughters Claire and Helen.
Their 376ha farm has 36ha of protected wetland and bush, and they have planted more than 15,000 native plants. Some of their land is in Queen Elizabeth II covenants, protecting its biodiversity in perpetuity.
Like the Middletons, the Campbells have done kilometres of fencing, and they have swamp maire and spotless crake waterbirds to protect.
Peter Campbell also makes a point of testing soil to avoid adding excess nutrients, and replanting without cultivating.
