Ashburton Farmers Win Supreme Environment Award

The combination of high production, effective use of shelterbelts and a longterm commitment to the practice of direct drilling are factors in the Supreme Award win for Ashburton farmers John and Betty Greenslade in the 2004 Canterbury Ballance Farmer of the Year Awards announced in Christchurch tonight.

The judges described the Greenslades’ 345ha mixed livestock farm near Mayfield as an outstanding example of sustainable agriculture. “John and Betty have shown that by constantly seeking out new techniques and using them where appropriate, they have developed a very strong operation that thrives in what can be a pretty harsh environment,” said Ballance Farm Environment Awards’ judge Doug Archbold. “Their farm is a credit to low-energy, low-environmental impact systems and doing the basics well.” The Greenslades were judged supreme winner of the awards, as well as winners of the PPCS Best Livestock Farm Award and the Ballance Nutrient Management Award. John Greenslade was born on the property and since 1965 has farmed on his own account with the support of his wife Betty. Now they are passing on the baton to their son, Mark. Mr Greenslade acknowledged the many hours put in by his wife. “With Mark coming home Betty doesn’t have to get up at half past six anymore.”

The home block is 228ha, predominantly Ruapuna stony silt loam, stocked with 1600 breeding ewes and deer. Another block of 117ha towards the Rangitata running grazing steers and replacement ewe lambs.

The judges were impressed with the farm’s high production levels. The ewe flock is lambing over 150% and the hoggets 100%. “John was one of the first farmers to concentrate on lambing his hoggets and is using composite sheep breeds to produce more meat per hectare,” they noted.

“It’s very high genetic gains using Kelso bloodlines with rams purchased from Michael Talbot of Temuka,” Mr Greenslade said.

He achieves excellent weights for lamb and velvet with a regime of faecal egg count to minimise drenching and trace element compensation for pasture and soils. All lambs are finished on the farm.

Mr Greenslade has been direct drilling since 1982, one of the first in the district to do so. “In the late 70s we had a number of dry years in a row, the pastures opened and we needed to undertake a regrassing programme. Direct drilling was coming in as a new technique and an alternative to ploughing. We tried it and have never looked back.”

The judges noted the quality of the pastures. Nodding thistle has almost been eliminated and the Greenslades are using AR1 ryegrass species and experimenting with chicory and plantains in the grass mixtures.

Mr Greenslade uses a solar panel electric fence system and developed his own “drive over” electric gate for use during lambing. “With solar power, I can be confident my electric fences are still going up there on the block towards the Rangitata.”

John has planted extensive gardens around both houses on the property, and established an arboretum as well as planting shelterbelts to minimise stock stress.
“I’m aiming to have some form of shelter or amenity planting over every fence line – I’m about two-thirds there. With these hot nor’westers it’s good to see the sheep sheltering behind the trees.”

The concept that sustainable farming is practical, achievable and profitable is at the heart of the Ballance Farm Environment Award programme. The awards were conceived in Waikato 12 years ago and in the years since then have been run by the Farm Environment Award Trust whose slogan is “Good environmental management is good business”.

Through feedback and profiling winners, the awards encourage farmers to be more proactive in their resource management and provide them with role models for sustainable land management. A key factor of the programme’s success is that it is based on awards, not competition.

“The participants aren’t there to be ‘winners’,” Canterbury co-ordinator Jenny Bond says, “they’re there for the feedback and info-transfer opportunities, to learn from the environmental practices of other farmers and to have their work appreciated by their peers. All entrants will have their photos displayed at the awards night function and will be recognised for what they have achieved,” Ms Bon says.

Principal sponsor for the national awards is Ballance Agri-Nutrients which is joined by ANZ Bank, Wrightson, PPCS, Richmonds, Livestock Improvement Corporation and Gallaghers. It is also supported by Environment Canterbury.

The Greenslades will go on to represent the region at the first Ballance Farm Environment Awards National Sustainability Showcase to be held in Hamilton on June 12.

Other awards were:

BFEA Harvest Award – Tim and Rose Chamberlain, Harts Creek, Leeston ANZ Grow Award - Tim and Rose Chamberlain, Harts Creek, Leeston Livestock Improvement Best Dairy Farm Award – Andy Palmer (owner) and Grant Shepherd (sharemilker) Temuka Wrightson Habitat Improvement Award – Nigel and Jenny Fraser, Greta Valley Environment Canterbury Water Efficiency Award – Bill and Nick Davey, Raikaia

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