Environmental award winners showcase work at field day

Poplar Partnership, the winners of the Regional Supreme Award at the Horizons Ballance Farm Environment Awards, have showcased their work at a field day in the past week.

Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA) promote sustainable land management on New Zealand farms, recognising and celebrating good practices. Horizons Regional Council is a major sponsor, supporting the awards and the role they play to highlight the work many farmers and growers are doing to care for the environment.
 
Horizons land manager and BFEA judge Grant Cooper says the field day gave the Poplar Partnership team a chance to highlight the work behind their win and what other farmers can do.
 
“Poplar Partnership, a large Horowhenua dairy farm run by Peter, John and Karen McErlean, were fitting winners of the supreme award after undertaking a range of work to care for the environment.
 
“Horizons has a strong involvement with the McErleans, working with them for many years to fence off and plant around wetlands. That work helps to prevent erosion and protect the wetlands the McErleans are passionate about.
 
“Our biodiversity team has been working with the McErleans on one of their farm blocks to protect two critically endangered forest ecosystems, both of which have populations of especially rare endemic giant snails. The species of snails - Powelliphanta traversi koputaroa – are only found in one other location.
 
“Horizons is helping to restore and protect those ecosystems through weed control, removal of exotic trees and replanting with natives. We also maintain DOC200 traps and bait stations to reduce the number of rats and hedgehogs, which prey on the snails, and to keep possum numbers low to reduce damage to the habitat.
 
“The contractor undertaking weed control recently found more live snails, so Horizons staff are aiming to do another snail survey to understand the population better.”
 
Mr Cooper says a range of factors played a part in Poplar Partnership’s win.
 
“The judges noted the commitment to staff, livestock, land stewardship, biodiversity and habitat creation, as well as risk identification and mitigation across all areas of the business.
 
“The McErleans have a suite of other work in the pipeline too, such as further planting and irrigation trials to try to minimise the leaching of nitrogen from the farm.”
 
Horizons also sponsors the Award for the Integration of Trees, which was won by Tracey and Graham Sinnamon of Meringa Station, a hill country property near Taumarunui owned by Pāmu run primarily as a lamb finishing farm.
 
For more information about the award winners and how to enter, see nzfeawards.org.nz for. For more information about Horizons’ biodiversity, fencing and planning programmes, see horizons.govt.nz.
 
A video showcasing the field day can be found at https://vimeo.com/818183777.

​Image: One of the Poplar Partnership wetlands Horizons helped protect through fencing and planting.