Tim Calder

Nine farmers, one kiwifruit grower and three lifestyle block owners have been recognised for their sustainable environmental practices and community involvement in the 2009 Ballance Farm Environment Awards announced at Te Puke yesterday.

Supreme winners are Paul and Joanna McCarthy of Galatea, who also won the PGG Wrightson Land and Life Award, LIC Dairy Farm Award and Fish and Game New Zealand, Eastern Region Water Management/Conservation Award.

Bruce and Tessa Calder, Pikowai Farms, Whakatane, won the Ballance Nutrient Management Award, the Silver Fern Farms Livestock Farm Award and the Gallagher Innovation Award.

by Elaine Fisher of the Bay Of Plenty Times

My father was slightly gutted that he didn’t take home the big one but was pleased that he was recognised with four of the best category prizes. My father still works on the family farm he purchased close to 40 years ago with the assistance of our farm manager Tama Murray.

I have to count myself as very lucky to have been brought up on a farm in Pikowai as I have later found, since leaving for Dunedin, that the lifestyle cannot be beaten. Set on the coast of Bay of Plenty, Pikowai is located half way between Tauranga and Whakatane on State Highway 2. The relatively steep terrain and bush/forestry setting makes for beautiful scenery and creates an ideal environment for wild Pheasants, Turkeys, Peacocks, Quail, Deer and Pigs to reside.

Our family farm has many operations and activities:

• Sheep (Romney Coopworth cross)
• Cattle (Hereford)
• Deer (Elk, Wapiti & Red)
• Dairy grazing
• Forestry (20year old)
• Equestrian (Race horse pre-training, Dessage & Eventing facilities)
• Bull leasing (Angus, Hereford, Jersey, Friesian) 
• Cropping (Turnips, Chickery)
• Lucerne, Red Clover, and Meadow hay production and sales

After constantly hearing about all of my parents exhaustive efforts in competing in the Ballance Farm Environmental awards over the past few years I was shocked to read the google alert that came up reporting on a ‘Scoop article’ explaining that they are keen to do it all over again. A lot of time goes into preparing farms for these awards as such a wide range of areas are judged. I understand that this time my father has been preparing for a couple of years and thanks to Environment Bay of Plenty (EBOP) he has managed to retire and plant many uneconomic and environmentally sensitive areas of the farm.

Bruce and Tessa entered the Ballance Farm Environment Awards in 2006 and won the Ballance Nutrient Management Award. Judges were impressed by the Calder’s switch from blanket fertiliser application to a planned approach of identifying individual paddocks and liming and fertilising them according to the results of soil test recommendations. (Scoop, 16/9/08)

This announcement comes just as I finish my Sustainability paper which is part of the Otago MBA with John Craig. John has spent the last three weeks discussing the many areas of unsustainable business processes, many of which are not often considered by those exploiting the environment. It was John’s intent to make us aware of how companies are making unsustainable decisions, which can be prevented, in order for us to become more environmentally aware managers.

Rabobank has to be the World’s Greatest Bank as they provide such excellent customer service and internet banking facilities. Every time I call the 0800 number I speak directly to my personal bank officer who straight away recognises me and is able to help me with any of my account enquiries. Rabobank was the first bank to have the RSA SecurID unique code generators which provide the highest level of security, since then other banks have started to bring out this high level of security. Not so long ago Rabobank released their high interest RaboPlus on call accounts which make saving very exciting as you can instantly wire across money to and from your account to take advantage of their excellent interest rates calculated daily. I have a RaboPlus account for all of my companies surplus funds including Share Investment company Chicken Stock Group Limited. I was introduced to Rabobank when I was very young through my parents as I come from a farming background where Rabobank is very well established and recognised around the world as a leader.

Our share investment company Chicken Stock Group Limited has just completed its purchase of Scott Technology shares which is a local public company in based in Dunedin. Earlier this year my Otago MBA syndicate studied Scott’s as part of our Financial Accounting case study report paper. After establishing that although Scott Technology is small compared to it international competition, with its large amount of cash reserves and innovative history this company is well positioned to take on international contracts that the larger firms have pulled back from. Thanks to the support of our broker Peter McIntyre from ABN AMRO Craigs, Chicken Stock Group also has shares in the New Zealand Agricultural sector as well as Australian Health care. I formed Chicken Stock Group Limited two years ago with four other friends that attended St Peter’s School in Cambridge.

For the past six months Pierre-Em De La Bussiere and myself have been putting together a deal to purchase and grow Dunedin based company Kiwitub Ltd. In 2004 Steve August was granted a patent for his innovative invention called the Kiwitub. Since then the product has been developed into a seriously portable hot tub which is light weight, requires no chemicals, no plumbing, and no electricity and is easily run on gas or firewood. We will be showing this truly unique product at the Waikato Fieldays in June where we will be located in the New Invention Section. For those of you that enjoy the outdoors and don’t have the time for the routine maintenance of a spa the Kiwitub is for you.

An enjoyable weekend was spent on the family drystock farm in Pikowai. This year is looking promising as there is plenty of grass for our Sheep, Cattle, and Deer as well as for the 1000 Dairy Cows that we graze. Over the summer we managed to produce a large supply of meadow and lucerne hay which we use to keep our horses well feed over the winter along with supplying our regular equestrian customers. It was also good to see, while on a horse ride through the forestry, that our pines are almost ready to harvest. Many hours went into pruning and thinning those trees on summer holidays so it is good to see our efforts beginning to pay off.