Ballance Farm Environment Awards Regional Supreme winners Josh Easton and Olivia Manusauloa. Photo / David Vernon
Olivia Manusauloa and Josh Easton of Baygold Limited have been announced as Regional Supreme Winners at the Bay of Plenty Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
Their kiwifruit development and management company, Baygold, won the award as a great example of a business that was integrating environmental excellence within their kiwifruit production.
In awarding the Supreme Award, the judges noted Manusauloa and Easton’s guardianship of the land, ensuring its practical use for the future, as well as various initiatives that show real commitment to sustainability. The couple also had a strong focus on providing real and meaningful support to staff, actively practicing social responsibility within their community.
Baygold’s orchard, The Station, spans 32 hectares of rolling Bay of Plenty land, with 16ha of this planted in orchards. The team’s vision was to ensure that development of the business was balanced with caring for the environment. Their approach was based on a cross-business foundation of caring, inspiring, performing and growing.
A 2.5ha wetland was commissioned and developed before the orchard’s construction began, as a partnership between local iwi, council and government. The wetland feeds into Little Waihī Estuary, slowing and filtering water.
The team was now exploring how they can harness the carbon sequestration potential of the indigenous plants. Baygold was also one of New Zealand’s first companies to participate in a carbon-zero trial, with an aim of delivering carbon-positive kiwifruit to the market.
Manusauloa and Easton also won the Bayleys People in Primary Sector Award, the Hill Laboratories Agri-Science Award and the Rabobank Agri-Business Management Award.
The Ballance Farm Environment Awards are run by the NZ Farm Environment Trust and champion sustainable farming and growing. The Supreme Winner from each of the 11 regions involved in the awards will go through to be considered for the Gordon Stevenson Trophy at the trust’s National Showcase at Te Papa in May.
The recipients of the Gordon Stevenson Trophy then become 2023′s National Ambassadors for Sustainable Farming and Growing.
Other Bay of Plenty Ballance Farm Environment Award winners included; Shane, Alice and Shirley Armstrong from Armstrong Farming, who won the Ballance Agri-Nutrients Soil Management Award, Beef + Lamb New Zealand Livestock Farm Award, DairyNZ Sustainability and Stewardship Award and the NZFET Biodiversity Award.
Elly Sharp, Ruan Nunes, David Stephenson and Francis Pauwels from Tirohanga Fruit Co Ltd took home the Norwood Farming Efficiency Award, and Zespri Kiwifruit Orchard Award, while Ken Goldsmith, Hinehou Timutimu and Tyson Kelly from Te Tawa Pāmu - Te Kotahitanga Dairying & Pāmu Kaiwhakahaere won the Bay Of Plenty Regional Council Farming for the Future Award.
The region’s leading farmers have been recognised at two dairy industry award events.
Kevin and Nicole Oppert won the region’s Share Farmer of the Year category at the annual Central Plateau Dairy Industry Awards dinner held at Rydges Rotorua this month.
The other big winners were Mohammed “Jay” Arifin, who was named the 2023 Central Plateau Dairy Manager of the Year, and Jasmine Hall, who was named the 2023 Central Plateau Dairy Trainee of the Year.
Due to entrants withdrawing from the Share Farmer category, Central Plateau Share Farmer entrant scores were benchmarked against the national average, with data collated from the 10 other regions.
This also meant merit awards were awarded if the entrant achieved at the right level.
Kevin credited his 2017 experience as a Dairy Manager entrant as giving him a better understanding of his management techniques, which led to their first contract milking position.
“We both loved being outside and have a passion for animals and working on the land,” Nicole said.
“We love all aspects of farming – the challenges and all.”
The freedom and space they have to raise their family makes dairying an appealing career choice.
“It’s a lifestyle as well as a career for all of us to love.”
The Opperts contract milk for Roger and Amanda Garland on a 178-hectare Taupō property, milking 560 cows. They won $14,450 in prizes and four merit awards.
Kevin and Nicole are excited about the use of technology in farming and where this might lead, in on-farm scenarios as well as recording and admin.
“We’re young and versatile enough to adapt and fit into any future within the dairy industry.”
The couple are frustrated at the negativity “around the 1 per cent of the industry – 99 per cent of farmers strive for healthy animals and productive land”.
There have been a few challenges in their joint career, including staff, growing equity and starting their own business while young.
“Each morning is a morning closer to reaching our goal of potential farm ownership,” Kevin said.
“Our family drives us to succeed even when times are hard – tomorrow is always another day!”
The Opperts said they were proud of achieving record production on different systems and progressing their careers from farm assistants in 2009 to self-employed contract milkers.
The Opperts, both 30, identified people as a strength of their business.
“We create an optimistic team environment where everyone feels included, with open communication with the owner and employees.”
Runners-up in the Central Plateau Share Farmer of the Year competition were Buddhi Alankarage and Chamila Mudalige, who won $10,075 in prizes and four merit awards.
The couple are contract milkers for Greg MaCulouggh and Jose Franco on their 153ha Rotorua property, milking 520 cows.
The winner of the 2023 Central Plateau Dairy Manager of the Year competition, Mohammad “Jay” Arifin, came from a farming background in Indonesia before arriving in New Zealand in 2008.
He works on the Wairarapa Moana Incorporation’s Mangakino 289ha property, milking 1055 cows. He won $9047 in prizes and three merit awards.
The 2023 Central Plateau Dairy Trainee of the Year, Jasmine Hall, 20, is a farm assistant on Stu and Anne Koopal’s 204ha Rerewhakaaitu property, milking 560 cows. She won $7000 in prizes and two merit awards.
The Central Plateau Dairy Industry Awards winners’ field day will be held on March 22 at 947 Poihipi Rd in Taupō.
Meanwhile, Cameron and Jessica Lea took out the Share Farmer of the Year category at the Bay of Plenty Dairy Industry Awards at the Awakeri Events Centre.
Cameron, 32, and Jessica, 31, are 50/50 share-milking over two farms – Colin and Maria Eggleton’s 120ha Ōpōtiki 270-cow property and Bern and Heather Mcdonalds’ neighbouring 100ha, 300-cow property.
They won $11,300 and three merit awards.
Chihiro Hanyuda won Dairy Manager of the Year, while Caleb Spence took out the 2023 Bay of Plenty Dairy Trainee of the Year.
Transport industry leaders Rhino Group and TWL have teamed up to launch a new initiative to help reduce heavy transport emissions and limit waste going to landfill.
The pilot scheme, launched in Tauranga, aims to recycle Rhino plastic truck and trailer mudguards and provide a centralised drop-off point to streamline the collection process. If successful, this scheme will be rolled out across the country.
This latest development follows the launch of Rhino’s innovative recycled mudguards in 2021.
Rhino Group general manager Will Samuel said this was the next logical step with its recycled mudguards.
“If we can set up centralised drop-off points throughout the country, we’ll be able to recycle more used guards and reduce waste previously going to landfill.
Samuel said Rhino wanted to make circular products a way of life.
“We understand the pressure trucking companies are facing to reduce emissions and want to support more sustainable solutions for the heavy transport industry.”
Rhino has seen a strong uptake from large transport companies since the launch of its recycled mudguards in 2021. New Zealand’s largest heavy vehicle rental and lease company, TR Group, was now switching to the use of solely recycled mudguards on its fleet.
“The increase in volume of guards being recycled has been steadily growing, and our recyclers have recently invested in more equipment to ensure they can keep up with demand. Statistics on recycling returns will be available for companies who have environment or sustainable reporting,” Samuel said.
With 20 branches throughout New Zealand, TWL national sales manager of commercial aftersales, Mike Brears, said the company was excited about its leadership in the pilot programme.
“TWL is pleased to be on this journey with Rhino. Recycling mudguards and mudflaps is a great way to reduce waste. We’re excited to do our bit, in partnership with Rhino, to make the process easier for everyone involved.”
The Tauranga collection point will be at TWL’s depot at 86 Hewletts Rd, Mount Maunganui.
Bay of Plenty avocados will be on the world stage at the World Avocado Congress, which is being hosted in New Zealand for the first time next month.
World Avocado Congress committee chairwoman and Tauranga-based New Zealand Avocado chief executive, Jen Scoular, said with Katikati being the avocado capital of New Zealand and the region’s (typically) warm climate and fertile soil, the Bay of Plenty was renowned for producing delicious avocados.
“The World Avocado Congress is such a ripe opportunity to have our incredible avocados more than ‘world-famous in New Zealand’. The congress will showcase New Zealand avocados on the world produce stage and also promote the New Zealand experience. The world really is our oyster - or perhaps I should say the world is our avocado.”
The World Avocado Congress is the largest global delegation coming to New Zealand for a horticultural event, with more than 1100 people representing 32 countries. Over 700 of the delegates are coming from outside New Zealand, and many will be travelling to New Zealand for the first time.
“These numbers have exceeded all our expectations. We are so excited to host such a large contingent of the global avocado community, including international and national growers, researchers, marketers, retailers, tech innovators, investors and more. This week we have released the congress programme, so things are getting real!”
From April 2 - 5, the World Avocado Congress will cover a diverse range of nationally and globally relevant topics across the entire avocado value chain, including the future of food, sustainability, climate change, food trends, food security, global supply chains and the lifecycle for avocado production. The congress consists of a three-day academic programme with eight international and national keynote speakers and more than 130 presentations.
“A considerable part of New Zealand’s primary production sector has been impacted by recent weather events, so we all need to hear experts talk about the future of food, climate change and the global impacts on horticulture right now,” Scoular said.
“It’s been a tough few years for our growers, and the whole industry has faced ongoing challenges with the supply chain. At the congress, we’ll dive deeper into the changing world of avocado production; the global industry’s responsiveness, the opportunities and risks facing the future of the industry, and how the global avocado industry can evolve more sustainably and respectfully.”
While the Bay is New Zealand’s home of avocados, given the size and scale of the event, the congress is taking place in Auckland. Before the congress officially begins, delegates have the opportunity to attend field days in the Bay of Plenty, Northland and South Auckland where they will experience the diversity of avocado growing systems and supply chain processes in New Zealand.
“We would love to host the congress in our own backyard. Hopefully, in a few years, when the new exhibition centre and cultural precinct is complete in Tauranga CBD, this could be a possibility. While we haven’t ruled out bidding for another congress in the future, right now we are purely focused on making next month’s congress a huge success.”
In 2019, New Zealand won the bid to host the 10th World Avocado Congress. New Zealand was one of three countries to put forward a bid to win the hosting rights for the 2023 event and was up against Mexico, the largest avocado exporter in the world, and Kenya, the sixth largest exporter of avocados globally.
The University of Waikato has welcomed a record 211 new students into its registered nursing programmes for 2023, more than doubling the intake from 2022.
Acting dean of Te Huataki Waiora School of Health, Dr Jo Lane, said the increase in numbers was encouraging in the face of severe staff shortages in the health workforce.
“We’re really pleased to welcome so many high-quality nursing students to study. At a time when the health workforce is in crisis, it’s imperative that we do everything possible to enable students wanting to enrol in health training to do so.”
The University of Waikato was the newest provider of nursing programmes, developing and delivering these in partnership with Te Whatu Ora Waikato, with an emphasis on equity, mental health and addictions and Māori and Pacific health.
It offers two programmes that lead to becoming a registered nurse, a traditional three-year Bachelor of Nursing degree, and an accelerated graduate-entry Master of Nursing Practice degree. The latter allows students with a previous degree in any subject to complete their nursing training in just two years and be workforce ready.
Lane said graduate-entry was a common model overseas for professional healthcare programmes that were starting to become established in Aotearoa.
“However, we’ve been just blown away by the demand for our graduate-entry nursing programme, which is already the largest in the country. I’m so proud of what our nursing team has been able to achieve so far.
“We have nearly 70 students starting this year who are wanting to change careers to become nurses. That is just so encouraging, particularly given the rich life experiences that they will bring to the profession. I can’t wait to see them graduate and enter the workforce at the end of next year.”
The Business Digest is compiled from press releases.
The jury's marathon deliberations ran for two weeks.